A light easy run today at the driveway. I ran deliberately at a slow pace – just controlled and relaxed.

I need a week to calibrate myself – eating, drinking, sleeping and training.

But the weeks ahead seem busy and Diwali looms ahead.

It was good to be back at the track. The young boy and I went together listening to a variety of hip hop.

We weren’t fully yet awake, but there is something about music that gets one moving.

It was dark when we started and dawn was just breaking during our last 400m repetitions. But the track was full. The day here had begun over an hour before.

Heartbeats, sweat, tiredness, soreness, whistles, timings, stopwatches – a constellation of stuff had already happened and the day had not yet begun. This – not for me – not for an amateur Joe.

But this certainly for the dozens who were here to train for a job, a position, a college admission, a team, dreaming, asking of oneself, the prospects of a future that this track and their effort would bring.

The young boy and I stepped out into a dawn that was crisp, fresh and had the unmistakable signs of the weather changing towards fall and winter.

It had rained overnight, there were little puddles and leaves, twigs and branches.

It was an easy time on feet run. Midway, we both found our rhythm. We chatted. We ran. He finished and I ran some more.

Usually Monday is my day off. But my coach, the fabulous Eilish McColgan had pencilled in a recovery run. At first I was surprised, expecting a day off but once I began, I was only too glad to run.

I needed the recovery – from the Sunday – to shake off the past.

Onwards to training again. To let it go. To begin anew and afresh.

In the evening, the young boy said that if the Earth were flat, the edge of the planet would be a tourist attraction. Indeed. I never did think of it that way.

And just like that, the feeling of the awful, bombed out race in the morning seemed to dissipate. Sometimes – isn’t it that for all of us – the quirkiest of things, the strangest of moments, seem to change the dynamic of an entire day.

Of course the double decadence chocolate cake at The Big Chill helped a great deal too. So did buying books in Bahrisons. These moments, just sauntering, talking, browsing, tasting, laughing, is it not this that one can call a day well spent. Including the run in the morning. Even as the outcome left much to be desired, and baffled me – at least I have the opportunity to race. And the opportunity to benchmark me against me.

Tonight, a small whisky perhaps, and a bit of contemplation about the edge of the Earth and all the people peering through, looking out at the vastness of possibilities ahead.

Shakeout run with the young boy this morning was short – as it should be – with some brisk strides at the end.

I’ve attempted a few breathing excursions to give myself a feeling of – I am not sure what. A rested state of mind ? Of body ?

To what end too, I am not sure. Let’s see what tomorrow will bring.

Meanwhile, a few bites of pancake with a smidgen of peanut butter was a joyous treat at breakfast.

Taper. Runners use it one way. Fashion folks use it another way. Doctors yet another. How a word can mean many a thing with the implications and emotions it excites.

I tend to feel tired as a race weekend approached. I am not sure why this is. I am not sure how Sunday will pan out. Can I simply enjoy the race as a run through the streets of New Delhi? I look forward to it.

Meanwhile, reading about the haiku master, Bashō and the 1200 mile last long walk that he took with his disciple has perked me.

But it is his poem, “In Kyoto…” that brings sensations of the sea, wind, lost memories and swaying as if lulling the mind to a pause, just to reflect, even if temporarily, towards itself.

A very light run can get crowded with dark clouds.

Today was such a day. The day in itself got worse as it moved along but there aren’t shadows without some light.

Onwards, upwards and tomorrow.

It was good to be at the track again. Great. Wonderful. Incredible. All the adjectives fall short in what I felt running at Tau Devilal this crisp morning.

The run itself, on a taper week; the fartlek efforts were fast, easy and short.

But to be amongst the boys and the girls at the track, the gang, running with them, watching the many other familiar faces at the stadium – just pure bliss.

This sport that has given me so very much, this track that is red lustre beauty.

It was fitting that the new watch started with a run at home with the young boy.

During the Covid lockdown months, I was lucky that I could run outdoors at home. I measured the driveway not only with my now retired Garmin but also with a good old fashioned measuring tape.

As suspected, a watch would not be accurate over a short distance. Thus, all running at home became stopwatch. And it continues to be so.

Today – with the new Garmin – I wanted to see if the tech had changed or improved that much more. It hasn’t. Oh – of course it must have – but possibly not for a driveway.

Or as my running friends Amit and Maneesh used to say – it’s just you.

Because the GPS seems to misbehave often (with me) whether at Nehru Park or the Golf Course Road.

At any rate, it was a fun, easy and relaxed morning. A perfect way to inaugurate a new watch, running together, watching the sun rise that thankfully pays no heed or need to technology.