My first pacing experience – 90 Mins Bus @ Club Run 2024(and a little more)

For a few years now, I have been a consumer of learning and doing things but I started to feel like I need to start contributing in one way or the other. That has become one of my goals this year.

When I saw the pacers application opening for Club run 2024, I decided to give it a shot. I looked at the timings and went with a 10 km and 90 minutes bus and I got a couple of reasons for it.

1. I love slow runs, and I know even if something goes wrong, I can pull this off(too much fear? Let’s see)
2. I wanted to get an experience without having the pressure of hitting a time and pushing myself, I wanted it easy so I have less mental burden.

Don’t get me wrong, One of my recent best times in 10km was 1:06 hours(in Sketchers run) and a few months back was 1:04 hours. 

Many people told me I could have taken the 80 mins bus or so at least. And 90 minutes is way slower.

If you are a faster runner, you may feel like this is boring, and I would say that’s just not your comfort zone that is all. For many people, 90 mins is harder and many people are not able to relate to it. Which is kind of sad.

In 2019, my Personal best was 58 minutes in 10km. I ran with Veera(pacer) and I don’t think I would have got that timing if not for him. Last year’s club run for HM was 2:17 mins, again a PB for me and I would not have pushed myself for it if not for Jai(pacer).

2020 I guess I had a back issue and was on medication for 6 months. And then another year of binge eating and training myself for the Couch Potato of the Year award(no, there are no awards like that).

When I got back to running, my 10km was 1:25 hours and my heart rate was off the charts(170 + I guess on Avg).

That’s when I realized – Speed is not the same for everyone.

It’s all about relative efforts.

Relative efforts = On a scale of 1-10 perceived efforts, 3 people can run at a 9 perceived effort all they may finish a 10km in 50mins, 75 mins or 100 minutes. We all are different people, with different bodies and different life styles. Or some may have been on a running break and using this event to come back(like I did with one of the event back then).

A few people started with me, then a few went ahead and a few were left behind,

There was one person who tagged along with me for 7km and then I pushed him to go further, he finished in 1:26 hours.

There are 3-4 people I found struggling to run, they are running too fast(for their perceived effort) and then power walking). I pushed them and took them with me for as long as I could. 3 of them finished within 90 minutes. They looked exhausted post-finish line but I hope they celebrated that after going home.

Celebrated not because of sub 90mins, but knowing they gave their best.

Coming back to my fears, even though it was a 90-minute bus, I felt too much pressure before the event and my irrational fears were all over the place.

I was like, what if I get a cramp and then finish it in 92 minutes? But on race day, it was good.

I get surprised how my mind can go irrational and I believe them that they are real fears.

Another thing I was glad about the 90-minute choice was – two weeks ago, I went to Microsoft Road and did 3 rounds (the day before I did a leg workout in the gym with more leg raises and soleus raises than usual).

My legs did not recover and I had a bad soleus and calf muscle pull that I had to stop running and take an auto back home. One week before this race, I did 32 km on a 9 km/min average. I usually run slower for these distances so I had to stop stretching my leg throughout the run.

While it may look like I am adding more pressure to the injury. I was told by the physio(Shruti) to only stop if the pain elevates, if it was discomfort, I could stretch and start again. Runs like these give me more confidence than runs that went smoother. 

Because most practice runs are controlled, I get curious and find myself surprised at what my body is capable of in situations like this.

(Okay, I got distracted from sharing my club run experience, didn’t I?)

A few days of the week if the club run, I was happy about choosing a 90-minute bus because I was not able to push beyond a 9-minute/km pace when I tried on Tuesday. I was a bit frustrated and stopped at 3.5km and wanted to try again that evening. 

Coach(Siva) suggested not running at all until Saturday and going for Club Run directly and running there. My nerves would have been wrecked if I had chosen any other pace.

Getting on to the stage on Club Run day, and meeting before the day of the run event, it’s a bit overwhelming for me(as I have been trying to avoid these for many years now).

I loved pacing, so I am hoping to pace for one on one or unofficially pace for a few people(if anyone asks or if I come across any). Because I want to pace minus the meeting/on stage.

Pacing with the flag did feel good for some reason, I will give it a shot when the memory of this fades away a bit.

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