The plan was to drive out to the long narrow forest surrounding the river and run up it for an hour and then back again. Then on Friday night we had a violent dust storm followed by quite a bit of rain. I thought it and then Gagan WhatsApped it: there is going to be mud. (Gagan and I go back about 7 years when he joined the software company I was working for then. Then he went over to GP Sourcing where I also joined later. We ran together in the US when we both were sent to meet with clients there.)

So plan B then: take the long route around the lake. Not the trail mind you. Mud. So Saturday morning I waited until 5:13 and then started on plan C: Just get out of the door and run wherever the wind blows me. The road took me roughly in the direction of the city. Fifteen minutes into it I had a call from Gagan. He did not hear his alarm clock. He will just go run a few rounds in the Fragrance Garden, his normal spot.

I was already heading approximately in that direction so thought that that is not a bad plan. (Plan D by now)  Sure enough I got there just as he was warming up (10k done for me) so we ran a round together. Then we headed out on the garden trail maybe until Leisure Valley and then turn back. But when we got there we decided to keep on going to Sukhna lake.

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So plan E took us through the Bougainvillea garden and then passing by the Rock Garden we reached the lake. We realized that it did not rain all that much and I convinced him to do a round of the lake on the trail. (Plan F which was a modified plan B) So that’s where we called it quits, 27k for me, 16 for Gagan.

An Uber brought us back to the Fragrance Garden and then Gagan dropped me home in his Swift. While driving back we discussed that this is often the way Agile software development happens. You start with an idea, but the final product may look a lot different from what you envisioned in the beginning. The fun is in getting there.

Gagan and me lake

Isn’t that what life is like as well? We cannot foresee all the things that is going to happen to us. I certainly was not ready for the things life would throw at me the last couple of years. Or was I? We trust God, we go on, we live creatively, we forgive and shake off what is behind and reach for what is ahead. Living an Agile life probably means embracing change, knowing that we are not alone, figuring out the details on our knees and in the trenches and board rooms and bedrooms of our life as we go.

But we have to get out of the door first.

Keep running

Stephan