London Marathon #11: 10 weeks to go

The self-leadership advice that stood out to me in one of this week's sessions was about not forcing an outcome. We can try so hard to achieve something, be so quick to respond to an issue or feel we have to immediately resolve a problem, we can actually diminish the result.

It made me think of the famous Beatles song, "Let it Be", written by Paul McCartney for their final album of the same title. McCartney has said that the inspiration for the song came from a dream he had when he was feeling troubled. He envisaged his mother, Mary, who had passed away ten years prior, telling him to, "Let it be, it's going to be OK." More about "letting it be" after a summary of last week's sessions:

• Tuesday: Tempo run, Los Gigantes, Tenerife. The translation of the name of this town is "The Giants", referring to the huge rock formations that rise up from the sea (see below). This run was 12km, done at a bit faster pace than I will be running the marathon.

• Wednesday: Walk, Hang Gai, Vietnam. Walking at a brisk pace for 50 minutes. This helps with recovery for the next hard session.

• Thursday: Interval run, Lake Furnas, Azores. This run involved ascending speed/ descending duration intervals with 2 minutes of recovery between each interval. The first interval was 10 mins in duration at 12 km/h, the final interval was 30 seconds in duration at 18 km/h. Distance covered, not including a 10-minute cool down, was 11km.

• Friday: Walk, Herastrau Park, Romania. Walking at a brisk pace for 50 minutes.

• Saturday: Long run, Virginia Beach, USA and Misterios do Sul do Pico, Azores. This session has two different runs. I did this one as a progressive run, starting off easy and building to the pace I will be doing for the marathon for the last 60 minutes. Total of 26km.

• Sunday: Easy run around the streets of town. This run is done at a very easy pace, 12km.

• Monday: Walk, Echo Lake, Lake Tahoe. Walking at a brisk pace for 50 minutes.

You know how when you are trying to recall something, a name, a song, a movie title, the harder you try the further the "something" slips away from you. Then you stop thinking about it, go on to another activity or thought and bang, it comes to you. Or when you are wrestling with a complex issue that seems too hard to navigate, your thoughts are jumbled, you're frustrated, then you "sleep on it", and somehow your mind has found clarity, new pathways, potential solutions. How many relationship issues are escalated by our propensity to respond in the heat of the moment? It unfolds so differently when circumstances dictate that we can't respond immediately, we have time to calm down, to process, to empathise, to envision a better outcome, then respond in a more mature and thoughtful way.

It sounds counter intuitive, but it seems our brain does its best work when we are relaxed, when we are not trying too hard and stressing ourselves out, when we just "let it be". Of course, there are times when acting quickly is an imperative but otherwise creating a gap between stimulus and response produces superior outcomes. Stephen Covey captured this beautifully in "The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People" (see diagram below). The point he makes is that as human beings we don't have the power to control everything in life, but we do have the freedom to choose our response. The quality of the response will be proportionate to the gap between stimulus and response (obviously with limitations). In that space, we apply self-awareness, imagination and presence to the situation, bringing forward the best version of ourselves.

"Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer" - William Burroughs