Lalbagh was generous today!

I just set my personal record in the 5KM run—5.38 mins/km today! :) I vaguely remember it being 5.58 mins/km earlier. This improvement has less to do with my inner motivation to run faster and more with just playfully matching a stranger’s pace.

I was running on my usual route at my usual pace when someone ran past me. Normally, it wouldn’t have bothered me much, but at that moment, I thought—you know what, I can go faster. Let me show you that. So, I picked up my pace, overtook them, and tried running at around 4.5 mins/km. Obviously, that pace was hard to maintain. They overtook me again, turned around, and said, “You’re fast!” (Wow!) Given that I was struggling to keep going while catching my breath, they might have very well said, “Not too fast!” (Look at you now!) But I chose to take it as a compliment. So, for the rest of the run, I tried matching their pace from a distance—and there it is: my fastest 5KM!

Towards the end, it was extremely hard, but I finished “strong” by catching up—capping it off with a barely audible “Thanks.” :)

And about Lalbagh’s generosity? It had nothing to do with this run but with the number of flowers it let me collect. I generally don’t prefer plucking flowers and instead love collecting the ones that have fallen. Lalbagh let me add a few more to my collection.