Marathon #9… Can you believe it?!  I’m almost to the double digits!  This marathon was a little different because it was my first marathon that I paced.  “Pacing… what’s that?” you might be thinking.  Let me tell you, if you love running and love encouraging others, then pacing would be a perfect fit for you!  Check out the group that I pace for by going to beastpacing.com  This race was also unique because I posted all about my race weekend on a takeover for Inspiring Women Runner’s Instagram page.  Here’s what I wrote during my takeover…

My finish time was about 5:28… 2 minutes under my assigned 5:30 pacing goal, but considering I made a wrong turn adding .25 miles on to a course that was already .10 miles long, the stop at the port-a-potty, and the several stops to refill my SpiBelt hydration belt, I am pleased with my performance. This was my second time pacing and my first time pacing a full marathon. I’m glad I liked it because I have two more full marathons coming up that I’m pacing.  If you’re an avid runner, I highly recommend becoming a pacer! Go to beastpacing.com to become a Beast Pacer alongside me!  This is all for now. Time to hit the road for the 5 hour drive home…

I survived the solo 5 hour drive home after completing my 5:30 marathon pacing gig! More about the race… Sadly, for the majority of the time I was out on the 26.56 mile course, I was running solo. There were few spectators and it was cloudy/misty up until mile 24. This marathon was harder in some respects than others because although my body wanted to go faster, I couldn’t. When I saw someone up ahead of me I so desperately wanted to catch up to them so I could 1)have someone to talk to and 2)it is just in my nature to try to catch up to the person in front of me. The few people that I had the pleasure of running with for a few miles included a 73 year old gentleman from New Jersey. This marathon was number 143 for him and his 49th state! What an inspiration! And THIS, friends, is why it’s a joy to run races and to pace… It’s all about the people you meet! As many of you know, the running community is an unbelievably awesome community! I found the Instagram running community at the start of this calendar year and it has totally changed my running hobby! All of you are inspiring no matter if you’re training for your first 5k or your 5th Boston Marathon! Keep rocking your training and smashing your goals!