A Magical Day All Round...
I have just finished an interview for a podcast with Tracy Owen... It was an absolute delight to speak with her, and an honour to have her share her experience of going through serious illness; to hear first hand how she went into her fear, and deeply into her vulnerability, to a place where her terrifying journey opened her heart more completely. The process has allowed her to see herself and other people more clearly, and to connect and relate more deeply. She has also found that she has opened more fully to her own creative expressions, on so many levels...
Tracy and I met nearly thirty years ago and acknowledged our connection then, but we didn't 'do' anything with it, as such, we met at races and raced one another on roads and cross country... And at odd moments our paths would cross in unexpected places away from the running road...
What we 'do' with our connections will always reveal itself if we allow it too... There is never a need to 'make things happen' or try to create anything... The heart will lead us and our inner voice...
There were four of us back then Libby Jones, Jane Boulton,Tracy and I, and as Tracy tells in her podcast, we would usually fill the first three positions in the local races!
There was a mutual respect, a positive energy between all of us. We were often 'head to head' in races, but it was always a good thing, it was like all of us brought the best out in one another...
The day before Anadi and I headed out as nomads last August - with just our 20 kilos of luggage - we were going for a last run on the downs and we met Tracy running the other way...
We stopped and chatted and told her what we were 'up to', and she said then that she saw a special energy between Anadi and I...
I am looking forward to sharing her written interview, and her podcast with you later this week...
It was not planned that we would speak on the day of the London Marathon - we set the date without thinking of that - but it is somehow fitting!
Today has been a magical day all round...
We rose early and drove up to the track that circles around Mount Pantokrator. The day was still and clear and very bright, and we ran easily, talking and exploring... The miles passed swiftly... Not another soul on the track...
We stopped to take some photos and then made our impromptu 'film' and I thought of all the folk just starting to run the London Marathon....
'I don't really ever think of my London Marathons past now, I said... I don't think I can really remember them....'
With that I proceeded to tell him a minute by minute account of my fastest marathon which I ran in 1986! From the day before endless upset tum, to going to sleep at midnight crying thinking I wouldn't run... Waking at 4am feeling better and going down to breakfast and slowly eating a bit of toast... To running my personal best time of 2.36.3...
I was enjoying my story... In full flow of the memory once I had got going...!
'Nigel (my husband then) was waiting for me by the roadside at half way... A friend of ours was the other side of the road, unbeknownst to Nige, and he took a photo of him waiting for me with a concerned look on his face... The next photo was of me running by, arms outspread, a joyous look in my face... I was saying, 'I feel great...' The next shot our friend captured was after I had just run past Nige, and was of him punching the air in joy...'
I finished telling Anadi and found myself tearful as I recounted this tale...
Remembering the success I experienced that day, and the support Nige gave me. He was always there for me - 100% - and even though he is unlikely to read this! I want to honour him fully.
We ran fifteen fabulous miles! I loved every step... We were nearly back to the car and we passed a man hiking... He arrived at his car not long after us and showed us a photograph he had taken of a huge snake, that appeared on the path just moments after we had run by!
Yiannis in Agnadio's taverna greeted us warmly as we appeared for lunch... It was wonderful to reconnect with him and to sit on his beautiful terrace enjoying the most delicious food which he brought us without us looking at a menu...
We asked for not too much and he created a meal that was a total delight to the pallette, completely satisfying, but did not make us too full....Because...
We were mindful that we had our afternoon booked for our sacred space date!
