Oh, The Discipline!

Before I signed up for this Sprint Triathlon (please note that it is indeed a SPRINT Triathlon, not an Olympic or Ironman, there's a big difference), I was at Bible study talking to some folks about it, mulling over whether or not I should register, when Greg mentioned that I should do it, simply because I'd blog about it. Honestly, in the next few months I'm not sure how much I will actually blog about, and not for lack of material, but more so because my time from here on out will be spent training for said Triathlon.

I've never trained for anything even remotely close to this before, so I can imagine that come January, it is going to take over my life. Stink, it's not even January and I can't sleep well at night unless I've gotten in my run for the day.

In case you were wondering, I'm not the athletic type.

I may appear to have played sports growing up, and while I have the height to do it, I chose music over every other sport.

That, my friends, is why I'm obsessive over it.

Can I do it? Yes. Can I finish it? Yes. Will I win it? Probably not. Is my goal to win? No. My goal is to finish. And finish well.

In order to finish well, however, I need to be prepared.

There are so many reasons why I'm excited about this challenge. First off, I don't challenge myself near enough. If I'm not challenging myself to grow whether it be mentally, spiritually or physically, am I really changing, or am I just continuing to stay the same?

Secondly, I have a goal to do this race and to finish well and I'm really looking forward to accomplishing that goal. I know that crossing that finish line will be so sweet.

Thirdly, I am looking forward to some self-discipline. Quite frankly, this does not come naturally to me. It's something I have to really work at, and now I have no excuse but to be disciplined.

What will this look like? For me, it will be less time on facebook, twitter, blogging, TV, sleeping, going to bed earlier, waking up earlier, eating healthier and so on a so forth. A little balance can be a very good thing.

I've heard before that those that train for a marathon or half-marathon often are built up spiritually as well, because of said discipline, and if that's the truth, sign me up! Although no discipline is fun at the time, it is only for our good.

Here's the deal, if a contestant on Biggest Loser can run a marathon after being obese, I can certainly finish a 500 meter swim, a 12.5 mile bike ride and a 3.1 mile run. It's doable, but how well I do is determined by my training and self-discipline.

Already, not even two weeks into it, I can see how much I'm going to have to die to myself and my selfish ways in order to do this, and although it sounds weird, I'm already looking forward to it.

Although I don't see this being the start of something new, or the catalyst to being a triathlete, I want to change. I want to grow. To grow and change we need to be challenged. Let's all challenge ourselves in something this coming year. Maybe it will be reading a book a month. Maybe it will be memorizing scripture. Maybe it will be going to bed earlier. I'm personally challenging myself to all of those.

Who knows, by April 9th, I may be a completely different person.

It's amazing what one goal will do to you. Or how one goal can change you.