What was the race or running event?

Probably not a race that really needs much introduction but it was the (checks the many many emails from Mike Silverman (my brother in writing novella length emails)) 32nd Annual Covered Bridges Half-Marathon! This was my third year running it as a Pacer and my first year completely organizing the Pacing Team. If you didn’t know, historically the UVRC has provided pacers from 1:30 goal time up to 2:30 goal time for years now! It's a great way to give back to the community and you get to participate in one of the most sought after races in New England! They say it is the ‘Taylor Swift Concerts’ of races because it typically sells out within minutes! As a Pacer though you get to skip the lines, the only “catch” is that you have to run a set pace which was fine with me! Reach out to the club next year if you want to try, it's a lot of fun!

How did the day go in general?

In general very well! As an event organizer, especially events that rely on people showing up, I have a MASSIVE anxiety spike in the days leading up to it because without fail this is the time when things start happening. People have to drop out, can’t show up, sicknesses pop up, the Universe seems to have it out for you. I don’t hold it against anyone obviously, stuff happens, but that doesn’t mean a small part of me isn’t constantly freaking out and praying that every text or email I get isn’t someone telling me they can’t make it. BUT this year we had a great turn out including some new people , everyone got to where they needed to go and it went swimmingly! The runners were super appreciative of having pacers and I've heard several reports of people PRing thanks to the help of our pacers. So a net win and I’m proud that we as a club can and did provide this for the community! 

What went well?

As far as coordination goes I think everything went through without any hiccups! All my pacers who could show up did showup, no one got injured, everyone enjoyed themselves, and the Race Directors were happy. Wins all around! It was a lovely day although it did heat up far too quickly for my liking as I will discuss in a second. The crew that was in my pacing group was very fun to talk to and I had a blast telling them awful jokes e.g. “What do you get when you buy a treadmill? A run for your money” . Misha, my copacer, was a great companion who honestly shouldered the weight of carrying our pacer sign like a champ. The first 10.5 miles was a blast and it felt good to run in a racing pack

What did not go so well?

The last 2.6 miles was not a blast! The heat got to me faster than I expected and I cramped up like crazy trying to ingest Gu. It felt like someone had stabbed me in the side and I was extremely disappointed to have to drop back and let Misha take the reins. I was hoping it would pass quickly enough that I could catch up but that was not in the cards for me. Fortunately I was able to recover enough to hop on to the next pace group and finish with my pacer buddy Chris so all in all not a bad thing. But this was really a rookie mistake in my training 

How did you prepare for the event? Anything you would do differently in training?

And here in fact lies the problem. I didn’t. I did not train enough and thought I would be fine and I was wrong. My body reminded me that it's more than just being in shape, you have to also train to fuel while running for a long time and I had forgotten that and I paid for it. This year I’ve really seen a decrease in my long distance running and of course I couldn’t just pull it out just because I wanted to and coast on willpower and short distance athleticism. So I would really invest more time in doing longer runs at a slower pace.

Any notable moments?

Oh lots! 

There is a small hairpin loop through Woodstock where we essentially come in and out on the same road. It's the one time during the race where you get to overlap with other runners ahead and behind you. I love this part so much because this is where the magic of the racing experience happens and you get to see humans at their best. In the sections where you can see the other runners ahead or behind you people will be screaming encouragement to them and cheering them on. Complete strangers all wrapped up in the same experience motivating others just as someone did for them moments before. I think it's beautiful. Also if we’re lucky we get to see the other pacing groups and as weird as it might sound it’s like being ship Captains passing in the night, each on your own journey but bonded in your shared responsibility. We are fundamentally experiencing a different race than everyone else and may not have many supporters or any supporters like the other racers so it's nice to be able to cheer each other on.

Also there was a point, I think around mile 9, where a person that had been with us for most of the race remarked that they were surprised they were able to keep up with us the whole time and they were appreciative that we were there. And it is comments like that which make me happy to be doing this. Not only because it's very gratifying but I LOVE when my fellow runners are able to exceed their own expectations. We put so much doubt on ourselves unnecessarily and while you can’t solve everything by believing in yourself, it DOES do wonders for your mental game and should be acknowledged. Believe in yourself Fam!

 I also worked the info booth the day prior and got a chance to hang out with the Co-Race Directors Nancy and Mike and both of them are a hoot! Nancy and I especially had a great time bonding over all the perhaps overzealous amount of information we put into emails and the hopes that people read them. And honestly its people like Nancy and Mike (and everyone at Leb Rec) that are my personal heroes. People who put so much darn effort into organizing events for the community that ostensibly are primarily to make people happy and are such a mighty force for good. I got to learn a lot about the inner workings of the CBHM and gained an even better appreciation for truly how much they give back to the community through the CBHM including back to the UVRC! So again, if you are able to volunteer your time as a pacer for the CBHM or just as a volunteer I STRONGLY encourage it. You are helping far more people than you would guess by improving the race experience. 

Any changes you would make to how you ran?

Wellllllllll we may have started off a little bit too fast. But pacing is a delicate thing and it’s hard to judge. I definitely would have NOT done the gel Gu’s and that’s on me, because I know I like the blocks better. It was also very difficult to get a good warm up in because of my duties as the pacing captain, which I wouldn’t necessarily change but it does kinda shakeup the start of my run.