Snooze clues

So today was my first long run of spring marathon training. Since January 4, I've been doing 10 milers--which are plenty long, don't get me wrong. But todat was a 15 miler and in my book, it's official, that's a long run. Because it was (shock of all shocks!) only 5 frigid, frosty degrees outside, I ran a mile to the gym, did 13 on the treadie, then ran the mile home. It went fine. I felt a little wobbly toward the end (never a good thing on a moving belt) and I forgot to bring a gel so that was annoying, but I survived. Yip! In honor of doing my first long run I also enjoyed my first post long run nap. Ahhhh. This is perhaps my very favorite part about training. To me, there is nothing as awesome as finishing a hot shower and falling into bed after a hard workout. It's a luxury we don't get on weekdays, but today I happily took advantage of nap time.

I only snoozed for 45 minutes because my dreams were wacky: I was still running on the treadmill...in high heels, dealing with work stuff and taking phone calls. I mean, what the heck? I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I've always dreamt about whatever activity I'm newly plugged into at that time in my life. In high school basketball seasons I would dream I was in a game--playing defense and trying to steal the ball for a fast-break--and I would wake up (often as a passenger in a car, where I've always been able to fall asleep in 5 seconds flat) when my hand swatted the door or seat so hard that it roused me. (Very embarrassing.) Last summer, when Kate and I were riding together a few mornings a week, I used to dream at night that I was still on my bike. And every single time I've done a marathon, I can pinpoint when it's getting close by the arrival of rather disturbing race dreams: they always involve some crazy scenario where I'm late to the start line, running too slow, going too fast, etc.

Now I'm treadmill running in my sleep. I guess I've been doing enough of it this brutally cold Chicago winter we're having that this was inevitable. Instead of calling me crazy, how about we say I'm practicing visualization. That's a good thing for athletes, right? Yeah, that's it, I'm doing visualization drills! Photo grabbed from Daehyun Park at flickr. Posted by Liz