Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Not Just for Babies

Not all early morning wake up calls are created equal. Some days I am fitfully awake before my alarm, contemplating my first cup of coffee and the day’s events.  Other days, like today, the alarm startles me out of some crazy deep sleep or dream and it takes me a few minutes just to feel like I can function. I stumble around confused and dazed trying to brush my teeth with the end of the hair brush or sitting on the toilet with the lid closed.

Today when the alarm roused me at 5:10 a.m. for my cycling group meet-up, I was having a nightmarish dream about my upcoming race. This is how I know I am truly tapering…the dreams arrive in full force.

In this dream I was making the transition from swim to bike. I had just purchased a new bento box (in real life - not dream life - so it was on my mind) and it was loaded with Honey Stinger Waffles and gels. I got to my bike and remembered I needed to add one more thing to the bike (bird’s eye view):

biketray

Yes, for some reason in my dream, I wanted to put a high chair tray on top of my bike. I figured I could place all kinds of fuel on there - cut up Power Bars, a nice selection of strained peas and Cheerios - and just pick it off at my liking. Problem was, when I put the tray on the bike, I couldn’t get to my bento box underneath.  I was thoroughly disturbed. This was throwing off my whole mojo. I threw the tray to the ground, yelling “Mother f$cker!” Thankfully, the alarm went off and I was pulled from the depths of this high chair/bento box disaster.

Sweet relief!

I’m sure my next 70.3 dream will be about doing the race naked and chafing my ass off. Or, having to crap while on the bike and stopping to ask an aid station volunteer for a Depends (that really could happen).

Do you have crazy dreams in the days/weeks leading up to a race? Tell me one. I have these kinds of dreams before any big event: childbirth (that one was nasty), my wedding day, tests, races, you name it. I think it’s how I work out my anxiety.

Do not try to patent my high chair on a bike invention. I think I’m onto something and Trek probably does too.

SUAR

30 comments:

  1. From the title, I automatically thought maybe you had incorporated a diaper into your day.

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  2. Bento box For bikes?!
    Love it.
    I'll add sushi in there somewhere. ;)

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  3. I had a nightmare the night before a half-marathon that I forgot my body glide at home. It was truly terrifying!

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  4. I looked at that pic for a good 5 minutes trying to figure out what the heck that was.

    Could you imagine having that ability to just pick off food? What about spitballs at other kids? Flinging spaghetti at those trying to pass you?

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  5. HAHA a tray!!!!!!!! No I think my nightmares are so bad my mind makes me forget

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  6. I had a dream while pregnant with our first that when he was born they wrapped him up like an enchilada. Not in blankets - in a flour tortilla dripping with peppers and onions. And no one else in the delivery room (except ME) thought this was strange...

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  7. Got rid of the reflectors and installed a high chair tray. Love it. The new trend! Thought I saw some of those on the Tour de France???

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  8. I also thought maybe you had discovered racing diapers.
    Love that tray :)

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  9. I suppose you also had biking chopsticks in your dream.

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  10. HAHA Love it. Crazy dreams are the worst aren't they?

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  11. When I was pregnant we found out we were having a girl and painted EVERYTHING pink. I had a reoccurring dream that I gave birth to a little boy. The doctor then takes him out of the room and return with a baby girl. I start flipping out that I want MY baby and my husband calmly turns to me and says "But this one matches our stuff."
    I also had a dream that I gave birth while running my favorite 5k. Just on the side of the street and no one stopped to help and I crossed the finish line with a baby.
    Neither of these happened. Healthy baby girl born in a hospital

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  12. Are you holding your bike up by just the front wheel?!?!

    I get kind of weird dreams when I need to wake up and pee--toilets everywhere except in a private place where I can go. I've also had "Oh crap I'm late for my test" dreams where I dream I oversleep and get somewhere late. Then I wake up and the alarm hasn't even gone off yet.

    Once, when I was working and going to school and newly married, my husband was strongly encouraging me to max out my hours at work. I dreamed I was getting chased by some guy in dark clothes who kept saying "I just want to talk." I ran up a hill and hid in a house. He showed up with some circus people wannabes, and the chick who was hiding me let him in! That one was so strange to me at the time that I made a point of remembering it so I could try to analyze it.

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  13. Love the tray! No pre-race dreams I can recall but I always had whacked out dreams before big work presentations.

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  14. Ha ha...I have had some crazy pre-race dreams too!

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  15. high chair tray was actually smart shopper version of aerobars!

    JessicaH

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  16. Well, Beth, you really know how to mess with a guy's head. My eyes focussed on the "doing the race naked" part, then realized it was a dream thing.

    Ran in the new SUAR shirt. Great! Full review soon.

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  17. I had a dream once before a half marathon that they changed the course on the morning of the race to make it all convoluted & loopy. I finished it in some insanely fast time & was like, "Wow, that didn't feel like 13 miles at ALL!" Then it turned out I'd missed some loops and cut out massive chunks of the course, & one of the volunteers took back my medal & said "Sorry, you have to go back and do it all over again."

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  18. SUAR shirt review posted on my blog.
    http://keithsodyssey.blogspot.com/2011/07/running-with-lightning.html

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  19. I have a repeating dream where I'm in a public restroom and the stall doors are only a foot high....

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  20. LOVE the high chair tray. I was thinking about the same thing, but it would be the "aero platter" and I would use it to eat my pb&j that I wanted to eat SO BADLY during my first 70.3, but I DROPPED IT! Argh. I will totally buy an "aero platter" from you once you start selling it. Please work with trek so it will attach to my fancy speed concept! I can't use their special box for the top tube because there isn't enough room for me to stand between it and my seat. It would cause some major girly parts issues, and I don't think I would want to eat anything from it anyhow :)

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  21. You're probably sick of me, but prior to trying to qualify for Boston, I had this bad dream where I got off course and skipped 2 miles, but was on track to finish in 3:24. I knew I could run 2 miles in 16 minutes, so I was trying to figure out what to do. How crazy was it that I was doing math in my dream? This just shows how obsessed I was with my splits and my specific time at each part of the race. Thankfully, the course was an out and back with no chance to screw it up in real life.

    I also usually have tornado nightmares, and amazingly, did not have one before my first 70.3, even though the previous year's race was really hit by one the day before, and it destroyed the transition area. The course was cut short due to debris and started late. Go figure, I only have unrealistic nightmares.

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  22. Just found your blog! We must be kin. Love it.

    I recently completed a fun tri that includes kayaking in lieu of the swim portion. Its a fun race!

    Two days before this race I dreamed that I had these special elastic bands that would allow me to run further and faster and climb canyon walls. I used them for my race and climbed up a vertical canyon with everyone cheering me on. I was expecting to see this spectacular view once I got to the top and feel really accomplished. Instead, I saw a wall with dark thunder clouds and lightning flashing on it. Like I was in a Cirque du' Soleil theatre of some sorts. I was really disappointed and very let down.

    Not sure what this means and I'm afraid to guess.

    You have a new follower. :)

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  23. I haven't raced enough to have anxiety about it yet but the Army has given me some horrible ones.

    Airborne school is three weeks long and in addition to falling on your ass all day from various heights, I was constantly having that "falling" feeling in my dream. Christ, after three weeks of "doing, dreaming, repeat" I just wanted to fall out of the plane five times and go the hell home.

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  24. I usually dream variations of the same theme. I arrive at the race, but still dressed in my work clothes, high heels etc and decide I might as well go for it anyway. Or everyone else has started. Clearly this shows I don't feel prepared!

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  25. Before I race I always dream that I forget to bring my running shoes, which is silly because obviously I put them on before I leave the house. Dreams are weird.

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  26. I thought this post was going to be about you wearing diapers. Shoot.

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  27. The tray is a good idea... :P

    I had a dream during my pre-marathon taper that I feel down the stairs and broke my ankle. But it was one of those falling down dreams that wake you up because you really feel like you're falling.

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  28. tapering for SF marathon these days and had a nightmare last night that husband's exwife moved in with us. Truly terrifying!

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  29. A brilliant plan, if only you could get to the bento box... Sort of like a TV tray for the race.

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  30. I am kind of disappointed to say that I have never had a memorable race dream/nightmare. That was a good one!!!

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