Off the Mat Moms-Lesson 4: Tapas (Discipline)

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, it’s time to get down to business.  Although I try to avoid thinking about the holidays until after the four-day weekend is over, I admit, in recent days I’ve made mental gift lists, touched base with relatives to plan get-togethers, volunteered for the school’s Christmas craft fair and attended my hometown’s annual holiday parade.    It seems no matter how hard I try to push it back, the holidays arrive the second the last of the turkey is cleared from the Thanksgiving table.

It’s not that I don’t like the holidays.  I do!  But I feel the stress of social obligations, school events, family tension, and the pressure to teach my kids the real meaning of Christmas, all the while dodging bon bons and cheese balls everywhere I turn.  Perhaps the gastronomical nightmare that defines the five weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s will actually be my saving grace from all other stresses this year.

You see, on Thanksgiving Day, I joined 999 other runners on the 1st Annual Turkey Trot course in nearby Portsmouth NH.  It was a fun and healthy way to kick off the eating season.  It was inspiring to run alongside so many other health-minded folks on a cold and damp holiday morning.  I spent the rest of the day feeling energized, relaxed and free to enjoy homemade, traditional Thanksgiving fare like roasted turkey, mashed potatoes and baked apple pie.

Normally it is the New Year’s holiday which leads us to think about making healthy changes to our diets and establishing fitness goals.  Certainly Thanksgiving is not the time when most decide to take on a major challenge.  But this weekend, as I think about the turkey trot and how amazing I feel after completing a challenging, community-oriented road race, it hits me.  The answer to holiday stress is to keep myself in balance with diet, exercise, and rest.  Often we’re so busy with the hustle and bustle of the season, we let our workouts slide, we sleep less or we cheat more often than we play by the nutritional rules.

This year I’m determined not to let the holidays create more stress than joy.  For that reason, I’ve decided to commit myself to training for a New Year’s Day 10k.  Training three to four times per week will keep me focused on fitness throughout the holidays, and the exercise will allow me to blow off steam from stressful obligations and feed my need to keep my own holiday priorities in mind.

There is no doubt I will need TAPAS, the sankrit term for discipline, on my side if I am really to stick to this plan.  But one of my greatest personal strengths is self-discipline.  When I set my mind on something, I find the drive to accomplish my goals.  Whether it was landing a dream internship in college, losing 35 pounds ten years ago, or recently teaching myself how to be my own IT administrator for this blog, I have the determination I need, as long as I care enough about the goal.

After the 10k on January 1st, I am considering attempting a half-marathon on February 21st.  I have not quite convinced myself of this yet.  It’s one step at a time, and I know that.  But I’m open to it.  As crazy as it sounds to me right now, I know how the feeling of accomplishing the 10k will feel, and so therefore, I believe it’s possible I could find the TAPAS within myself to make the half-marathon a reality.

Have you ever set your mind on something seemingly crazy, just to test your strength and your self-discipline?  What did you learn?  Did you surprise yourself with the result?  I’d love to hear about it.  Especially because I need a little convincing that I can do the same!

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