Lets talk Discipline

"Bryce...Bryce doesn't like to practice.  Bryce doesn't like to run, or do push-ups..." 

All I could do was laugh.  In front of all of my teammates and their parents (and even worse, MY parents) at the end of the year dinner for my soccer team, the only thing my coach had to say about me was that I griped a lot about physical activity.  Story of my life.

I am the youngest of three, with two older sisters.  You could say I was the prime definition of the "little brother."  If there was a short-cut to take, I had it mastered.  If there was a way to dump work on someone else or could mooch off of a classmate, there I was--leaching off of lab partner after lab partner.  By the way, thanks Alex.  I owe you my diploma.  The bottom line is that my #1 battle in life is laziness.  Given the option to lay around all day, I would...If I could somehow get paid for it.  TV Critic would have been my best career option.

Developing a plan of action is difficult for anyone, even those with "unbridled enthusiasm" or tons of ambition.  Planning takes commitment, dedication, and most of all--Discipline.

Over the past 5 weeks, I have kept to my running schedule of four days a week.  I have a sixteen-week calendar I am following (courtesy of marathonrookie.com), and so far have not allowed myself to stray from it.  But keeping up with the running is the easy part.  All this training is not only for a race, it's a change in lifestyle, a realignment of priorities.  Multiple aspects of daily life need to change: diet, sleeping habits, cross-training, hydration....the list goes on and on. 

I had McDonalds today.  I had Wendy's on Tuesday.  Tonight, I had waffles, cinnamon french toast, and bacon for dinner.  Not exactly what I should be going for, right?  I also skipped my strength-training I had scheduled on my calendar...twice this week.

A change in lifestyle takes both time and effort, and I'm learning that I have to be gracious with myself.  Working out and running take a good two-hour chunk out of my day that I used to have for other activities...which I'm now having a hard time finding a place for in my schedule.  There needs to be a balance to everything, including working out and diet.  I don't know if I can bear the though of never eating another Jet's 8-corner pizza ever again.  *sigh*

Tomorrow I get a rest from running, and Saturday it's a full 8 miles.  It's time to think about getting some new shoes...