My friend Mike is not a runner, but he once finished a half-marathon in about the same time as his runner wife. Somewhat unremarkable, except that he walked most of it while she ran the entire race.
How did he do it?
Well given that he’s prone to lower back issues, he chose a quick walking pace for most of the course rather than to run it. When he approached a downhill section, he would sprint as fast as he could on the balls of his feet, lessening the impact to his spine. He would then resume his walking pace, continuing in this way until the race was finished. In other words, Mike defaulted to walking and chose to sprint when the opportunity presented itself.
What if we adopted an approach like this for our lives?
What if, rather than rushing through our days and weeks, running with an invisible hand at our backs prodding us onward, we chose to default to a pace of our own choosing? One that more approximated walking? And when necessary or desirable, we chose to sprint?
Too many of us are on a constant treadmill, running and rushing without giving serious thought as to why. And it’s because of this that so many people get burned out and can’t figure out what the problem is.
Speed is not the enemy — rushing is.
Speed is a decision that intentional, calm (read: walking) people should make. And when it’s time for speed and performance, the calm person should make the decision to go for it (read: sprint) and blow past those tired souls who are perpetually just rushing along. And then the calm, intentional person should default back to a walk. The Navy Seals have a saying: Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. For them, it means that taking the time to slowly and methodically plan movements and behaviors results in a smoothness of action that is lightning fast when needed. Rushing is never the right answer.
The important thing to remember here is that a sprint has a beginning and it has an ending. It’s a purposeful decision, and a sprint can be a time to shine and show what we can do. But we ought not stay there. By defaulting back to a proverbial walk—a place of intention, reason and calm—we are able to be more purposeful about how we invest our time and energy, and we have the reserves to perform at a high level when needed.