'Sometimes I Sit and Think And Sometimes I Just Sit...'
Day two of living in London dawned.
Black coffee, a glass of orange juice and chat to Anadi set me up for my visit to the gym...
I stepped out of the front door and Into the magical garden, between the guinea pigs on one side and paving slabs the other with Om Shanti Om written on them…
It was a bright and tawny autumn day. I really enjoyed the mile walk to Hazelwood gym.
I went upstairs with my fob key and let myself into an empty gym.
A perfect environment for me to train, the window was open; the fresh air, a tree with brown leaves outside, green grass with hopping birds, and a blue tit on the tree... gave me a sense of peace...and a sense of me, in my gym in a town I do not know...
I stretched and did a couple of exercises with the ten kilo kettle bells as a warm up to running.
My body felt good from the training and treatment with Danny yesterday.
The door opened and the man from yesterday came in; he asked if I minded the music going on, my default answer 'of course not...'
He hesitated, and then said, 'no, let's have tranquility.... ' And climbed onto the treadmill...
I joined him again like yesterday on the treadmill next to him, and once again I and my new training companion ran along together in silence, with no music, no one else there, just the sound of the treadmills and our feet hitting the belt ....
I felt good, and as I ran I thought about my form.
Danny had commented yesterday that 'posture is everything and that form when training is of the essence'.
It is....
And so I concentrated on my form, and remembered the Alexander technique in running, which I had been taught by Malcolm Balk, the author of 'The Art of Running' about fifteen years ago...
I had read his book and been inspired and then discovered he was over from Canada where he lives running some one to one sessions and some workshops on the Art of Running...
I booked some one to one sessions in London and tips and coaching he imparted to me have been integrated into my running ever since...
I thought about my posture and my balance and I felt the thread of light going from the base of my spine right the way up through the top of my head and beyond, aligning and balancing me and I looked ahead and enjoyed the rhythm of the run.
I reflected that a lot of my joy of running is the feeling within my body of the running motion whatever the 'scenery' - I just run along.
And running along slowly allowed me to focus on my form and keep me from over reaching in my stride, and to feel my feet flexing and moving, I became aware of my big toes touching the ground and my legs felt light.
I ran easily with my friend by my side.
He stopped about ten minutes before me and did a workout with some weights and I ran on until I had completed an easy five miles....
I can run...!
I had a brief flash of wanting to go back again tonight and run another five miles....
But I will bide my time...!
In days gone by, if I was building into mileage again, I would often run 'two easy fives' a day ... this way, with a long run on a Sunday, over seventy miles per week was achieved with relative ease....
I didn't take 'days off' in the eighties, and as training increased, a 'rest day' was also two easy fives!!!
As I climbed off the treadmill, my running partner said something to me, and the next thing that happened was a big long chat between kindred spirits...!
I can't remember how the conversation began... But we discovered similar spirits within us; it was no coincidence that we should discover one another and run together two days running...
My new friend is called Charles - we spoke about our need for freedom and space to explore and adventure - 'maybe the Sagittarius in me' he said - we shared some stories about our lives to date... until I noticed I was getting cold in my sweaty kit - and he realised he had to pack to go to Singapore, where he is going till Saturday as he is an air steward...
Later
I have just been having a conversation with my brother Stuart...We got into the subject of running on a treadmill!
'Fifteen minutes is as long as anyone should have to run on a treadmill' he said... 'After that you ask ''whatever am I doing here'..?'
I laughed and said 'I have a long distance runners mind and I am happy 'running along' for as long as you ask me to'!
'It must be the sprinter in me' he said...
My big brother ran very fast and played rugby when he was younger, I have many memories as a little girl of running up and down along the touch-line to keep warm on winter afternoons while he was playing a match!
'I think that people with fast twitch fibres have a mentality for the things like ball games and sprinting that their physiology lends them to and people with slow twitch fibres have a mentality that allows them to enjoy going on and on...!'
'Ah' he said 'so the slow twitch fibres reach the brain too..!
In the vein of...
"sometime I sit and think, and sometimes I just sit"...'
'Yes that's it...!' I replied...
