A few months ago, while scrolling Instagram, I came across a post from a fellow runner detailing why she would no longer be sharing her paces/times from her runs.  I can’t remember for the life of me who it was but that’s really not important.  Her thoughts were fair and her meaning was well intentioned – in the end it seemed like she didn’t want to share her pace because she didn’t want anyone to compare themselves to her and possibly feel bad.  She also made the (very valid) point that runs aren’t always about pace.  What is a “good” pace vs a “bad” pace? Is there an answer to that? Somedays

It got me thinking, should I stop sharing my paces and times? Am I hurting other people’s feelings?  Am I putting too much emphasis on my pace? Should I start documenting runs as “felt good” or “that was hard” instead of recording my speed?  Because it’s true – sometimes an easy 9:20 paced run can feel amazing, but sometimes it can be a complete struggle.

But ultimately, after a little bit of thought though I decided no. I’m not going to stop sharing my times and paces.  And here’s why:

I started Multiples and Miles (both the blog and my Instagram page) in November of 2016 as a way to motivate myself.  Along with documenting my adventures as a twin mom and sharing the occasional recipe, I wanted a place to track my fitness progress! I love that I can scroll back through these posts and my IG feed to see my triumphs and frustrations.

Scrolling back allows me to see that one year ago I ran 5 miles with the double stroller at a 9:51 avg pace.  And today? I ran 6 miles with the stroller at a 9:29 avg pace.  To see that I feel nothing but excitement knowing how far I’ve come!

Sure, I’ve had ups and downs along the way.  I’ve still had my fair share of hard days and tough runs.  But in the end, there’s no matter which way you slice it – I’ve gotten faster. My overall average paces (both solo and with the stroller) have gotten WAY faster and my race times have gone down.  Which to me shows two things: I’ve gotten stronger and I’ve gotten tougher. My muscles are stronger which help me run faster, but also my mind has gotten tougher which helps me push myself more. I don’t hide in my comfort zone – I push my pace and I challenge myself.

I do want to be clear though, that if seeing my paces makes you feel bad about yourself – please unfollow me.  I am not here to make anyone feel less than 100 percent.  I’m here to show how a regular run-of-the-mill twin mom gets it done on a daily basis.  I’m here to motivate myself, and if that helps motivate others well then that’s a bonus! But I am certainly not here to hurt anyone or cause anyone to compare themselves to me.

All that being said, I’ll be posting paces for as long as I can see.  I want to continue pushing myself. I want to get faster and stronger and tougher.  I’m here to track my progress so that I can continuously look back to see how far I’ve come – and remind myself I can go further.