London Marathon #15: 6 weeks to go

This past long weekend my training program needed to be flexible to accommodate my daughter Charlotte's Volleyball Tournament in Warrnambool. I did my long run on Friday morning, and a couple of my walk days became driving days. I did have an amazing run along the beach at Warrnambool, my old stomping ground (I grew up along the south coast not far from Warrnambool). This week's self-leadership lesson is about the importance of dedication and being prepared to get out of your comfort zone, it is inspired by Charlotte's volleyball journey. First, the program completed last week:

• Tuesday: Tempo run, Sajama National Park, Bolivia. This run was 12km, done at a bit faster pace than I will be running the marathon.

• Wednesday: Walk, East End, London. Walking at a brisk pace for 50 minutes. This helps with recovery for the next hard session.

• Thursday: Interval run, Azores. This run involved 17 x 1:1 intervals, alternating fast and moderate paces for 90 seconds each. Distance covered, not including a 10-minute cool down, was 10km.

• Friday: Long run, London, England. This run followed part of the London Marathon course. It was a progressive run, the majority at an easy pace and the last 50 minutes running the pace I will be doing for the marathon. Total of 31km.

• Saturday: No run or walk, drove to the Volleyball Tournament.

• Sunday: Progressive 9km run, along the beach at Warrnambool. Started slow and finished at a very fast pace for the last 4km.

• Monday: No run or walk, 6-hour drive home from the Volleyball Tournament.

Charlotte became interested in volleyball when she was very young. We set up a net in the backyard so she could practice, which she did regularly. Once she was old enough, she was able to join a local junior training group, where she was taken under the wing of an elite female player. The first team she played in was a mixture of older highly skilled players and several younger novices. The older players nurtured, encouraged and coached the younger players, making a huge difference to their confidence, skill level and understanding of the game. It was great to see.

Over the past few years, she has consistently attended training, tried out for and gained a place in a third-tier regional team that plays in the Victorian State competition and helped coach younger players locally. She also gained her referee qualification. This year she is being considered for the second-tier team, the youngest player in the group. Several people I spoke to at the Warrnambool Tournament commented on how much she has improved. Charlotte has been extremely dedicated, but she has also been out of her comfort zone on many occasions, and I think this is what I am most proud of. Even when she feels she is out of her depth or not good enough, she soldiers on.

It has been Charlotte's vision, determination and dedication that means she is playing the sport she always wanted to play, playing it well and loving it!

The parable of the Chinese Bamboo Tree tells the story of planting a bamboo seed, nurturing it, continuing to nurture it even though there is no visible growth for one year, two years, four years. But then, the dedication pays off, in the fifth year the bamboo tree appears above the ground and grows to great heights.

"Doing anything with dedication impacts life positively." - Ashish Vidyarthi