Discipline and self-control aren’t usually the popular choice. They are similar to basic, essential needs such as protein and water, yet people often get distracted by more appealing things such as flavor. They do, however, play a huge role in the active runner’s life. And those who choose to improve in these areas will promote higher performance running and an overall healthier, well being of life.
When I first started running, I needed to choose discipline. And I say “choose” rather than “have” for a reason. Just because we may not feel as if we were born with discipline doesn’t mean we have to use the excuse of “I can’t.” While it’s true that discipline can be very difficult, the “I can’t” is a lie. Perhaps the “I won’t” is more honest; and this is where self-control comes in, which we will get to in a moment. Discipline looks different for every person because we are all different—with different bodies, different limitations, and different desires. However, we each know best deep down whether we are truly giving it all we have or simply taking the easy way out. In order to improve our running or even begin to run in the first place it requires choosing discipline. Bringing ourselves out of our comfort zones.
To choose discipline is to tell yourself, “Even though I don’t feel like doing this, I’m going to anyways.” Because more often than not, staying comfortable won’t get us very far; it’ll leave us with a growth stunt. In the moment, discipline seems painful and unpleasant, but later it yields peaceful fruit. When we think of people we admire and look up to—people who are our heroes or we aspire to be—we notice these people because of the discipline they spoke into our lives whether verbally or through their actions. We watch from a distance in awe because they astound us in how they’ve gone perhaps further than we would have. It’s because of their encouragement, motivation, and reaping lessons they have learned we are able to strive for more. That is desiring discipline.
Self-control is equally important and works hand-in-hand with discipline. The difference between self-control and control in general is reality. The reality is, there are things in life we have no control over. Things we may wish we could change, but aren’t able to. This can cause a trap if we aren’t careful. We focus on the lie rather than the truth and before we know it, all our energy goes towards giving doubt and anger attention it doesn’t deserve. A lie may sound like “I can’t run in the rain” where the truth is “The rain makes running more challenging, but I will wear the proper equipment to continue my run.” I learned this lesson the hard way when I acquired my first running injury. I was pushing myself in an unhealthy manner with my running and eventually suffered from Jumper’s Knee. My doctor told me to relax on the running a bit and try aerobics like swimming or biking that were easier on the joints. I didn’t listen. I believed the lie that the only good workout was running and that I was a failure and a wimp for not being able to run anymore. I ran through the pain (smart in some cases of conditioning, but not so much when you’re injured). My Jumper’s Knee did not heal and turned into even more painful shin splints. Because of this, I was banned from running as I could barely walk. It was a long, painful healing process before I was back to the grind.
Having discipline gives us the wisdom we need to discern right from wrong, healthy from unhealthy, and strength from weakness. Having self-control gives us the endurance we need to push through to achieve what is good, right, true, and healthy. Combining the two not only gives us power over our running lives, but also makes us stronger.
