As I turned into Vinay Marg, I saw my friend Gokul. I signalled for him to wait and then joined him for the run. It was good to run with company. It had been a while.

We caught up on this and that, weaving through many familiar faces at the carnivalesque Nehru Park Sunday.

The young boy joined me for the second part of the run. We did an easy half hour and then Fig for a delicious breakfast. Upon leaving, the young boy and I try to guess the number of runners we would cross – since the route takes us back through Shanti Path. No less than thirty runners in a span of a couple of minutes. By my estimation there would be hundreds of folks here on a Sunday morning if not a thousand plus. More on mathematical calculations for another day.

Did a long workout this morning. Played a few games of pickle in the evening. Does not count as a replacement for a run.

Been writing and writing. And I know I am not even scratching the tip of the writing surface.

These past couple of months have been the longest stretch of unstructured training probably since Covid.

Went to Nehru Park and decided to throw in some kilometre repeats. So much fun.

Didn’t run today.

Beautiful run.

Rested today.

Skin as if leather and bearing a serious expression, I have seen this man for over two decades. We know each other, cursorily but hardly get the occasion to meet. But recently, I have crossed him on the road nearly every time o drive to Nehru Park. There he is running up and down the long sloping Jawaharlal Nehru University stretch.

I’m neither sure of his distances nor his time on feet but it sure feels endless. And from what I know of previous stories and conversations, it’s several hours of running. Whatever the stories of lore might be, I have endless admiration for runners who above all else have uncanny consistency and an unshakeable commitment. For runners like him, it cannot be unlike oxygen, it’s not even training anymore. That word got left behind at germination or perhaps never existed.

It’s a state that I meander in between my goals. In between effective training months of which my current state may be adequately described as the longest since Covid days. This meandering.

With not much sleep and a night of coughing, I still made myself go to Nehru Park. For this I am grateful.

Then I resolved to do short 400m intervals and give it a go. For this too I am grateful.

There was no target but my pace was all over and in a word: slow.

While this might be the bitter end of things, gratitude for the training today outshines all else.

My sister and I drove back together and chatted about this and that and of course our respective runs this morning.

Did not run today.