6:45 a.m.

this is what i wake up to most mornings these days. a walk / run by sankey tank.
fine, its cold. fine, its painful getting out of bed. fine, its sometimes hard on my knees. fine, some mornings im not in the best of moods. but despite everyting, getting out there, once im out there and walking / running, it alters my day. i thought i was almost getting addicted, much like i have been to all other exercise i have indulged in, in the past. but weird routines got to me and i had a break for about one week. its not easy waking up every day, when you're sleeping only about 5-6 hours a night. YES, i need atleast 7.5-8 hours a night!

the wind is crisp, cool and soothing. when the sun is just coming out of the clouds there a glow about the place. and the surface of the water glints and shines. i love the brisk walk (sometimes a slow run) and the feeling of fresh air filling my insides, the energy pumping with every progressive stride. as i walk around the placid and gentle waterbody, at what was previously considered an unrealistically early hour of the morning, all thoughts slow down. well almost all. i feel energetic, and floppy and like i could just be carried away if a strong wind blew. i feel ready to take on the day. and thats the beast thing the walk does for me.

the morning walk has now become a group affair. and it gives me a chance to hang out with wiggles, sweaty and wappy. who're all super fun in their own ways. sweaty is a super fast walker. wiggles is a half-walk-half-run kind of guy. he'd rather run, but then he'd also rather walk to keep pace with the THREE women he's with. gah, the stud that he is! wappy just does her thing. walks then runs then walks then runs. and i just go with the flow. on a walky day i walk. on a brisk-walk day, i walk a little faster and brisker. on a run day i run a little. on a tired, sleepy, slow-start kind of day i take it a little easy. for the rest of it, we talk and we laugh and we gossip and vent frustrations about work and other areas of life that we care to share with each other. sometimes we also stop by for a coffee or an idli after a walk, (yeah, i know..so much for the exercise) because its just too tempting.

sankey tank is blissful. the best sights of malleswarams and sadashivnagars morning walkers / joggers / laughing club goers / yoga practitioners / meditators / "clappers" / early morning watchers (who just come to stroll and watch life pass them by), can be seen at sankey tank. its a place where "creepy old man" and "stud boy with his red pants and shades" and "pregnant young lady" and "star-struck lover kids" and us walkamaniacs can all go to and just be ourselves. each of us going to sankey tank for our own reasons and each one getting what we want out of it.

i love it. im so glad i started going out, rather than run on my treadmill. im so glad we started going together. it keeps me motivated. its entertaining. and gets my day off to a super start. we'll miss sweaty once she's gone. but the spirit will still remain. i think it was her, that motivated me to get my ass moving in the first place.

signing out now..to get my 7 hours at at least. before wiggles wakes me up with a barrage of messages at the butt-crack of dawn..telling me to move it, wakeywakey, letsgo!, and everything else he does to get us up and moving.

thanks you guys.