I’m trying something new…

First off, I would like to apologize in advance to all the people planning to run the half or full marathon at Ottawa Race Weekend this year.  I have plenty of evidence to suggest I have broken my “race weather curse” – the one where miserably hot weather seems to follow me to races – but I promise to do plenty of interpretive dances and sacrifices to the weather gods, just in case.

Now that that’s out of the way, you’ve probably guessed that I will indeed be making the trek to Ottawa for Race Weekend again this year.  I acknowledge that my experience is limited, but I think this has to be my favourite event of the year.  I have never been anywhere else where the whole city is engulfed in a giant running party for a whole weekend.

But this year, it’s even more exciting because (drum roll please…) I joined the Pace Team.  That’s right, I am running the half marathon with rabbit ears.  For those who may not know what that means, many races have a team of people, often known as pacers, pace rabbits, or my favourite, pace bunnies, who run the race with the goal of finishing in a specific time.  These people carry signs and wear rabbit ears to let you know their time, and if there’s a bunny with your goal time, you can just stick with him or her to stay on pace.  Another advantage to sticking with a bunny is that you will be surrounded by a group of runners with similar goals, and you can all keep each other motivated.

While it is true that I am very excited (very very!), I am also a little nervous.  I’ve paced myself loads of times, of course, and would say I am fairly good – once I get into a rhythm I tend to be like a metronome.  However, I have never had anyone counting on my metronomic ability before.  So if anyone reading this has any rabbit experience, I would love to hear from you!  Please feel obligated free to leave your tips and advice in the comments below!