Thoughts on Pacing One's Self

I love running.  Long distance running.  Nothing beats it.  I'm a running junkie.


This weekend I had the opportunity to compete, for my third time, in my most favorite 10 km race:  The Moonlight Run.  Hosted in Lethbridge, Alberta, the Moonlight Run starts in front of the Court House and then drops down into the coulees on a very steep and winding road.  Most of the race then takes place on the nice paths along the river.  The finish line is then exactly back where the race started, which means all runners must face that monstrous hill they enjoyed so much on the way down.

The first year I competed in the Moonlight Run I learned a very valuable lesson on that pesky hill.  As a young and naive runner, my first instinct was to let gravity take over my pace, letting myself run free and wild like a mad woman down the hill.  As soon as I found myself back on the level terrain of the river valley, my lungs and legs punished me for making such a rash decision.  I struggled to maintain a steady pace for the remainder of the race.  Darn hill.

Even though I knew better, this year I found myself wanting to make the same mistake I made that first year.  As the road got steeper and as more and more runners whizzed past me, I longed to ignore the confines of my restricting pace.  I wanted to plunge headlong into the sprint all of the other well seasoned runners, and very green runners, were enjoying.  Unfortunately, I chose to ignore my pace ever so slightly and later on in the race my body began to tease me about it.  And since I think a lot while I run, my thoughts turned to the hill that was now causing me so much pain.  After pondering that hill for a few kilometers, I was able to draw a parallel between it and the fascinating world of DATING.  I now present to you a very unusual analogy.  

The Moonlight Run hill is like Dating.

You know the feeling, at least I hope you do, because it's absolutely terrific and terrible at the same time.  It's the realization that your crush, your number one on your top five, your C.O.W., the person you secretly stalk on Facebook, the person who gives you butterflies with a text that only says "im good. u?" might actually have feelings for you too, at least that's what his wing man told your roommate's brother's best friend.  This is all just the starting line of the Moonlight Run.

Next comes the awkward smiles, a Facebook inbox message perhaps, and the ever increasing occurrences of randomly bumping in to each other.  Whoa!  They really are in to you!  Texting conversations commence, followed by hanging out, hanging out, and a little bit more hanging out.  Before you know it, you've been asked on a first date and, holy smokes!, it went awesome!  Something tells you you're in to something good...  This is all those first two blocks on level ground, running past the Court House and McDonald's of the Moonlight Run.

Suddenly, things become official.  It's magical.  It's all you ever hoped for.  It's a dream come true.  You're actually in a real relationship with someone.  Life couldn't get any better.  This magical phase of dating is the equivalent of that very steep and winding slope leading down to the river of the Moonlight Run.

Oh how precious!

In the exact way that pacing yourself applies to the first three legs of the Moonlight Run, pacing yourself applies to these first three legs of dating.  It isn't hard to imagine the trouble an inexperienced runner would find themselves in at the bottom of the hill after sprinting the beginning of this race.  Pacing yourself is just as important in the Moonlight Run as it is in dating.

Too often people allow themselves to sprint through the beginning of a relationship, blinded by their desire and hormones.  I've done it myself and I've seen it done many times by others.  You ignore your priorities to spend more time with said someone, you ditch your friends and previous plans, you become irrational in thought, word, and deed.  You compromise your calm and constant pace in a sprint for split second satisfaction.  The unfortunate part is that more often than not, by the time any runner or relationship reaches the bottom of the hill, if they had been sprinting they most likely won't be able to carry on very efficiently much longer.  Sprinting this hill is the easy thing to do in both the race and a relationship.

Pacing yourself is vital if you want to enjoy the rest of the race.  Exercise a little self control.  Remember your real priorities like school, family, and work.  Play hard to get.  Make time for your friends.  Stay focussed on your goals.  Think about the here and now, not the wedding bells and baby names.  If anything, pacing yourself makes you more attractive and sets the stage for a lasting relationship instead of a crazy, whirlwind affair.  Take it from me, you do not want to sprint the beginning of the Moonlight Run, and you do not want to sprint through the beginning of a relationship.  You merely set yourself up for sore legs or a sore heart.