Aiming to complete a run in a certain amount of time is never something that I had thought I could do. When I was in middle school my P.E. teacher always told me I could have a faster mile if I would pace myself better. Now that made little sense to me because I have no idea at the time what pacing was. Though the same teacher gave me some advice on how to run better in that same conversation. These pointers would help me to an overall better mile time if I had any idea how to implement them. Now I could be completely wrong and my memory failing since I was never a big fan of P.E. class in school. So I took to Google to do some research to make sure I was on the right track. In addition to that, I have been doing some experimenting with what I have found on google to see how to apply it to my walking to get a better pace. My thighs though have not been happy with me when I am doing it. Hopefully, they will get over it quickly since I am hoping to move to focus on being able run soon.
I never actually realized before how easy for someone who is not into exercising but trying to develop good habits and reach fitness-related goals to get overwhelmed. I have had several fitness-related goals throughout my life and even though I am just barely making progress with this one I feel like it is further than I made with any other goal in regard to fitness that I have ever had. I know that I cannot be the only one that this has happened in the past. Fitness just seems so overwhelming at times and while you should be able to see progress some progress takes time, I would guess it depends on the person where they are starting and how they are going about it. Learning how to implement pacing has been a challenge in this very sense, part of me is overwhelmed but also encouraged at the same time for different reasons.
Back to the topic at hand, what is pacing and why should even be worried about it? Well according to Google it is the average time it takes to walk a mile or a kilometer. Okay, so my time than in walking a mile range around 24 minutes now yes, I would like to improve that and through some work. I have realized I can do bursts of faster speed where I am which is considered speed walking. My thighs when I do this tend to start screaming at me for some reason and then I slow down to make them not hurt. Different times at work there have been the times when I have done this the most. I have never timed myself while doing this so I would imagine that is the next step in this. As I have never really worried about a time greater than a mile, the pacing is still odd. When I have walked further than a mile, I am never doing it for time or to improve time. To be honest, I am a bit nervous to try it, but it sounds like something I should try to better understand pacing.
What are my issues with pacing if the concept is so simple? Well to be honest it is not an issue but more that I have never felt like I could even worry about it because my only goal was just to finish the running not worrying about the time. Because I have been out of shape and not a great runner my whole life and only recently have really looked at running with more than disgust taking on the idea of trying to run to maintain a specific time is a very foreign concept to me. While I am someone who has been told I can or should focus on the time I have not been in a place in my fitness journey to worry too much about it. I guess though I am at the point in some ways that it is time to move past making it to the distance goal but after making that effort to make it in by a time. That still seems a long way away as I have currently started running but in a split x amount of minutes walking x amount of time running. When I say just started, I mean I have done one run like this, and it did go well but I think pacing while doing the walking portion might become beneficial.
Oh my gosh, my thighs are mad at me recently for trying to improve time when walking. So, when I have been walking in general, I have played with posture and pacing to see if I feel a difference a good or a bit painful difference, but I will take it. The difference that I have felt is not just in the working of more muscles from posture but also in taking some strain off other muscles because they are being supported by other muscles better. Again, remember this is in regard to walking and being able to hold the pace. I did have a situation recently where I did have to hold a fast-walking pace for work and while I couldn’t do it the whole time I did do better than I thought I would which I was impressed by. So as I have been asking myself should I be worried about pacing right now I have to say yes and no. Yes for walking because I need the challenge and it is good for my health as well ad my posture. Running on the other hand I am still at essentially ground zero so no, just getting out and doing it.
I have found that it also helps to go for walks with people who are naturally faster-paced than me, this has allowed me to push for a faster pace in a relaxed environment. I am not the best walking partner but hey everyone has their days. While I have done research on what appropriate pacing looks like in walking, having this external push I have found that it can be helpful. It forces me to push myself a little and while I may seem winded and unable to talk as normally I would that is actually not a bad thing. I will own up that I gripe about it a lot during the walk and believe me, there is griping, but I do see its benefits. I have no idea how to deal with this when I get to that point in running but I have a while to figure something out.
This does lead to a bit of a realization that as far as pacing when running, even though I know I am nowhere near ready to worry about it. I will know when I am ready to start seriously putting effort in. It seems to come to me naturally with walking so I have taken that to mean that when my body is not screaming in protest near as much at the simple thought of running and it takes longer for the stitch to come that I will know when to start putting effort into the pacing and not before. That of course is not going to stop me from being curious but putting any actual effort in has not been wise or needed. I feel like I also need to be cautious about trying too soon because that is a way to burn myself out of continuing to try running. I remember on previous workout-type goals I pushed too far too quickly and just gave it up. I will need to make sure I see the progress there to stay motivated and keep acknowledging where I truly am and what should be the main focus to not get overwhelmed by this concept.
While all of this can be a lot as well as overwhelming on the surface and something to be aware of in the back of your mind. But also, something that you may not yet be needing to worry about. There are also going to be days where you want to throw it to the wind and say, ‘screw it.’ I have not run into these days yet, but I am more than aware that they are coming. To gain improvement though for my health not just my goal it is a necessity, unfortunately. It also encourages more body awareness regarding my posture. Not something I am going to argue against as that is something I am always working on. Pacing though is a hurdle I am just starting to understand let alone figure out how to implement knowing that the benefits are going to be worth it in the end. As long as I do not try to do too much too quickly.
Lemons or Lemonade 