London Marathon #14: 7 weeks to go

Sometimes ideas or messages seem to come to us in clusters. That's what happened to me last week. My sister (see below) is my mirror, she reads my blogs and gives me feedback before I publish, or she sends me quotes, or comments that might give me inspiration. This week she sent me a card that asked the question, "What is something you will regret not doing in your life?" Then, listening to a podcast this week, the guest shared some data about people's thoughts on regrets at the end of life. Apparently, most people have regrets not about what they have done, but about what they haven't done. Then, one of the iFit trainers referred to a quote often attributed to the Victorian novelist George Eliot (who was actually a woman), "It's never too late to become the person you might have been." No regrets, right? Spooky!

More after a rundown of last week's completed program:

• Tuesday: Tempo run, Waterline Road, Flagstaff, Arizona. This run was 11km, done at a bit faster pace than I will be running the marathon.

• Wednesday: Walk, Colca Canyon, Peru. Walking at a brisk pace for 50 minutes. This helps with recovery for the next hard session. Colca Canyon (see below) is the second deepest canyon in the world, at some points 2000 metres deep. In the caves around the Colca Valley there are paintings and carvings that date back more than 7,000 years, depicting hunting scenes, foxes, human figures, birds, even the southern cross constellation. The deepest canyon in the world is Yarlung Zangbo in Tibet, 5,300 metres deep at some points.

• Thursday: Interval run, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. This run involved 20 minutes of 1:1 intervals, alternating fast and moderate paces for 60 seconds each, followed by a 10-minute interval at fast pace, followed by a 2-minute slow-paced recovery, then 3 x thirty second intervals at very past pace, finishing with a 5-minute interval at moderate pace. Distance covered, not including a 10-minute cool down, was 9km.

• Friday: Walk, streets of Paris. Walking at a brisk pace for 50 minutes.

• Saturday: Long run, Chicago, USA. I did this one as a progressive run, the majority at an easy pace and for the last 25 minutes running at the pace I will be doing for the marathon. Total of 29km.

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

• Monday: Walk, sights of London. Walking at a brisk pace for 50 minutes.

This week's self-leadership lesson has been two-fold. First lesson: My sister reminded me that daring to be vulnerable makes you more real and accessible to other people. I had drafted my blog about regret, it had stuff about things you might want to think about or questions you might want to ask yourself, like, "Is there something you have always wanted to do?", "Are there relationships you need to put attention on?" Blah, blah, blah. Her feedback, which I value highly, was: "You need to talk about yourself, use yourself as an example, that's what people relate to." So that's what I have done...

Second lesson: Avoiding regret is within our own control. I have, for as long as I can remember, wanted to write a book. It seems like such a cliche and that's part of the reason why I didn't want to use myself as an example, the other part is that I haven't succeeded yet. Anyway, my sub-major in my undergraduate degree was actually English Literature. I love books and I love writing. So, I attempted over many years to get a start on a book based on my father's life. I couldn't do it. I felt like a try-hard and a fraud, "Who do I think I am?"

Yes! My life has been crazy busy forever, but I don't think it was about having the time, it was about having the mental space. Recent circumstances, past 12 months, have resulted in me having more time and more brain space to tap into my creativity and I am 55,000 words into my book. I knooooow! I am enjoying it sooo much. I'm having wonderful conversations with both my mum and my dad about their lives and, through my research, learning so much about the social history of Australia.

I would deeply regret never having had a red hot go at writing a book. I'm not there yet, it may be terrible, but the process is everything.

I think it's helpful to turn the adage "Life is too short for regrets" on its head, to something like, "Life is long enough to make sure you have no regrets."

"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending." - Carl Bard