Patience and Discipline

"They" say that Ironman is a life changing experience. "They", whoever they are, are correct. I suppose that I have been going through growing pains, a mid-life crisis, acceptance of self or whatever you want to call it for the past few years. Something about hitting 40 and having 2 little kids and wondering what it is all about was really a challenge for me to get through. I feel that I have been working my way through this very, very slowly and I have wondered if I would ever come out on the other side of it and if I did, would I do it unscathed? Even if wounded, would I come out a better person?

I finally came out on the other side when I crossed that finish line on August 30, 2009. I had set a goal to become an Ironman and I had achieved it. I acheived it by a means very unlike anything else I had achieved in my life. I asked for advice, I actually listened and took it, and I showed 2 characteristics that I seldom displayed before: Patience and Discipline. One of the coaches I use at Endurance Nation thinks those 2 things are so big in Ironman that he writes those words on the inside of his forearms so he can see it while he is doing his race. Not only are these two things key to being successful in an Ironman race, I have also learned that they are key to success in life and two qualities that I have lacked most of mine!

Patience: 1. The capacity for calmly enduring difficult situations. 2. The ability to calmly wait for something to happen without complaining or giving up.

Patience has always been thin with me. Not so much with others but with myself and my goals and accomplishments. As Yoda once told the Jedi Apprentice Luke Skywalker "Never your mind on where you were. What you were doing. Adventure, excitement....A Jedi craves not these things" In an Ironman race, you have to be focused on the moment. As Coach Rich says "Stay in your box". You can't care what others are doing, you can't care that some guy is blowing past you on the hills- you have to stay in your box and stick to your execution plans no matter what everyone else is doing. Rarely in my life have I focused on the here and now. I have looked past what I have in the moment to what I could have "if only". Living for today and being present for the life that is going on around you and appreciating it really is one of the keys to happiness.

Discipline : 1. Training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior, especially training that produces mental or moral improvement. 2. Controlled behavior resulting from disciplinary training: self-control.

Discipline. Ok, I still lack a lot of this in many, many ways but I was able to display discipline on August 30th by sticking to my plan and keeping my mental focus even when my body wanted to call it a day at mile 20. I had the discipline to ride my bike below what I could have done in order to achieve my desired end result. I knew that if I rode my bike at the speed that I could have, I would have been walking the marathon and not running (well, ok, jogging anyway) it.
I am becoming more disciplined in my training everyday and as I become more disciplined, I continue to show signs of improvement. That also translates to my 'real' life as well. As I try to practice more discipline in my job by procrastinating less, the office runs smoother. As I am more disciplined with my training diet, the inches start to fall off. I can't seem to get very disciplined about laundry and house cleaning though. I think I just need to find a maid and get more disciplined in balancing my budget so I can be sure to pay that bill! There are just so many hours in a day no matter how freaking disciplined you can be! Ok, if I were more disciplined I guess I would be cleaning my house and not writing this blog, right? Oh wait, I just need more patience when it comes to expecting discipline from myself!!