I knew I would have a late evening. I woke up and decided to take the day off. I’ll make it up going ahead.

Instead, I went to work fairly early and had a full day.

Woke up slightly late in the morning. Too late to go to track or Nehru Park. Contemplated the treadmill or the driveway. Chose the driveway and completed an easy, effective and wonderful run.

Slept at 2 AM after the music festival and a marathon day – literally. Well, half marathon day anyway. Breakfast meeting in the morning and ending up with a longish day.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect at today’s Delhi Half Marathon. My bib said 13 years and counting and this year was the twentieth year of the event.

The best surprise was at the start line where I met Maneesh and Amit, my old running partners and friends. We hugged and wished each other luck. Pure joy.

The run started at 5 AM in darkness. Down Lodi Road, a few pools of streetlights punctuated the length of the road.

Retracing back towards India Gate, the sky was rapidly changing colours. By this time, I needed to consolidate the race. I gave a slight leeway to a couple of kilometres but managed surge again to have a nearly exact even split.

It wasn’t anywhere near my PB timing but it was nicely done – strong, controlled and experienced.

An hour later, I found myself listening to the Veena, played by Jayanthi Kumaresh for a morning concert to the sound of birds and fresh crisp air in the astoundingly beautiful atmosphere of Sunder Nursery. Pure joy.

We ran a short one in the driveway after ages. It’s freezing, he said when we stepped out. The weather has changed quickly this week.

Perhaps because we ran the driveway together after a long while, he suddenly remembered that when he was about five – during the Covid time – I yelled at him for running on the “crack” in the centre of the driveway. I did. I was afraid he would twist his ankles and he did fall several times. But looking back, yelling and getting impatient with a five year old? What mistakes I have made through the years.

I apologised to him. He in turn apologised to me for fussing all the time. Not true at all, I said and meant it. Of course he fussed once a while, warming up. Warming up can be a pain in the ass and don’t we all know it. Getting in the groove many days can be a challenge.

We adults would, if we could openly fuss about things like that. I am sure, regardless of age, we continue to fuss about nonsense. I know I do. Case in point right here. Yelling at a kid is terrible.

Then we spoke about the many, many good runs we have had. He spoke about the six kilometre run he did on his sixth birthday. He said that at the last hundred metres, he kicked off and ran way ahead of me and I stopped. That I was just admiring the way he had the ability to run in such beautiful form and rhythm, kicking up his legs, striding effortlessly. That I told Parul waiting to celebrate his birthday, with a Belgian waffle breakfast morning, how amazingly he could run and that I repeated it several times.

I have done that so many times over the years. Admired his form and his ability to run with such grace. It doesn’t right the wrong of yelling, but hopefully there is more on this side of the balance sheet. Of course, I know there is, but it’s important to remember to be mindful. For me. As much as I can.

Took the day off, didn’t I. Still managed to be reasonably hectic, up and down various locations through the day.

Today was the first day this year in Delhi that I wore a second layer on the way to Nehru Park. The sky was just beginning to turn colours as I parked at my usual spot. I took off the second layer and felt the cool air on my skin. The weather was certainly changing.

I had a tempo and speed workout combination this morning.

Off I went, an upbeat mix from Spotify playing in my ears. Surprisingly, I felt good. I had a spring in my run and the sets went much better than expected.

Back at home, I did a quick circuit and added some new exercises to the routine.

Because I overslept and had an early start, I was in a dilemma. I had a tempo and speed combination workout but it was too late to go to the park or track.

That meant I had to switch around and do another easy run. I jumped on the treadmill. Usually, my TM runs are slow – perhaps painfully slow. My coach Eilish seems surprised by this. She says most runners – her runners – run faster on the treadmill. Not me. For me treadmill running by feel means that I am way below any comfortable pace I can manage on the road.

At any rate, here I was on the treadmill. As expected, I started off slow but built up every few minutes, pyramid style and kept pushing while maintaining a reasonable RPE. Although, I didn’t come anywhere close to my regular road running pace, it was much better than recent workouts on the treadmill.

Finished off, jumped in the shower and out of the door.

The light in the morning already looks different. You can see the occasional jacket out this early in the morning. The track had a wet windswept look about it.

Gaju and I ran in an empty-ish track, most of the usual runners were missing because of the overnight rainy weather.

We ran quietly picking up pace in each round before settling into a steady rhythm. Shabaash shabaash, called out Coach Ravi, every loop. A couple of new runners weaved in and out.

Back home, I did a pretty solid circuit workout and earned my morning breakfast.

This evening at Sunder Nursery, it was raining intermittently. The sky was patchy with angry bursts of cloud and peeks of an autumnal blue.

A light breeze blew, a distinct coolness in the wind. Fall was around us.