Last night was a celebration to bring in Gokul’s 50th. It was a super fun night and as expected, it went on till late. This morning, slightly woozy, but overall good, I decided to put in long run Sunday in the evening. There was another dinner at his home today and I didn’t quite want to miss the training.
I chose to go to Sri Fort where my running journey began. It’s been ages since I’ve run at Sri Fort and especially since I did a long run here. It was immediately comfortable albeit the weather that bore down on me like a heat blanket.
The longer route is about 1050m, so nineteen rounds later I was done, dusted, and drenched.
Every time I come here I remember the first thirty kilometres that I did here by way of thirty rounds. But back then (about twenty years ago or more) it was the shorter route that I now know is just under one kilometre. But at the time, I ran Sri Fort assuming it was one kilometre because it said so on a board with a map chalked out. Why and how anyone needed a map for a route that was a straightforward loop isn’t quite clear to me.
It was raining heavily that morning and an old colleague and friend, Vidya, waited while I finished, cheering me on each round. In my memory, she and I were the only people on the track that monsoon morning.
I thought of this and other thoughts flickering like fireflies and completed one of the most satisfying runs of the summer.
Writing about Running 