I’ve been asking myself that question for a while now, and I’m still not sure of the answer.

Like many runners, I use a tracker app when I go running. This app tracks my route and time, which then give me my overall pace. It also has this great invention called Auto Pause, where it pauses tracking me when I stop running and resumes when I do.   It’s great when I am forced to stop, like at a traffic light for example.

But when I’m struggling with a run and I know I’m slowing down, the temptation to just stop is really strong.  Because if I stop then AutoPause kicks in and my overall time and pace isn’t affected by the time I spent resting.

That’s not an honest representation of my running abilities though, is it?

Which is why sometimes it’s a struggle to keep going even when I know my pace is slow and my overall time won’t be the best.  It’s a struggle because of course what I want is to always improve. I want to run faster and further than my previous run but on those days when I know that I can’t, it’s tempting to stack the deck so to speak and take advantage of Auto Pause.

On one hand, I tell myself to keep going, that a slow run is better than no run while on the other hand a little voice in my head says there’s nothing wrong with stopping to rest and who’s going to know anyway?

So what I’ve discovered in myself is an entirely different kind of discipline that I didn’t know I’d need. For me, it takes discipline to accept the slow runs and just keep going, no matter how much I may want to stop. It takes discipline to keep myself from exploiting the Auto Pause and discipline to stay running, no matter how slowly.

So is Auto Pause my friend for forcing me to fight temptation and keep moving, keep doggedly putting one foot in front of the other? Or is it my foe for tempting me in the first place?

What are your thoughts? Have you ever been tempted to use Auto Pause to your advantage? Let me know in the comments below!