Back-to-Back Bike Dreams

Dream #1: I had my Black Mamba  at my parents’ house in Indiana.  They stored in on their front porch.  There were two other “cruiser” bikes in the back of the house, but they weren’t mine per se.  I walked through the house and out to the front porch, and saw that my beautiful Orbea was missing…stolen!!!  I was heart broken.  My parents felt so bad about my bike, that they’d gone to the LBS and purchased a tri bike for me.  They took me out to the front lawn, where my new bike was standing.  The front looked like a tri bike, but mostly it looked like a bike-sized locomotive engine!  . My parents told me that they paid $20,000 for the bike.  I’ll admit it was sturdy, and looked safe and strong.  And I knew I would ride well on it.  But I wanted my Orbea.  I didn’t want to hurt their feelings about their bike choice, so I gently suggested that we should exchange the bike for something less costly.

Dream #2 (the very next night): I opened a large mail package, and in it was a bike (in one piece -ha!).  I surveyed the bike.  It was old, maybe 15 years.  It reminded me of my first tri bike, a Lightspeed.  Round tubes made of silver titanium.  Minimal decals and coloring.  Then I realized that I’d traded my Orbea for an old bike.  Once again, I was heart broken.  I couldn’t believe I’d been so impulsive and traded my bike for this antique.  I wondered if I could get on EBAY and re-buy my Black Mamba.

Any interpretations?

Andy at Leadville Trail 100: Dream & Reality

Dream: Pam and I were crewing for Andy at the Leadville 100.  When he came into an aid station, he was having problems with his feet.  I took off his shoes and saw that several toes were banged up and bloody.  I didn’t have what I needed to fix it, so I went to the community aid table.  There I found tape, medications and other items to dress foot problems.  We patched up Andy’s feet and off he went.

Then we waited for Andy close to the finish line, but he wasn’t coming and wasn’t coming.  I started walking out to find him, and then he came in carrying a ton of stuff: water bottles, bags and other things…his hands were full.  We took the items from him and pointed him toward the finish line.  Closely behind him was a man wearing jeans and dress shoes: he’d run the entire 100 miles in that attire.  He looked like a zombie doing a death march.  I knew that he and Andy had been within feet of each other for the last miles of the run….but that they had not talked to each other.  I also heard that Andy and the man were two of only three runners who finished the Leadville 100 this year.

Reality: I thought about Andy all day Saturday and early Sunday morning.  He and Chase had informed us that the weather forecast was for rain, hail and snow, and I prayed for their safety running 100 miles in that weather.  I sent my thoughts (“Keep moving, Andy!”) and dedicated my own loud version of ”Momma Said Knock You Out” on my late night drive back from St. Pete to him.  I shivered as I thought to myself how cold he and Chase must have been at midnight in Colorado, all the while I was driving with my windows open feeling the 77-degree temps here.

I guess I was in tune with Andy in the middle of the night: He was pulled from the run around mile 48 for missing the cut-off due to altitude-related problems (I think).  And after apparently getting lost for an hour, Chase was also pulled from the run.  Its true Andy would have never quit on his own.  And though I know he must be disappointed, I hope he realizes what an inspiring (albeit crazy) dude he is to me.  I can’t even fathom taking on the daunting physical and mental task of completing four mountain 100-mile ultra-marathons within weeks of each other.  Just believing he can complete the Grand Slam is a victory in my book.  Rock on A-man!

Three Running Dreams – You pick the winner!

In the past week, I’ve had following running dreams.  Which is your favorite?  (Oh, and I’ll take interpretations too).

1). I’m running what I believe is a 50-miler.  The course is multiple hilly loops.  At one point I was running with Tracy and a friend, and when we reached the top of a hill, we jumped off the crest and ran the downhill…which was more like skiing.  My stomach flip-flopped and it was a blast!   Somehow I got out in front of Tracy, and got to an aid station, where I turned around to run the course backward (though I wasn’t supposed to). On my way back out I found Candi and ran with her for awhile.  It was getting dark and I didn’t understand why I wasn’t done yet…and how far I had to go.  I thought that maybe someone had tricked me into running longer than 50 miles.

2). I walked out of our house wearing jeans and running shoes, and began jogging down the sidewalk.  It started raining before I even hit the corner, and I thought I should go back home and grab my umbrella out of my backpack.  But then I realized that I would look silly running under an open umbrella.    So I kept running to Croom, which was only two blocks from our house (wouldn’t that be nice!) to meet up with a man that had something for me (great details, eh?).  When I got there another group of runners (not the FUR’s) were getting ready to run.  I knew I only had to run a couple of miles in through the trails to meet this person, and I didn’t want to get caught up running with the group.  I headed into the trails alone.

3). I’m running up our street buck naked, and I was fine with it.   But the closer I got to the new construction, I realized the construction workers would make a big deal about me running in the buff, and I started to question my decision to run down that particular street (but not the being naked part!).  I got to where the street turns, and decided to turn around and head back home where I could put on my running clothes and go back out.  I ran past the workers for the second time, avoiding eye contact so that they wouldn’t say anything to me…I wished I’d worn my hat.

Saturday morning run & Vermont dream

I met the group yesterday morning for what was supposed to be an easy jaunt through Trout Creek.  The usual suspects were there, as well as the lively group from the Blue Sharks .  It wasn’t the FUR’s vs. the Blue Sharks…it was the Women vs. the Men.  Candi led Tracy and me through the woods, cracking the whip.  We finished 11 miles in just under two hours.  Apparently A2′s testosterone led the men through 13+ miles in about the same time…or less?  I’m not sure, because I was busy getting cleaned up for breakfast.  The Blue Sharks came in right after the guys, and I teased Ron for getting his group lost.

Once everyone got cleaned up (or at least presentable) we headed to Fir Statch for breakfast.  The plate-sized banana crunch pancake was good, but the company was even better.  We chittered about Vermont: the course, the weather and the aid stations.  Hopefully A2 will have his exhaustive course, aid station and profile map all laminated for everyone’s viewing pleasure on Friday when we meet for lunch.  Otherwise, we’ll just be pleasantly surprised about the landscape that Vermont has waiting for us .

When I came home, I took care of some business (Ultrarunning Dog…not that kind of business!) and lay down for what ended up being a 2.5 hour nap (although Armando said it was more like 3-4 hours!).  Either way I lost some time, and it felt really good.  While I was in la-la land, I had the following dream:

We were all in Vermont a day before the race.  The guys were outside looking at the course and the terrain, and realized that it was going to be very difficult.  Maybe TOO difficult.  They were considering dropping out of the run before it even started.  I thought to myself, “If THEY think its too difficult, then there’s no way I should even attempt it!”  Just then, someone walked up with two dozen Dunkin’ Donuts .  The guys inhaled the donuts…and I laughed.

Running 50M in my parents’ living room

The dream starts around 7:00am in my parents’ house.  I was getting ready for a 50 mile run (or practice run?) in my (old) bedroom.  I talked with my friend Kim, who, in typical fashion, was beautiful by 7:00am.  I headed out to the kitchen to find something to eat before I started running….through the living room (which btw is about 20′x20′).  I looked in the fridge and it was loaded with food, but I only saw cut pineapple and brownies.  I figured both of those would give me stomach problems, so I looked under the kitchen sink, where I found a Lara Bar  (btw: they are organic and very yummy bars for running and snacks!).  It was open on one end, and I wondered what kinds of bugs had crawled into the package, but I put it into my race belt anyway.  I then walked into the living room and began rearranging furniture so that I could “run” on behind my family who were watching TV.  My (deceased) grandmother was there, and my mom in her flannel nightgown, but I didn’t really chat with either of them.  I figured I’d better start running or I’d be in there all day.  I asked my brother Doug how many “laps” he’d calculated I needed to run, and he said 47.  “But, I ran six earlier plus two yesterday…so those should count!” I interjected.  I began jogging through the room, trying not to trip over furniture.

Any interpretations?

The Urban Ultra

I had this dream last night, after driving a whopping 8-miles in 50 minutes:

A group of friends were running an ultra in (I think) Wisconsin.  It was cool, but not freezing as I imagine Wisconsin would be in February.  The race ran through the city streets, among the crowds, through the malls, etc.  I started out with a group and we were running on the sidewalks with the bustling crowds.  Well, we weren’t really running because it was so crowded and the local people weren’t moving out of the way.  I kept looking at my watch thinking, “At this pace, we’re never going to finish!”  Aid stations were called “exchanges” and they were manned every few miles by local yocals.  Their kiosk-like stations had everything from drinks to sweets to sandwiches.  At one exchange, I was given a piece of two-layer cake.  I ate it, then wondered what kinds of stomach problems I’d have later in the race.  The group took their time at the aid stations, I wanted to keep moving forward, but I didn’t have a race map, and the route wasn’t clearly marked.  There were some green signs here and there, but they didn’t point out the way well.  So I stayed with the group, urging them along.  We headed into a mall and tried to find our way through this unusual race course.  I kept looking for green signs to point the way and found a restroom; I figured I should go while I had a clean opportunity.  Running during the day with people out and about was fun, but I wondered what it would be like running in the streets once night fell.   

Winning the Ironman lottery

I dreamed that I won an Ironman lottery slot.  When I told my parents, they were excited thinking they were going to Hawaii to watch.  (My dad has told me that they only way he’d come and watch me in an Ironman is if I went to Hawaii).  Then I realized that I’d won a slot in the 70.3 World Championship in Clearwater.  They were excited anyway to come down and watch me race again. 

Maybe this is a premonition that I should get into the lottery for both races…maybe I have good race karma right now

Contacts for the race?

I dreamed that I was driving to the 50k and was trying to find parking.  The race was on a higher level than the parking…the race director wanted people to walk through the expo and town before the race.  I found a place to park and was walking to the race start.  My dilemma was whether or not I should wear my contacts for the race.  My thought was: the race starts at 7:00am and its going to be light, so I would be able to see ok;  I’m going to be out here for 6-7 hours, and that’s a long time to wear contacts; And finally, its dirty out there, and if I got something in my eye, it would be difficult to take the contact out. 

Thoughts: Maybe I want to be able to “see” this race…really take in the sights of what’s going on around me….

Bike Dream

I took my bike in yesterday to have a different cassette and chain put on for climbing.  Naturally, I had an anxiety dream about it:

I picked up my bike from the shop and took it out for a ride.  The bike mechanic had replaced the pedals with something that looked like a curved plastic ski.  Instead of using bike shoes, I had to wear long thick socks (like tennis socks).  My foot was connected to the “pedal” by a large velcro strap, that I wrapped around my foot and the pedal a couple of times.  I was infurtiated!  “This is never going to work!” I screamed.  Then my brother Steve was driving with me and I was going on and on about this mess up, and figured the mechanic had already thrown away my pedals, causing me to buy new ones.  I was so angry and kept yelling.  My brother looked at me like I was crazy and just shook his head.

Of course, when I really took my bike out this morning, it wasn’t switching gears right, so I have to go back and have them fix it.  Its such a hassle.  That’s why I love running…shoes don’t have these kinds of problems.  Anyway, today I rode a slow 18-miles and ran 7.  It is so blasted hot here.  I can hardly wait to get to the old country, where yesterday it was in the 70′s!  Doesn’t that sound nice?  Can you imagine how nice a temp of 70 degrees would be on race day?  I can….

Ilene and the sprint

Ilene and I were driving down to Madeira Beach to meet some people for dinner.  After that, we were going to participate in a sprint tri.  As we were driving down 275, there were ominous clouds to the West.  I said to her, “I’m not sure I want to do a race if its going to be storming.”  But she replied, “I’m definitely going to do it anyway.”  I said, “We didn’t bring our gear with us, and we’ll have to drive all the way back to Tampa then all the way back down here.”  Finally she decided that it wasn’t worth it and we ended up looking for shells on the beach.