This morning for my long run, I decided to follow what I have dubbed the “garden route”. Over the years I have had wonderful runs that way. But the monsoon is oppressive at this time of year and I knew that it wasn’t going to be easy. When I started it was 29 degrees celsius, but feels like 35 and 75% humidity.

Geared up

I had prepared my water bladder the night before, had a small Gatorade in hand, a banana packed, my listening material in my ears, and I was excited to be out the door by 5 AM. But I was still in my warm-up when it was confirmed: today was going to be hard.

I chose the scenic route to try to distract myself from the struggle. I was crawling along, sweating bucketfuls that never evaporate and therefore don’t help to cool you down. My Bible reading covered Psalm 96 today, among other things, and I remembered the song I wrote on that psalm. It talks about the way we should approach God – with songs of praise and worship, with trembling, because he is great, worthy of praise, the one who reigns! And then it concludes:

Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
he comes to judge the earth.

Let the trees of the forest sing for joy — one of the many moments that caught my eye.

The trees of the forest sing for joy! That’s when I decided to make this run a photographic journey, to praise the God who created such beauty. And it also gave me a chance to rest every time I stopped for a picture!

It started with the Dahlia garden, the Fragrance Garden has always been one of my favourites.

The Fragrance Garden never disappoints, even in the humidity. Try to spot the squirrel!

Then came the Children’s traffic park. If you know where to go in that, you always get some wonderful scenes.

Close to Mother Theresa’s Mission of Charity

Then Shanti Kunj, a lovely landscaped garden that’s well taken care of.

Shanti Kunj: tranquil and beautifully maintained

The Rose Garden is famous, the garden opposite to the Government College of art has sculptures in it, and also a little model of the Eiffel Tower. Then comes Leisure Valley and finally the Bougainvillea park where you can find the War Memorial.  

The early sunshine
trimmed bushes and dancing trees
Running as worship

After this I proceeded along the cycling path past the Rock Garden to Sukhna lake.

Disclaimer: this was not taken today, but it is Sukhna Lake from a different viewpoint.

I still had more to do and started on my way back home. But then I reached my goal for the day—21.1 km (a half-marathon distance)—and took an Uber back home. 

My Strava route

I count myself blessed to be able to run in this city where there are so many wonderful gardens. Do you also seek out nature in your runs or walks? Tell me about your favourite route in the comments.