Discipline + I’m getting old

doctorate, fitness, living, running, self, self-care

Could it be once you hit my age (sub-40), you just can’t expect to run without any pain?

Since early November, I’ve not run, not played volleyball, worn a brace, diligently gone to PT and practiced the exercises, included strength training as a staple to my routine, and began an ice rolling regimen. What more can I do?!

Perhaps daily activities sans pain is unrealistic. Perhaps this is the new norm. Perhaps I didn’t take adequate care of myself in yesteryears so I’m paying for it now. Whatever it is.

As the pain persists, there is concern of an unrealized issue. Good thing I haven’t replaced all my permanent jewelry yet because more scans might be in the near future.

As for Strava (in the photo above), it’s really very difficult to adequately increase my fitness level at such a time as this. For instance, it takes approximately 10 days at an average of 6 hrs per day to finish a dissertation chapter. And how do I know this? Because I just spent approximately 60 hours with a discipline I never knew I had, diligently writing. And writing. And writing some more.

Fortunately, there’s only 1 chapter remaining and I have 18 days to complete it. Fitness will just have to wait, but I wasn’t betting I could run anyway.

_______________

I ask you –

Is no pain actually normal?

How do I get to that point?

Tell me about a time your discipline surprised you!

(The post Discipline + I’m getting old first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

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Hi! As a prior United States Navy servicemember, I enjoy sharing the way it has changed my life and my deep appreciation of fitness and health. My hope is this journey will be funny, emotional, and inspiring! -Kelly

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7 thoughts on “Discipline + I’m getting old”

  2. I’m in a bit of a fitness lull too. Not sure why but there never seems to be enough time to do anything. Also, I probably could benefit from better time management.
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    During my dissertation writing stage my “discipline” simply was “get it done” because I about three months to write my dissertation. Good luck with the remaining 18 days of dissertation writing.

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    1. On one hand I do not want to make this suggestion, but on the other hand, I’m like screw it. If possible, I would not worry too much about getting the dissertation perfect, because your committee probably will have edits and corrections…if they even thoroughly read it. While I was giving my public defense presentation, I remember looking into the audience and seeing TWO of my committee members STILL reading my dissertation. To make matters even more annoying, I could not start the private defense for 45-60 min bc they hadn’t finished reading the damn thing.

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      2. This probably will be outdated bc everything is digital nowadays. A prof in grad school gave us the following tip. After the university publishes your dissertation, find the hard copy it in the library, and put a $20 bill in the book. If you do this, you’ll always have money for lunch the next time you visit the university.

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