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Because I have a half marathon race coming up this Sunday, Eilish dialled down the week.

I had a short-ish run today. Perhaps good for my back to get the rest too.

Rest day !

Last couple of nights, I started watching F1 on Netflix with the young boy. We’ve been enjoying it thoroughly. I remember watching a season or two during the time I had Covid. I binge watched it then in a blur of popping medication and eating chocolate I couldn’t taste while isolating in a room.

Push push, I keep hearing in the documentary from the team to car radio. Push push, I tried to today to achieve a somewhat tempo long run at Nehru Park.

My back started hurting a bit too much at some point, as did my ankle. Maybe I pushed too hard. I met a shirtless Navy man who joined me for about the second half of the run. Around my age, we ran together keeping reasonable pace although far off from my initial start.

Push push. Not quite but not nothing.

Today was kilometre intervals. Gaju met me at the parking lot of the track. Off we went for a short warm up before hitting the intervals.

The dogs all over Delhi and Gurgaon are the bane of my existence. In all things running on the road, the one thing that bothers me supremely is the dogs. For example, I intend to start a bit earlier tomorrow, and the first thought that occurs to me is to question if there be enough runners – even at Nehru Park – where the dogs should be used to the runners.

But back to today. The dogs near the track are unpredictable. Or perhaps it’s just me giving off vibes.

Today we didn’t have Coach Ravi with us and Gaju and I had to make do by ourselves. For the most part the dogs ignored us.

The intervals themselves were brutal and I was way behind prescribed pace. Perhaps it was because of my back. Maybe it was the lunchtime Aperol spritz yesterday. Could be the weather. Probably all three.

I was glad when it was all done. When I got back home, I did a quick circuit workout followed by some half-hearted stretching. Although, with my back the way it is, I should really be paying more attention to stretches.

On Independence Day – I should have gone to run to Nehru Park. If anything to just see the festive atmosphere. I guess the break was needed because of my back.

Before my eyes the air went orange merging with the ochre of the track. For a hundredth of a second. The air around me flashed with lightning. Surely, I thought, the lightning had flashed just above Shiva and I, running lane nine of a near empty track. The thunder followed a few seconds later roared with aggression.

It poured throughout the run. Lightning and thunder twinned around us. Coach Ravi and Coach Nikhil clapped and cheered on the few runners that made it on the track.

Normally, I would have loved such a run. But the saga of my back continued. Every loop, I whimpered at some point as my back reminded me of its presence and pain. I tried to focus on good energy and vibes and for a moment or two, it seemed better. Then again thwack – something would jam and I would limp to get back to pace. Twice I stopped.

But I continued on. It wasn’t a big deal really. Perhaps what got to me was thinking about it constantly and not enjoying the weather and the rain like I should have.

It was awesome to have Shiva for company. He ran in a loping style even though we were running easy and slow especially by his standards. Tall, good looking – what’s with all these runners at the track?

Meanwhile, I limped beside Shiva’s youthful energy. An apt name, I say, and an apt run with the Gods above thundering down until all was washed out.

With my back in a jam, the intervals were not easy at all. But I found out the hard way – while doing them.

The lower back kept going into a weird spasm every now and then, resulting in me making strange noises and a sort of hop, slip, skip and jump to get back into a painful rhythm. A tingling sensation ran up and down my right leg.

I finished the intervals in some misshapen fashion, beaten but not broken.

Today I started with Gaju and a young man named Shiv Sharma joined us. I hope I have his name right. Gaju peeled off after a few rounds of the track. The other young man and I continued on in lane nine. It was a continuous easy run.

Clearly bored, we asked Coach Ravi if we could head out. So we did. About 32 minutes of running at track and 29 minutes of running on the road.

Gaju joined us on the road again. He pointed to his right IT band. I nodded.

Back at home, I stretched and did a quick and hopefully effective core workout.

Because yesterday I worked out after a while and aggressively did a set of deadlifts, I must have pulled and pushed my back and hamstrings. I woke up nearly as stiff as a board.

I started off earlier than usual for the long run today. Gaju said he would join me. By the time he came, I had run just over a kilometre in the darkness. But there were already a dozen cars at Nehru Park. The skaters were there too. With their coaches and parents following them in cars. In half hour, this place would be swamped with the usual Sunday rigmarole.

After a loop, I decided it was time to go towards India Gate and hopefully catch a less busier Sunday morning. Evading some obvious Saturday night cars, down Teen Murthi, then cutting to Safdarjung Road, and a left down Aurangzeb Road, it was finally all peaceful. Not a soul in sight. The dark sky was just giving way to a pre-dawn dark indigo.

The wide avenues led to roundabouts and more lengths of empty tarmac. Occasionally, a car zoomed by.

We came up to the India Gate hexagon, harked right, past Pandara Road crossing, and turned into Dr Zakir Hussain Marg. Down the straight and left towards Khan Market and Lodi Gardens. I expected to see a whole bunch of runners here but it was quiet down the Amrita Shergill Marg. One dog lounged lazily in the middle of the road.

Took a right at Lodi Road, joined back Safdarjung, taking the L shaped road to join back at Racecourse, passing the Prime Minister’s residence, and joining back at Nehru Park. All this in a near silent run.

We still had eleven more kilometres to go.

It’s surprising nearly always, how long a kilometre is. The loop I described was just fifteen kilometres and that too after making a round around Shanti Path as a precursor to heading out.

Then we ran a tangled shape in the embassy area, going this way and that, by now both of us desperate to finish the run.

On the way home, I had a litre of electrolytes which gave me enough charge to put in half hour of circuit workout – twenty exercises x twenty repetitions. Then I settled into a big, hopefully well deserved breakfast.