The 2011 Northern Virginia Bronchitis 1/2 Marathon Race Report

I'm losing my breath just walking from the kitchen to the living room. Got to the doctor yesterday and I'm on all kinds of meds. The only running I'm doing these days is in my Oxycodone-fueled dreams. Like last night:

I was in my old neighborhood where I grew up in Virginia. I was running in a 1/2 M and it was through the golf course. Something interrupted the race for me and I had to do some other work somewhere else for a while, and then I was back in the race and running pretty fast and easy. But I was mentally wrestling with the idea that I had 'taken a break' in the race and would it be ok to 'extrapolate' a finish time based on the last 5 or 6 miles when I resumed running. Hey, it's my dream so wtf. Finish time was 2:07, a new PR and my first race in Virginia -and with hills. Oh, and negative splits. Recovery has been eventless since it was just a dream, but today I will take it extra easy and drink plenty of fluids and continue my medicine regimen.

Running Dream

I got your 'blunt' right here!

I think running dreams are God good for me. They are always positive: I'm fast, in the lead, no-effort cardio, and Adam is waiting, ineffectively-clenched, in a porta-potty line a couple of miles back. No threat from that speedy rabbit!

I had one the other night where I was running through the streets where I grew up in Vagina Virginia. I slipped off of the hilly roads and onto some of the paths and forest trails I was familiar with, and just kept going. In the dream I was thinking that I could keep running forever but it would soon be dad dark.

Hey all you Sigmund Freuds out there, pick on your own sub-conscience!

There were some other runners out there, but none as strong and in good form. There are three basic steps to interpreting dreams:

• First, try to recall the details and scope and sequence of the dream
• Second, listen very closely to the initial impression/meaning you take from the recall
• Third, share with someone else for feedback
• Fourth, get your butt to Houston for xmas

The second step is most revealing and is usually the correct analysis no matter how silly it seems at the time. My step two revealed that I like running but I'm trying to 'capture' running for automaticity. I want to be able to call myself a runner, and be viewed as a runner, but not really put in the effort or risk the injuries and 768/788 Age Group place markings. In other words, I'm a real runner acting like a poser. Or more accurately, trying to avoid becoming a poser.

please wake me before I go any further

I do like running but can't stand it for the 5 minutes or so just before my feet meet the street. Once I get going, I'm good and turn into the runner that I am. A bit on the slow side to be sure, but improving and staying within my means. And also injury free for the past year or so which I attribute to improved form and better shoes. Thanks Lauren -when are you coming home??

I've said it before, and I don't mean to sound like a sad sack, but I am not supposed to be able to go out the door and run for 5 miles. It's just not me. I think about military personnel overseas in battle, about people with terminal illness, people with injuries, my aging body, my blogging friends, etc., and in the end, it's just the 'I can be healthy' mantra that makes me go out the door. Running never occurs like it does in the dream, but sometime after miles 1 and two, I get into a rhythm, look down at the Garmin, and think, "I've just run 2 miles how fast? And three or 10 more shouldn't be a problem today" Now that's a dream come true.