Category: Uncategorized

I slept extraordinarily late last night. I woke up reasonably fresh and jumped on the treadmill for a short run.

Today was one of the days that found me impatient to finish up.

Off from training today.

I began with the run around Niti Marg, Vinay Marg and Shanti Path. At some point, I bumped into Shikha and ran with her. We exchanged our news but for the most part ran quietly. The roads were packed with runners. The sound of shoes was everywhere.

When the young boy came, we ran inside the park. It was enjoyable to run on the soft surface.

Niti Marg is a sun dappled road in the spring afternoon. I am seeing it outside my window now as I type. These roads empty of runners at this time. These roads that were full, early in the morning, heaving with dozens of runners. These roads that are training grounds of hundreds of runners. Training. Training. Half. Full. Personal bests. Or not. Intervals. Talking. Laughing. Sweating. Struggling. These roads.

Dreams. Possibilities. Chances. Time. Rolling seasons. Wind. Rain. Sun. Stars. Moonlight. These roads. Nothing happens here but running. No evil. No world. Nothing belongs here. Only running. Your thinking hat for your running shoes.

Pace. Speed. Time. Distance. Sometimes it’s everything. Usually it’s nothing. Because it takes care of itself. You just move. Breathe. Heave. Sweat. Stop. Recover. Breathe. Race. Pace. Run.

These roads.

Off today and exhausted through the day. Powered through it.

Because I had an early study session this morning, I hit the driveway after it finished and after a quick coffee.

It was an easy one and I followed it up with a good workout. Getting there step at a time.

I got to the park slightly later than I would preferred. As a result, it was a very short warm up leading to the mile intervals. They weren’t as on the mark as I would have hoped. But it was still decent going.

After a couple of minutes I started the tempo run and not only nailed it but hit it out of the park. It was great going and I really found my stride in this second set.

Treadmill today for a very slow run. Trained the young boy while on it. Kept it easy throughout.

Even though I had a late night, I woke up before dawn. There was no workout or run prescribed for today.

I couldn’t sleep so I had no choice but to make coffee and begin working and studying.

The light has begun to change. The days are becoming longer.

The light outside the window was a shade of grey blue as I put my things together.

Nehru Park was full when I reached. My parking spot was already taken and I parked on the other side of the road.

After a loop, I bumped into my sister and Kapil. Kapil said he had marathon pace coming up in forty minutes and we agreed to meet on Niti Marg.

I picked up pace and ran this way and that. Niti Marg, Vinay Marg and the outer Shanti Path road was packed with runners. I timed it perfectly to meet Kapil as decided. We ran ten kilometres at his prescribed pace and then I trailed off to meet the young boy. It had again been ages since we ran together at Nehru Park. We ran slow for the first kilometre – I was waiting for him to warm up. We settled into a comfortable rhythm. We went for a long loop, finding quiet spots down Nyaya Marg and the inner Shanti Path lane, finishing up just ahead of the car.