I'm an honest person, but I'm wondering if I should fake it a little when I register for the Miami Beach 13.1 when they ask me what my expected finish time will be.
In the past I've been honest--if anything, modest. But what does honesty buy you when you're signing up for a race?
In my case, at the Miami ING, it bought me the horrible experience of weaving through a thick throng of walkers and slower runners who were put in the same pace category as me. I'd put myself down as a 9:15, because that's typically what I ran in previous races. I think I would have had a better experience if I'd shaved about a minute off of that time, because the non-walkers who actually ran at my usual speed were put way ahead of me. I wonder if they all had said they ran an 8 minute mile just to get put ahead of the walkers?
(And who could blame them? I cannot stress enough how awful it is to spend three miles simply weaving through people! It's exhausting and potentially dangerous--I banged into the sweaty shoulders of more than a few race participants.)
I'm not going to lie about my age (I'm almost 36). Or my weight (please don't ask.) But my pace? I'm thinking that in the next two weeks, I could surely get down to an 8:10 minute mile.
Sure, yeah, that's the ticket...
It won't hurt anything. Those walkers must be lying anyway. Who walks a 9:15?
ReplyDeleteSome people do run/walk (the Galloway technique, I think it's called) and maybe their running pace is 9:15...I don't know, either way, they should have their own section!
ReplyDeleteThe Galloway people don't bother me until their watches all start beeping for the switch to walking. It's like they all go off 3-4 seconds apart. beep. beep. beep. And then the announcement to their galloway friends "Walk!".
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