How To Find The Right Hiking Pace

After 8 years of hiking and trekking in different destinations, on different trails, and for different reasons, I’ve been able to work a lot on the art of Pace. In hiking and trekking, pace is nearly as important as drinking water and sleeping well. While hiking, we always say things like, “It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon”, “It is about the journey, not the destination”, and “POLE POLE” (Slowly Slowly in Swahili). All these sayings represent the same mindset of going slow, appreciating your surroundings, and conserving energy to reach a bigger goal.

As Team Leaders And Guides

We want everyone to have a good time, be present, and have enough time to recover. A slow and steady pace is always the answer as it gives a chance for experienced/fast people to reserve some energy for later days or for summit pushes and provides an opportunity for less experienced/slower people to recover and cross greater distances without burning out. On a macro scale as a group, keeping everyone together is always safer and much more fun so we are talking WIN WIN WIN for everyone!

A Message To The Faster Folks

We know you’re fit. We know you’re excited, and we know that King Kong has nothing on you! KIDDING… Take this as an opportunity to practice a few things you might be missing if you are going too fast: Patience, following instructions, being in the moment, breathing techniques, covering more ground while still having the energy to do more, taking more pictures and memories, enjoying the views, having meaningful conversations, and last but not least motivate and inspire the less experienced. By the end of the day, hiking/trekking with a group is a whole new different experience for most of us regardless of our fitness levels and we all have something to learn from ourselves, from each other, from the mountain and from the slowing down.

A Message To The First-Timers

We always take things step by step, day by day, goal by goal, and having a slow steady pace helps us achieve these small goals. You might feel shy by going slow or pressured by time. You might start comparing your experience to others! NONE OF THAT MATTERS. In group hikes/treks, the pace is set by the slowest person on the team, so if you think about it we are all thankful to you and not the other way around.

How I Practiced My Pace

Let’s get to the real reason behind my slow and steady pace approach. My experience with pace started with many mistakes especially when my first couple of trips I was keen on going fast no matter what, which wasn’t suitable for me. I read a lot and started syncing my steps with my breath inhaling and exhaling with each step as the trail gets steeper the breath gets deeper or even double and the pace. Focusing on controlling the breath is key to finding the pace that’ll enable you to go the distance. The second phase was monitoring my heart rate with the breathing technique to figure out my own patterns. The last step was taking all these numbers and adapting them to the Treadmill and Stairmaster at the gym. Going for long steady hours on the stair master and the treadmill really helps you adapt to different trails and helps when you are forced to go on autopilot, especially on summit pushes or stressful and demanding sections.