I need to pace myself.

Hey guys, do you know what the word pace means?


It is like a step, the distance you walk in one step. So it can be used to talk about your speed:

He moves at a quick pace.

He moves quickly. In Japanese, ハイペース

He moves at a snails pace.

He moves slowly. A snail is,  螺 in Japanese a snail's pace is translated as a cow's pace! 牛歩 (ぎゅうほ).

These days, life is moving at a fast pace.

These days, life is moving quickly.

He does things at his own pace.

He does things at his own speed. In Japanese this is what you call:  マイペース 

When I jog I try to move at a steady pace.

This means I try to move at the same speed.


As a verb, it means to walk back and forth usually due to stress or nervousness.

A: Why is he pacing?

B: His wife is giving birth!

Can you guess what the title means now? It means that you shouldn't rush, you should slow down and move at steady pace. Think about being at an all-you-can-eat buffet. If you rush and eat a lot quickly you will get sick and not eat so much. So someone will say:

You need to pace yourself.

Meaning don't rush!


Phil