Whip It Good

There's a reason for the saying, "Whip you into shape". This exercise thing takes discipline!

The United States Marine Corps states that "Discipline is the instant willingness and obedience to all orders, respect for authority, self reliance and teamwork. The ability to do the right thing even when no one is watching or suffer the consequences of guilt which produces pain in our bodies, through pain comes discipline."

You got that right. Why would we choose that???

Discipline is all about choices, though. Saying no to some and yes to others. Or saying yes and feeling no. Or saying no and knowing you should say yes. Life is about this, too. Hmmm, running as metaphor again.

How is it remotely possible to have any kind of discipline and make good choices during Christmas? I was doing reasonably well before the holidays but when you have a plate of perogies (with fried onions, butter, and sour cream, natch) in front of you it's HARD to stick to the right diet. And when there are Hugh Grant movie marathons every second day it's a CHALLENGE to get your butt out the door and on to the running path. And when you finally have time to read trashy gossip rags it's IMPOSSIBLE to write a literate blog.

How is discipline different from commitment or routine? Can you be committed to something but have no discipline (which seems to be where I'm at)? Is keeping a routine a discipline? I like routine in some aspects of my life, like flossing just before bed. If I don't build some activities into a routine they don't get done. I don't know how to make running routine yet, though. There's a lot involved in it. Clothes and water and nutritional supplements. Having something to eat right after a run. Not planning anything afterward because you know you’re going to have brutal, sweaty headband hair.

I think I could be disciplined about it if I had less things going on in my life. An ongoing challenge for me. I'm being punished for my lack of discipline, though (and for a few deadly holiday sins). My knee hurts again. Triggered by a 16km run (ahem). Which just tells me I'm not training enough. I'm doing the bare minimum and it's not paying off.

Disciple and discipline are obviously connected. A disciple is “a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other wise figure”. Maybe that's my problem! I need a wise figure! There is some guy named John Stanton, founder of some Running Room thing. Wrote some books. I could try him. Or Forrest Gump. "That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run."

There is little logic to this whole running thing. Maybe I have to stop looking for it and just do it. Maybe that’s the discipline I need to progress.

And maybe I just need to keep this in mind: "And when I got there, I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well turn around, just keep on going.”

# of km this week = 0!!!!! (The knee. But I did try the Elliptical for the first time)
# of hills = 0 (just the stairs up to the TV room)
# of meals today = 56
# of days until my half marathon race = 39!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To check out L'Arche, go to www.larchecalgary.org
To check out the marathon, go to www.marathondumedoc.com
To donate to my efforts, go to www.canadahelps.org/gp/5210