The Power of Pacing

09/21/23

Any distance runner or swimmer can tell you the importance of pacing for a race or event. Pacing as an athlete is learning how to appropriately manage one’s energy in a race to be successful. Pacing at a championship level requires a clear understanding of the race in front of you to be able to make a strategic plan to excel. Setting the right pace for any given race also requires logging long and strenuous hours of training to prepare for the competition ahead.

Just like it is not advisable for a runner to start a marathon without setting a pace for the race, neither should an athlete go into their competition or daily lives without establishing a healthy “mental pace.”

Physical pacing race refers to an athlete physically managing their energy in a race, similarly “mental pacing” can be understood as the practice of effectively managing your mental and emotional energy as an athlete.

In my work with athletes, to set the foundation for our work together I remind them of an obvious but often bypassed principle that at the start of every day you ONLY have 100% in the tank to work from (no more and no less). The question is how are you going to most effectively use that 100% each day? The root of this principle is based in the importance of athletes setting the “mental pace” for every area of their lives.

Because athletes are so driven, many have the tendency to go full throttle in their personal, athletic, and academic lives. While operating like this has many benefits in the short term to athletes’ achieving success, it also can become a weakness long-term due to running the risk of burning through their gas tank too quickly. I think this process is the undercurrent that leads to burnout for many athletes. This is why teaching our athletes about the necessity of “mental pacing” is critical.

The nuts and bolts of athletes establishing “mental pacing” in their world looks like first taking an honest assessment about how they are using the gas in their tank throughout the day. I like to use a pie chart to help my athletes visually see the percentage breakdown for themselves as to where and how much energy they are allocating to each area of their lives. For many, this process alone is often a wake-up call, because it reveals where they might be burning too much mental energy in the wrong area. This helps the athlete slow down to consider where their mental energy needs to be paced and placed in a different space moving future. Next, we explore what the “ideal” breakdown of their daily energy would look like, and hone in on a couple small, concrete and doable steps they can take to work towards achieving a version closer to their “ideal.” On a practical level, this is what “mental pacing” in action could look like for an athlete.

Athletes’ physical and mental energy is being stretched to its limit every day. This is why it is crucial to be cognizant of ways we can help athletes learn to “mentally pace” their precious minutes, hours, and days. Mental pacing paves the way for athletes to yield success and wellness in the most efficient and effective way possible.