My Nightmare Account of City to Surf!

That's what it was....just a nightmare, because I didn't run the City to Surf this year except in this dream!

I'd arrived at the start which was at a school somewhere, only to realize I'd forgotten both my bib number & timing chip. In a state of the worst kind of panic only felt in a nightmare, I told an official who said not to worry, just run, keep my splits & send them to him & he would see that they went into the results.

Not too happy with this & seeing that there was still a half hour before the start, I decided to run 'home' (no idea where that was but certainly not Mittagong! Seemed to be somewhere in Sydney), pick up the bib & chip & return to the start, all within 30 minutes!

And that was where the real nightmare began! I found myself completely lost - nothing unusual about that though - amidst a maze of deserted, dark streets & alleys, all the time running in a mad panic & getting nowhere. Nothing else to do but hail a taxi, I thought. None in sight of course, as I stood in the middle of a road with traffic whirling either side, until a man & woman on a motor bike pulled up & asked if I wanted a lift....things seem so natural & real in a dream. Anyhow, I climbed aboard..no idea how three of us fitted, but we did. After some distance & still no where nearer to 'home' & time marching on, the couple had to stop at their house to get ready for work ....only happens in a dream! More panic as I paced around their house until I realized I couldn't wait any longer & set out onto the streets again.

Once more, a maze of dark alleys, dead ends & tunnels until I found myself at the bottom of a deep well! But, as luck would have it, (and thanks to all I've learned from watching Tarzan movies since early hildhood!) there was a thick rope dangling from the top, down to where I was standing. Amazing what athletic feats one is capable of in a dream! I grabbed the rope & started to climb my way up by scaling the rope, only to have it all fall down on top of me as I reached half way!

However, as Harrison Ford finds in many of his movies, there's always a way out to be found and there right in front of me was a doorway (why didn't I see it in the first place?) leading to....wait for it, yes, you've got it : more darkened streets, but this time with crowds of people all trying to get to the start of the C2S. I followed two girls who were making massive strides by zooming straight up vertical cliffs! I attempted to do the same but couldn't make it more than half way & so down I went & the search began all over again, only this time it was back to where the C2S was to start, the search for 'home' & the ill-fated bib & timing chip no longer seeming to matter! I was looking for Circular Quay and/or Rushcutters Bay - no idea why, but it seemed the direction I had to go & where everyone else was going. I could see the ocean & immediately knew the struggle to start the damned race was nearly over. But before that happened, one more test had to be endured!

I turned off the road into a house where there was a cat - a lovely, big fluffy one that I decided to take with me! Do I show here a tendency toward kleptomania? I left with the cat in my arms & later decided to leave it to find its way home. A few steps further on, conscience got the upper hand and I turned back, picked up the cat & returned it through a cat-door to its home. That has to say something good about me!

Finally, I was back at the start of this year's C2S from which most runners had already left, when an official approached me and said : "OK. You're free to go." Just That! That was all! After all that I'd endured for what seemed like endless harrowing hours.........

AND...I WOKE UP!

I wonder why I dreamed all this? I know I was thinking of the event all day & disappointed I didn't feel well enough to run & I'd watched a Harrison Ford movie earlier that night, "Airforce One". So, maybe I just got it all out of my system in the dream. Who knows? Crazy, like all of my dreams/nightmares which I can always vividly see & recall on awakening.

What I Did do however much later in the morning, was:

Go to Chev Track for a Tempo Run.

2km warm-up
Some light drills & a couple of strides.

4km 'hard' (tempo run); a little below racing effort.

Time 24:53

Avg. pace =6:15; best = 5:17

Splits 6:16; 6:09; 6:27; 6:00
AHR = 132 (84%); MHR = 142 (90%)

I felt really tired for this tempo run...not surprising after the 'run' I did during the night! Nevertheless, it was 5 seconds faster than last time on 14th June!

Distance today = 6km