Half Marathons & Dreams

Last night I had a dream that I was running a half marathon.
You know how in dreams when you run, it is ridiculously slow and you cannot seem to will yourself to go faster even though you know you can?
It wasn't one of those. It was a genuine running dream which was magical.
The last half marathon I did was on April 6, 2013. The Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon here in Springfield, IL. I run this race because it is close to home and also because the medal is a giant penny.

April 2013

April 2012

I have two of those now and plan on increasing that collection. I'd love to have 10 of them. I don't know why I picked that number.... I just want 10. 

Then of course I have this Half Marathon medal:

Best Race and Best Medal EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since I am actually a child (mentally) everything Disney is always going to be the greatest thing in the world to me. I had more fun at Disney World when I was 26 then when I was 15. Just saying. I was like a little kid. I got my picture taken with Disney characters and was giddy about it. I am not ashamed to admit that I still find true heartfelt joy in the little things. Like seeing Stitch walk around Disney World. And then me screaming for dad to bring the camera while I go get in line behind the 5 year olds. I have no shame people. 

Anyway, back to this dream.....

I was dreaming that I was running the Disney Race again with my friend Anna, with whom I have run races before and is my perfect pacer, and we were having a blast. The funny thing about dreams is anything can happen. The course of this race was WEIRD. I have no idea where it was but we were running on bike paths, streets, bridges, railroad tracks, through big building, etc. What kept throwing me off was that Anna was somehow 3 miles short of what we had actually run. My Garmin said we had run 8 miles and Anna's said she had only done 5. I told her that she needed to go do a 3 mile loop to catch up and I'd meet her again. (Funny right????) So, while she was doing her 3 miles to catch up, I went into a house where my family and friends were and had a nice little chat with everyone. I also played some trivia games (random) and then when Anna got back we kept on going. When we got to mile 12 we had the 1.1 miles left and the end of the race was some kind of obstacle course!! Like, Wipeout style. It was hilarious. We were jumping over things, running down stairs, carrying eggs and trying not to break them (I know, I need help) and when we finished the race we got these gorgeous, bejeweled medals and were escorted to a finishers area where there was a HUGE breakfast waiting with Mimosas and every breakfast food you could possibly imagine. 

The funniest part about that? Out of all that dream food you know what I got? A BOWL OF PLAIN OATMEAL. I am very upset with my dream self for not indulging on the bacon, biscuits and gravy, cold meats, fruits, veggies, etc. My dream self ate stupid, plain oatmeal. At least I did have a mimosa... 

And now that the dream is over.... all I can think about.... 

..... is running.