For me, this is a strange topic. If you know me well, you know I have horrible insomnia. Sleep and I do not have a healthy relationship. And I've tried everything: acupuncture, meditation, teas, special dietary changes, noise makers, different pillows, earplugs, EVERYTHING. Nothing helps other than taking some kind of sleep medication, which I really hate doing. But I kinda need to sleep so I take something whenever I am able to stay in the bed long enough to not feel like utter crap the next day. Why am I telling you all of this? Well, the insomnia has been pretty bad the past several months so I've been taking sleep aids almost every night. And for some reason, it's preventing me from dreaming. I'm sure I'm dreaming but I don't remember any of my dreams unless they are particularly crazy.
The exception to this was, coincidentally, just this past weekend. A little background info - I'm running my second 50-miler this coming weekend, the San Diego 50 Mile on January 16th. I haven't really felt nervous or worried until this past week. I actually have been feeling pretty good and ready. And then El Nino reared his hideous, ugly face last week and doused San Diego for 4 days straight with heavy rain. If my race was on roads, it wouldn't be a big deal. But it's on trails and includes a river crossing. The last time we ran it, the river wasn't too bad but with all this rain, my subconscious apparently thinks I'm going for a swim because I keep dreaming about falling into water during the race. What the hell? In my dreams (it's really the same one I've had a couple times now), I see myself running along and all of a sudden, the trail goes right into the water and I am fully submerged. I have to claw my way out and then run the rest of the race dripping wet. The water crossing is just before the halfway point, so that would mean running 25+ miles dripping. And I guess in the dream, I never dry off. So I'm all cold and mad.
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The river of my dreams... |
Ok, I need to calm down.
Have you had any running-related dreams? What are some of your running-related dreams, sleeping or otherwise?
I used to suffer from insomnia on a regular basis when I was younger; now I usually sleep pretty good, but not the last half of 2015 due to Chester.
ReplyDeleteAnd I was a zombie. Just beyond exhausted. So I don't know how anyone deals with that on a regular basis.
Here's hoping things dry out and the river goes down before your ultra! Because I can't imagine running 50 miles on roads, much less muddy trails!
Yeah insomnia is awful. Everything is affected by sleep, or lack thereof. I hope someday it won't be such an issue for me!
DeleteThanks for your well wishes regarding the race and weather!
I hope you have a great race! Hopefully things will dry some. It sounds like a great adventure ")
ReplyDeleteI have dreamed about running a marathon - did great in my dream...real life can't get through raining lol
Thanks!! I am sure if you ran a marathon in real life, you'd do just as well!! Sometimes dreams do come true ;) LOL!
DeleteI'm headed towards Southern California so here's wishing us some dry, warm weather. I have a couple friends running that race, and I didn't realize there was a river crossing! Crazy! Have a great time.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! And I hope you have a great time visiting SoCal!
DeleteOh goodness that's a terrible dream. Like my mom says though, bad dreams are the mind's way of getting stress out of the system to make way for the goodness. Wishing nothing but goodness at your upcoming race! Thanks for linking up!
ReplyDeleteThanks Marcia! I really hope your mom is right and all this dreaming means things will go smoothly on Saturday!
DeleteGood luck with your race!! I'm sending you lots of dry, warm thoughts. You'll do great. We'll be rooting for you!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Rachel!!
DeleteGood luck on your race this weekend... hope the rain holds off for you. I am running my first marathon in April and am a bit worried that it will pour for the whole time. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteI hope it's not pouring for you! Running a short run in the rain is manageable but anything longer than 30 mins is not!!
DeleteGood luck!! I was just in Cali and we made it home right before the rain hit....but my home is in Iowa, and we've had absolutely FRIGID temps the past few days. Is that karma? ;-)
ReplyDeleteMan, I hope it warms up for you!!
DeleteSrending you tons of dry thoughts !! Rick that race! You will be awesome!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Cheryl! I hope you're right!
DeleteI hope I never look or behave like that guy at the top of this page. But anyway, I actually did have a running dream once. My running buddy and I were going up a pretty steep hill, and I tripped on my own feet, fell, and rolled down the hill. Despite my embarrassment, she just cracked up and was laughing at me. :) Anyway, I know you'll do way better than you're thinking right now. And even if you become submerged, you'll dry out. Eventually. Have a great race, Coach!
ReplyDeleteThe running buddy in your dream is so rude! ;) Thanks for the well wishes! I hope I'll dry out!
DeleteGood luck with your race!!! I've never had a dream about running, but I guess that's a good thing! :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, you're lucky not to have any running dreams!! They're nerve wracking!
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