Marathon Nightmares!!!!

I awoke on Friday morning terribly upset because I had a dreadful marathon nightmare!!! I firmly believe that it is just too early for that kind of absurdity. Seriously marathon nightmares- can't you have the decency to wait until I'm tapering??

OK so my dream started out at mile 20 (Of Hyannis) when I looked at my watch only to discover that I was significantly- I mean significantly- ahead of my goal pace. Needless to say I was delighted and amazed by my obvious physical prowess.

Then things took a turn for the worse.

                                        Because I saw this little bump. UM? Flat course???

I am a chronic hill runner so I did not let this small change of plans rattle me. Up I went. The problem? Once I was at the top there was nowhere else to go. Nowhere...I was forced to wait a long time for a Gondola. It wasn't quite as awesome as this one. I climbed in and zipped around a few bends in a very Disney ride sort of way and was deposited off in the middle of the woods. Huh.

Just a normal day at the Marathon.

I hate heights. This would never work out for me..

I disembarked from the Gondola to find that, not shockingly, my legs were starting to cramp up. I tried to ease back into running and felt like my legs weighed 500 pounds each and were glued to the road. Then things got worse. Out of the blue, Eric's big tall friend Ben caught up to be and passed me! On a side note, as bad as the dream had been to this point this was the turning point for me into legit nightmare. This is a really random thing to have happen too, as I have only met Ben one time.

This is Big Tall Ben.
He's like 7'5" no kidding.
He is going to be running Hyannis and I'm wondering if I should be scared!

I was just horrified that Big Tall Ben was going to beat me. It really ruffled my feathers so I tried to get my huge 500 pound legs to run. They really, really didn't want to but I got going at a shuffle. A slow, laborious, nightmarish shuffle of doom.

As I came into the last 3 miles I remembered that they had to be run a few times around a city. A confusing city with no volunteers to point the way and no signs. No help at all. CRAP!

I was suspicious that it was rather like the Financial District.
It was worse in my dream though...

I tried and failed to find my way. I sat on the curb because my gigantic lead filled legs just couldn't keep running, and I waited for another runner to go by and lead the way. Someone finally did and I followed them for miles before I realized that it was a recreational runner off for a Sunday jog. UGH!!! I finally crossed the finish line, in 3:37:00 which was amazing considering my debacle but utterly disapointing especially considering that at mile 20 I was running for like, a 3:03:00!

I walked around to locate Eric and found him drinking beer and shopping in a horse tack store with Big Tall Ben. This struck me as wrong on many levels. He had also beaten me, and beaten me so soundly that I had never even seen him out on the course. Again, this struck me as wrong.

I was honestly a bit upset by this dream! It took me the whole day to shake it off and I thought it probably meant that I was going to have a terrible, terrible long run! (I did not.) 

I am very hopeful that this is it for the Marathon nightmares and that they do not become a trend around here.  They are exhausting and ridiculous and insulting.