It was so exciting to be in the right place at the right time, with two empty seats on the Hilton Harriers’ taxi. We haven’t run the point to point PDAC 25km for years because of the logistics involved but all we had to do this time was catch a taxi at 3:30am, run the race and hop back onto the same taxi at the finish. Add to that the plentiful downhills and a good Sunday was had by all. Especially by the Old Goat who did a blistering 6:07 average pace, snapping at the heels of many young whippersnappers.
I like to zone out and ponder stuff when running on tar – when I’m not pretending to be Paula Radcliffe that is. I’ve been pondering on all the various paces that our coach gives us. All of which, apart from Easy, give me a literal pain in the gat – or hamstring tendon to be polite.
So we have E-pace. E for Easy which I wholeheartedly embrace and I have no problem with. But then our workouts are liberally sprinkled with M-pace, T-pace and I-pace which are marathon, threshold and interval pace respectively. Just the thought of them makes me panic so I have decided to come up with my own definitions of said paces.
First we have M-pace. This will stand for Moseying Pace. I like to mosey, mosey.
Then we have T-pace. This will henceforth mean Tortoise-On Pace. In other words, put your head down, move forward and try not to die.
And then my favourite is I-pace. This means Incredible Pace. It is something we engage at the end of a race when everyone is watching. It entails remaining upright and not vomiting. I rocked I-pace yesterday.