Some Thoughts On Discipline

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Okay, so I wrote this blog post that's really whiny and boring. If you have trouble sleeping, click on the "Read More" link and view the original post. Really, all I wanted to say was this:

I wish I could lose 4 pounds before Boston. Doing so would require me to alter my diet. I lack the discipline to do so. I wonder why? I can run 20 miles and not eat meat for 22 years but not eating rice or bread (or eating less of them) for three weeks is out of the question? 

How is that possible? Why can I be so hardcore disciplined in some areas of life and feel I have no control in others? 

That's all I really wanted to say. 

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A Character Building Run

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"That's a character building run." Those are the words my Boston marathon training partner Michael used to sum up today's 76 degree, full-sun, 13-mile run. They're much more positive and uplifting than my summary statement upon finishing which was, roughly, "F*@%." 

Two weeks to Boston. Am I ready? I approach any race with three goals - baby goal, do-able goal, and "the stars and planets must align but there's still a shot" goal. My goals for Boston are thus:

  • PLANETS ALIGNED: Beat my time in Chicago, so anything under a 3:44:02
  • DO-ABLE GOAL: Come in under 4 hours
  • BABY GOAL: Just finish
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The Last 20 Mile Training Run

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Sometimes when I'm running I compose blog posts in my head. I spent a couple of hours doing that yesterday. I was running for almost three hours as I completed the LAST (pause for trumpets blaring and crowd cheering) twenty-mile run of the training! Although my friend Michael and his daughter were running twenty as well, they were well over a mile ahead of me so I spent the three hours on my own.

Me being me, most of the material I'm mentally composing is sarcastic/funny. Jokes about the body falling apart, mental fatigue, the twenty bucks I offered the woman with the baby stroller to let me climb in with her toddler and push me up the hill, etc.

However, around mile 17, as I was jogging up yet another hill in Battleground Park, it occurred to me that even though I was aiming for funny, a lot of what I'd been thinking about that morning and what I'd been planning to write was, well... negative. So I asked myself, what's been good about this run? And the answers flowed in: 

  • It was perfect running weather. Sunny, 40's, and everything has started turning green
  • I got to pet a Great Dane
  • People were in great moods, smiling, nodding, and saying hello
  • As I jogged by a darling little girl and her dad he said, "Say hi to the runner," and she waved and whispered, "Hi."
  • I saw a poodle make a mad dash for freedom before her owner caught up to her and scooped her up, scolding her with kisses.
  • I felt like walking on several hills but pushed myself not to quit and I made it up and over without taking a break
  • I got to quickly see several friends out doing their runs as well
  • An orangish-red bird, very small, stayed with me for about a quarter mile, flitting from branch to branch just ahead of me
  • The sun on the lakes was beautiful

And finally, I ran yesterday's 20 miles at the same pace I ran the Chicago marathon and yesterday's run had a lot more hills than Chicago. I find this encouraging and hope it bodes well for my performance at Boston.

So sorry, no humor today. Just gratitude for a healthy body and a lifestyle that allows me to fit in running. I hope all of you reading found things to be grateful for in your weekend as well.

Cheers,

Dena

 

Just Your Typical Day

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Ever look up at the end of your workday and think, "Where did the time go?" I decided to track how I spent my time the other day and this blog post is the result. Enjoy. 
  • 6:30 AM - Day gets off to a sluggish start as I'd planned to be up by 5:30.
  • 7 - 8 AM - Try to work through e-mails while fighting off attempts of both cats to derail my productivity by insisting I give them lengthy backrubs. Cats - 598, Dena - 0.
  • 8:30 - 9 AM - Interview Barefoot Josh on my radio program this month.  
  • 9:15 - 12:30 - Write and edit ongoing book project
  • 12:30 - 1:30 - Revise index for my book due out in October
  • 1:30 PM - Consider fixing lunch but choose instead to wander through the kitchen every 10 minutes and stuff random handfuls of almonds, apples, cereal, bread with honey and granola bars down my throat instead. 
  • 1:40 - Stare longingly into cupboards, mentally wiling copious amounts of chocolate to appear
  • 1:45- 2 - Sulk in chair pretending to work, but really still thinking about chocolate
  • 2-2:45 - More book writing/editing
  • 2:45 - 3 - More sulking about the no chocolate thing
  • 3:30-4:30 - e-mail, admin work
  • 4:30 - decide there's no time like the present to paint the accent wall in the hall. We've selected a bright cheery yellow to compliment the orange because we like color
  • 5:30 - I still need to do my speed work on the treadmill, but I know I'll be to tired to cook dinner if I do and I don't want all the vegetables I bought to go to waste plus I really need to eat a healthy meal. Go ahead and cook dinner and place in fridge.
  • 6:15 - Convince myself it really won't take all that long to put a second coat of paint on the wall and better to just have it over and done with. Solid logic, except the wall is going to require a third coat. Bummer. 
  • 7:10 - Finally hit the treadmill for speedwork. 
  • 8:15 - Reheat dinner in the microwave (giving myself mental high-fives for having cooked in advance) then drag dinner plate, myself, and ice bags to the couch where I ice my knee and eat gobs of food as I watch The Biggest Loser.
  • 8:30 - Blair gets home. Having stayed in one spot for more than 10 minutes, I have lost all will and ability to move. After being at work all day, he cleans up the kitchen for me. The man is a saint. 
  • 10 - Bed. Bed, bed, bed. 
And that is where my day went. How about you?