While hiking or snowshoeing with Jim and Roli, I often struggle to keep up with their pace. When we start out, we are one behind the other, seemingly walking together at the same speed. If Jim is walking with Roli, they quickly get ahead. (Possibly because Roli pulls like a freight train.) If I don’t make a concerted effort to keep up, they sometimes leave me in the dust.
I have sometimes found this frustrating and would feel annoyed with myself because I couldn’t keep up. As a result, I started trying to follow Jim’s footsteps and his pace. I could do it for a little while, but after a few minutes, my steps no longer matched his and I started to fall behind again. Not to mention, it took a lot more effort and started to detract from my enjoyment of the walk as I was now struggling to keep walking at his pace, not mine.
Lately, I’ve taken a different approach… I might sometimes try and match steps with Jim for a short while, seeing it as a fun challenge, but after a few minutes I just let myself settle into my own pace. Since I like to stop from time to time and take in the scenery and stillness of the forest, I sometimes fall behind. Instead of pushing myself to keep up all the time, I now enjoy my own pace. I know we all end up in the same spot a bit further ahead, even if it takes me a little bit longer. If I really want to get ahead, I can take the leash and let Roli pull me along for a while.
Do you follow someone else’s pace or are you comfortable finding your own?
Good point. Especially with the Universal problem of “Men being from Mars & Women from Venus”… keeping up with a longer legged, ego-driven man is challenging. 😁
Communication, compromising and keeping a sense of humor definitely helps! We need to know our limits and keep trying to do our best. Above all, keep laughing and walk with a girlfriend now & then. 😉