How steady is your pace?

Ever since the weather started warmimg up, walking has been my preferred method of exercise.  In fact, using my “Habit with Options” method, I set a tiny goal to be able to run a mile.  Sounded simple enough when I first set it, but my mind still thinks I’m a high school athlete and my body painfully disagrees with that assessment.

To reach that goal I started by trying to run around the block.  That failed miserably.  Then I tried to run half way around the block.  That worked out ok, but then I could barely walk back home after that.  (I’m not really that far out of shape, but I’m battling medical issues that make exercise a bit of a challenge at times).

Next I decided that before I can run a mile, I need to be able to at least walk a mile.  That sounds easy, right?  Ha.  It was pretty easy the first time.  Then I started timing myself.  Walking isn’t very challenging unless you’re trying to achieve something so I started trying to beat my best time which in turn pushed me to walk faster and more purposefully.  It’s amazing how walking can be a real workout if you focus on it.

After a few weeks of timing my walks, I got this really crazy notion to run.  I didn’t plan it.  I just got to the end of one block and thought what the heck…I’ll run to the end of this next one.  So I did.  Then I walked one block and ran the next for about 3 blocks.  I thought I would make really good time and that I was conditioning myself for my 1 mile running goal.

When I arrived back at my drive way, I flipped open my iPhone and checked the stopwatch, fully expecting to see at least one minute or more shaved off my best walking time.  I couldn’t believe what I saw.  My stupid phone said I was a full 1:36 SLOWER than when I was walking!  Dang it.  What happened?  Is my phone broken?  Can I sue Apple for this?

After I thought about my little adventure, I realized that the reason my time turned out slower was that I was failing to keep a steady pace.  Moving really fast turned out to cause me to go even slower in between the fast moments.  It didn’t seem like I was going any slower than normal, but I was.  I was out of breath and trying to recover from such a fast pace that I slowed down my normal walking stride to compensate.

How many times do we do this when trying to reach a goal?  Or when we try to do anything in life for that matter?  We disregard the steady pace and try to strike out on our own whims to get there faster when the truth of the matter is that “slow” and steady wins the race.

So for now, I’ll stick with walking and maybe in the weeks to come I will try some light jogging, followed by walking.  No switching it up.  No shortcuts to beat my times.  Just keep moving steadily toward the goal…picking up speed little by little.  Lesson learned.

So how steady is your pace these days?