Running Dreams

It's Tuesday, which means only one thing: Tuesdays on the Run blog link up! This week's theme is running dreams - dreams we have about running or dreams we have for our running. Before I continue, the Tuesdays on the Run blog link up is with My No-Guilt Life, MCM Mama Runs and Marcia's Healthy Slice. When you're done reading here, go check them out!

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.

The river of my dreams...

So if you could do me a favor, send me some dry, warming thoughts for Saturday. I don't mind getting my feet wet. We can have drop bags and I can pack dry socks. Even a dry pair of shoes. But please, let's all band together and hope that the river is not a big giant sink hole that swallows me up! That wouldn't be fun at all. Aside from being cold and mad, just think of all the diseases lurking in that water! YIKES!

Ok, I need to calm down.



Have you had any running-related dreams? What are some of your running-related dreams, sleeping or otherwise?