We Are Always Connected
Today I woke up early so that I could speak with my friend Athena Jane in 'yesterday'.
I crept through the sleeping ‘village’ and Facetimed her in the breakfast bar, already alive with the hustle and bustle of preparations for our breakfast later…
She was still in yesterday evening and I was already in the brand new day.
It was light here, the sun rising; and wintery dark in Jane’s world… The magic of being on different parts of planet earth as it is zooming around the sun and twirling on its axis was evident, and yet through ‘special powers’ we were able to talk to and see one another even though we are six thousand miles apart…
Technology reminds me that there is no separation, all of us are always connected and our every thought is being received by one another in every moment; the amazing advances in technology simply bring the connections into being….
Over the years, Jane and I have travelled to many races abroad together, for me to run and she to ‘not run’…
She says when asked that she enjoys ‘not running’ races; she enjoys the travel, the chats we have during weekend, the extra eating in preparation for the big effort and then the extra eating to recover from the race exertion…
A few years ago we travelled to Davos together to run and 'not' run , what transpired to be a mountain race!
I had been a bit blasé about finding out much about the event before we journeyed there; the fact it was in the mountains should have alerted me! But it was when I was going away for a race every month and I had asked Amy to find it for me…
Amy is an awesome ‘race finder’ and has ‘sent me’ all over the world, always magically organising my travel arrangements and positioning me in a hotel about two minutes from the race start…
The night before this particular race, I went online to check out what the course might be like… It said ‘varied terrain…’!
Jane and I caught a train to the race start and due to the fact that we were talking so much, failed to notice that we were travelling down down down into the valley, in order for all of us running the race to assemble and at he sound of the claxon run up up up again!
Just before the start a fellow competitor gave me some advice... ‘The first 800 meters are flat over the viaduct, be circumspect… after that it is all up…’
I was grateful for her words; I took heed of them and I ran so well… I relaxed and stayed in each step and in the moment as the 'varied terrain' unfolded before me...
I felt flowing and free and loved the experience. It is races like this one where I ran without attachment to an outcome and the outcome came out good, that remind me of the wise words I heard from multiple World Snooker Champion Steve Davis… ‘I've learned the art of playing as if it means nothing, when it means everything’.
Those words had a profound effect on me, and I have discovered them to be valid; in effect they have always reminded me that I must ‘get out of the way of myself’ if I want to run free…
And This is why I am still 'running to learn'; to trust the step, to trust the moment, to put myself on the line again and again and find out where I am not free….
After Jane and I had enjoyed our early morning, late night chat, and I had said ‘goodnight’ to her and she had wished me a happy day… I woke Anadi up for our pre breakfast swim… In very choppy, rather exhausting to swim in, waters today, we emerged after swimming about 600 metres a little wearily onto the beach for our routine of exercises...
We were watched in fascination by a little girl and a couple lying in the early morning sun on their sunbeds on…
We finished with ‘handstand practice’ and find ourselves much improved…
Later…
I had my final massage with Pen, my massage lady with the gentle energy who has increased her strong work on my body each day! I am noticeably more supple and bendy than before I met her..
‘Massage tomorrow madam?' she asked as we finished...
‘I go tomorrow’ I said, and then we had much hugging, me, Pen and her friend; and they took lots of photos… and I regretted not having my camera with me…
And now Anadi has just asked what the training plan for this evening is… 'Are we swimming?' he has asked...
It has rained all day again, and the sea is quite wild…
