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After a long while I did the Friday optional run today on the treadmill. I played with the incline toggle all the while doing twelve sets in different incline combinations.

It’s the strangest word. The kids at the track don’t call it that. They say slow-fast.

Whatever it is called, that’s what Gaju and I did, fifteen times over. He was pleased with his second place victory at the Tuffman race. We talked about race strategy. About being stuck towards the back at the start point. The weather. The humidity. All things that are post race conversation points.

Fifteen times over a minute fast and a minute slow doesn’t seem like a big deal. But it was for both of us. It felt endless and long. We were both winded at the end of it, happy to see the back of the short but intense session.

Today I slept in a bit. I heard the alarm, switched it off and woke up an hour later. I didn’t really sleep during that hour but it was good to lie in for a bit.

It boded well for a quick and solid circuit session in the gym with kettlebells and free weights.

My friend Maneesh is in town. After a fun dinner together on Sunday night, we decided to meet for a run today. We kept it an easy forty five minutes.

It was raining heavily on the way to our usual meet point on Golf Course road. That parking lot used to be known only to a few runners a few years ago but is busy most days. A 24 hour’s Chaayos must help.

The rain had abated but a mist hung about in the air. We navigated our way through puddles, talking nearly throughout the very relaxed pace, ending with a cup of steaming masala chai.

Rest after the half. Felt like squeezing the tiredness out from my muscles today.

When I slept last night, I had my doubts. I was under slept, under trained, and not in great shape. All of these continued to be true when I reached the start line of today’s Tuffman half marathon with my sister Roshini and Gaju from track.

The route was ever familiar – out from Jawaharlal Stadium, down the cobbled bit passing the Sai Baba mandir, left at Lodi Road to Jorbagh, U-turn at the end, past Lodi Gardens, Chinmay Mission, India Islamic Culture Institute, Golf Links, the back of the golf course, left at the Nizamuddin intersection, on Mathura Road, pass the blind school, The Oberoi, under the flyover, opposite Sunder Nagar and a U turn again at the 6.85 km mark, retracing the route, except turning left at the Lodi crossing and back to the stadium for 10.5 kilometres. Do the loop again for a half marathon distance.

It was a fabulous race. It was hot and humid and my training didn’t suddenly jump to utopian fitness. But within a kilometre, I found a rhythm and an acceptance to where I was at. Now I could push just hard enough, feeling great, finding joy in these roads that weave through the centre of Delhi.

Hundreds of other runners around the course, the various distances at play, this is why this is one of the world’s greatest unifying activities.

I did a short run on the treadmill today. It had been a while since I ran on the treadmill. It was comfortable and at an easy pace.

After that it was a solid circuit workout that left me drenched.

I’ve been thinking today – what does getting in shape mean to me. What does it have to do with a mental state of mind. How do I get there.

While it was an off day today, it’s now, as I have written recently, of urgent need for me to fix and get back to the sweet spot that I enjoy in training.

The last many months have been training that has felt many times off centre. It’s been a combination of gaining weight, long, stressful hours at work, the injuries and a palpable loss of stamina.

It was an average easy run today. Also a test in patience – running in lane nine after a while.

At the last mile interval, Gaju and I were interrupted twice by two different gangs of dogs. They probably just wanted to chase us away rather than attack us, but I wasn’t taking chances. We stopped both times.

The overall run itself was not good. I am feeling like a lump of lard who has also lost a ton of stamina. It’s time to train with resolve.