Yesterday I ran 9 miles -- it's now 2 weeks of recovery since running the Houston Half Marathon. This weekend's long run was a unique approach. Without my running club, (The Keynan Way) to provide me all my usual 'running luxuries' (a monitored key box and some water along the route), I really felt compelled to find a unique way to discipline myself to get up and do the 9. So, I took my Garmin watch and plotted a 3 mile route from Mark's house to downtown at the Toyota Center. I rest for 30 minutes and then did the Rockets Run 5k, finished in 28:00, had a bite to eat and 30 min rest and then ran the 3 miles back home.
It wasn't a continuous run but I got all 9 in thanks to some creative discipline....
Fred Rogers was one of Public Television's greatest child heroes. His show, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood began airing in 1968 and has the distinction of being the longest running program on PBS; it ran for 998 episodes! The show closed in 2001 and Fred died in 2003. I remember one program where Mr Rogers spoke about "innner discipline". I came across it again recently in his book "The World According to Mister Rogers".
He says ... "What makes the difference between wishing and realizing our wishes? Lots of things, of course, but the may one, I think, is whether we link our wishes to our active work. It may take months or years, but it's far more likely to happen when we care so much that we'll work hard as we can to make it happen. And when wer'e working toward the realization of our wishes, some of our greatest strengths come from the encouragement of people who care about us."
Fred was right. I think about this in the context of life's struggles. We all have them. To overcome, to really achieve something great in life, one must have the courage, discipline and willingness to follow through despite the distractions or the bumps in the course.
My 9 miles weren't the fastest or the most graceful and nor may be my marathon. But finishing the job is what matters.