Training At 1900 Metres...
I am in a room coloured bright; orange, blue, magenta, purple red and cream... It is rich with quiet, warm energy in a stone building - cold at this time of year, but the embers of a fire, built for us to have breakfast by, are still glowing and I have a few layers on....
When the sun arrives it is warm and bright - at 1900 metres the air has a sharp, clear, clean stillness to it...
We breakfasted in this room earlier on banana and yoghurt, omelette, orange juice and coffee, flat bread and home made jams... Washed down by mint tea with honey...
I have stayed here, and Anadi is working in our room...
Jamal who owns imlil lodge came to meet me a few minutes ago...
We have had email contact only up until this time...
He sat with me and mentioned that we got lost last time we were here! I promised him that it won't happen this time...
'Once only..' He laughed.
He told me that the language spoken here is Amzir, and that this is spoken by all the mountain people in Morocco, who have been here in North Africa for thousands of years, originally coming from Egypt...
He spoke good English...
We have worked out that the young men who are looking after us speak a few words, but not that many, which misleads us into thinking they speak English...
But much beyond thank you and please and water, coffee and mint tea, it ends...
They have a script to say to the western trekkers...
Except that last night I saw Ismail light up and connect with something in himself, as we explained that we were not here to trek or holiday, but that we are nomads and we like to run...
We booked a later breakfast at 10.30am, so that we could exercise first...
I said to Anadi 'did you see him change?'
This morning we set off to explore and ran 'up' the road... I checked the altitude as we were very breathless and this is when I discovered we are living at 1900 metres...
We ran about and clambered, walked and ran along a rocky path, passing the locals going about their day, loading earth into the hampers either side of the donkey, welding bits together in the door of a building, horses padding along on unshod feet... We crossed a dry river bed, and then found the stream rushing down from the mountains... It was being directed where they need the water the most...
We were out for about an hour covering just under four miles... I was reminded of the wisdom of Nikos the Greek mountain champion, 'count the hours not the miles in the mountains'.
When we returned, Ismail was standing at the top of the steps of Imlil Lodge...
'Tomorrow I come with you - I show you the '...' pass (I didn't quite catch the name) - I like the sportiv'
'Okay' I laughed 'you will be far better on the paths than me!' He smiled, not understanding... 'We will leave at 8am then?' I enquired...
'Yes 8am' he smiled and nodded...
'Ah' I said 'that is why he changed in his energy yesterday'.
So tomorrow we have agreed to go running with a young local of about 20 years! Starting altitude of 1900m - I wonder what ever we have let ourselves in for?
'At least we won't have to talk' I commented to Anadi...
I am happy here now, in my new home...
In fact we are the only people staying at Imlil Lodge, so we have a very big new home!
All my life I have worked with an energy that is quite 'cat like' in that I can adjust very quickly and settle into a new home, but the initial upheaval has historically been hard...
When I was a little girl I used to be sick before going on holiday, and when I was in my twenties and used to travel to Switzerland and all over Europe to run; I would often arrive, and then sit crying in a train station waiting for transport to a new home, feeling unsettled and simply like having a cry...
This still happens now, but I watch it rather than getting caught up in any stories...
Anadi and I are now used to me arriving somewhere new and crying...!
And then the next day feeling like I have never lived anywhere else...
Watching energy and watching our reactions allows us to clear, rather than starting to make any meaning...
This way we will naturally follow our inner calling and not get caught up with stories, tensions, or encounter blocks... Or get 'into the reactions' and so 'act them out', and then get trapped in that story, that energy....
I sat crying for awhile in the little bus that brought us an hour and a half up the mountain yesterday, while Anadi chatted to the man driving us...
I was on some level grateful at that moment for a culture that ignores women, and allowed me space - although keenly aware that this was some of what displaced and unsettled me...
We live in paradoxes!
Later...
I recognise that living at 1900m on a hill doesn't lend itself to interval training in a traditional way as I will not be here long enough to acclimatise, so this afternoon ran a mini hill session...
10 x 40 seconds...
I felt light and ethereal running up,and was totally breathless at the top!
I then returned to do my new block of 'The Shore method' training which Matt has emailed over to me, complete with lots of videos to make sure my form is correct....
And I loved it all....