I woke up fresh today. Surprising for a Monday morning. Perhaps because I ate consciously during the Sunday meals and had not the usual treat of Sunday wine or cocktails.

Because my event continued over the weekend, I slept four hours and woke up to a dawn sky. It was still dim but by the time I reached Nehru Park, it was bright enough.

It felt – from a circadian rhythm point of view – quite lovely. Perhaps also because of the novelty of it, since nearly all the runs – especially in the winter start in darkness.

Because it was 7:38 AM, folks like Shikha who I sometimes bump into were already in the waning stages of their Sunday morning.

Solo it was, without music and simply out to run relaxed. I picked up steam as the run went through its motions. One side of Nehru Park towards Vinay Marg, then the other side towards Shanti Path; Niti Marg the common road for the two loops.

Alternating between them, I finished the long run of the week, and started off the last month of the year.

Because of an event last evening, I slept in a bit. On to the driveway it was for a relaxed and music infused run session.

At the end, it was still dark, the crescent moon, sharp as a sickle, sliced the night in the easterly direction. Just to the right of the Medicity building. Dotted with lights, I wished them hope. It’s impossible to run in the shadow of a looming hospital and not conjure up several feelings.

It was back at the track after weeks. I had no idea how the interval session would go. I had an urgency to run, to get back.

While warming up, I learnt it was Coach Ravi’s birthday. Two coaches. Same birthday week. Probably near about the same age too.

I ran a couple of 400s on my own. But soon I was joined by Ashwini, Monu, Suryansh and a few others. I implored them not to run with me. Not while I was this slow and just coming back.

But they ran each loop with me. Or rather, me with them, as the group broke into different pace groups. It kept me fresh, relevant and of course – because of them – speedier than what I expected.

I couldn’t be more grateful.

Once again, I slept in but perhaps this time I felt as if I might be “catching” on sleep or overcoming the wedding + long run fatigue of the weekend. At least that’s my way of labelling it.

A quick run before dinner time rounded up a peaceful evening.

The last few weeks have felt like zombie land as far as running is concerned. Weddings. Work. Social commitments. Travel. What not.

I also seem to have trouble waking up, instead choosing to sleep way beyond my usual standard.

Apart from a solid run, this past Sunday, it has been – zombie land.

I couldn’t tolerate another missed run because of these things, and besides I had the luck of a few work calls that I could take from home. I jumped on the treadmill and put in an easy hour. A bit of relief.

I slept over ten hours. I woke up intermittently and nearly dragged myself out of bed. But I decided to sleep in and run in the evening.

It turned out to be a long day at work and commitments so the packed gym bag with my running clothes have came back untouched.

I had a well deserved rest day today after yesterday’s run and a long night at my cousins wedding.

Towards the end of the day, I felt deep exhaustion – the weekend it seems had caught up to me.

I’m not sure what other part of New Delhi is heaving with so many people congregating for the same activity as the Nehru Park area.

When my sister and I pulled up just before five thirty AM, there were already several runners. An hour later, Niti Marg was packed and if it were possible, yet later, even more so.

Two minutes into the run, I bumped into Shikha and we ran a couple of hours together, doing loops one side and then the other before going towards the quieter part at Nyaya Marg. After dropping her off, I stepped on the gas to round up a thirty after a long time.

A carnivalesque Sunday morning ended with a coffee with my sister at Khan Market only to then get home to train the young boy on the treadmill.

Because my cousin is getting married this weekend, I had a tremendously albeit very fun late night : early morning today.

But in the evening, on the driveway it was. Spotify in my ear and a simple up and down to complete an hour.

Slightly cleansed from the previous shenanigans, I’m satisfied.