Discipline

Discipline is good for the soul. It can be empowering and rewarding.

Usually, for me anyway, discipline comes in the form of refraining from something or introducing something new into your life. During the next three months, I will do both.

When I've trained for half-marathons in the past, I've run when I want at the distance I want. Not this time. Starting this week, I will adhere to a training plan to improve my pace. Maybe I'll finish the Baltimore half-marathon faster than my best finishing time of 1'58". Then again, maybe I'll cross the finish line 10 or 15 minutes slower. I don't know what elements the weather will bring that day. But I want to commit to a plan that will make me feel good about myself at the end of the day. When I trained for the Twin Cities Marathon, I felt empowered with the knowledge that when I had to run 15 miles, I got my butt out of bed and did it.

Now for the sacrifice, I'm giving up candy. Knowing the bag of M&M's I ate this afternoon will be my last until Oct. 14 is hard to accept, but I have to say goodbye to candy, even hard candy (this is where I cheated in the past). This will be especially hard and necessary, because I sit next to the communal candy stash at the office. Ouch.

With discipline, as I wrote earlier, comes empowerment and rewards. And I'm very open to rewarding myself. If I run especially hard for a few weeks, I'm inclined to buy a new pair of running shorts. Who doesn't love an occasional pedicure? It's good for my battered feet. And I won't rule out sweets entirely. I still need my snickerdoodle cookies from time to time. If I cut candy, you can bet I'm going to buy a pastry to go along with that cup of coffee.

Ahh, discipline is good.