Significance of Pacing
A personal goal of mine, as it relates to the 70.3 distance, is to be able to race the distance...currently I pace this distance. From my perspective there is a significant difference between racing and pacing.
I define racing as doing what it takes, legally, to finish ahead of your competition. If the competition and I are racing to finish on the podium then all I need to do is finish one second faster than 4th place. When racing; pace,splits,power,speed are irrelevant just as long as the cumulative time is better than the competition. Therefore when truly racing there is no need for any fancy technology. The only necessary tool or skill required is race instincts; calculating what needs to be done physically and mentally to better the competition. Each year I take another step closer to achieving this goal. Hopefully with intelligent, hard work I will be able to race 70.3 miles.
Taking a big step back into reality, I continue to pace my races. I have no shame in this. Pacing for the majority of age-group athletes means maintaining the highest sustainable pace to guarantee one crosses the finish line. Through pacing I have learned a lot about both my physical and mental; limits, strengths and weaknesses. Through pacing I have come to understand the word endurance.
There are times however when I can't stand pacing, I resent pacing and these instances occur exclusively during a race. I love going fast and the adrenaline rush associated with it. When I'm on my bike or running I always want to go fast. The instant I sense competition I want to red line, which is immediately followed by a glance at a Garmin device and a flash of bright light, known as my game plan. I fortunately have the luxury of racing for fun and if I wanted to I could try to battle my competition all day however that is not my goal in triathlon nor a key to success on race day. My finite goal is to cross that finish line as fast as possible by pushing through and redefining my limits. In other words pace myself to success.
I define racing as doing what it takes, legally, to finish ahead of your competition. If the competition and I are racing to finish on the podium then all I need to do is finish one second faster than 4th place. When racing; pace,splits,power,speed are irrelevant just as long as the cumulative time is better than the competition. Therefore when truly racing there is no need for any fancy technology. The only necessary tool or skill required is race instincts; calculating what needs to be done physically and mentally to better the competition. Each year I take another step closer to achieving this goal. Hopefully with intelligent, hard work I will be able to race 70.3 miles.
Taking a big step back into reality, I continue to pace my races. I have no shame in this. Pacing for the majority of age-group athletes means maintaining the highest sustainable pace to guarantee one crosses the finish line. Through pacing I have learned a lot about both my physical and mental; limits, strengths and weaknesses. Through pacing I have come to understand the word endurance.
There are times however when I can't stand pacing, I resent pacing and these instances occur exclusively during a race. I love going fast and the adrenaline rush associated with it. When I'm on my bike or running I always want to go fast. The instant I sense competition I want to red line, which is immediately followed by a glance at a Garmin device and a flash of bright light, known as my game plan. I fortunately have the luxury of racing for fun and if I wanted to I could try to battle my competition all day however that is not my goal in triathlon nor a key to success on race day. My finite goal is to cross that finish line as fast as possible by pushing through and redefining my limits. In other words pace myself to success.
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