Mel On...Bad, Dreams, BAD!

Last night I had a horrible dream...HORRIBLE!

I was in a car with my friend, Maria, and two other girls who I knew in my dream but have no earthly idea who they are in real life.  We were heading to the marathon but instead of it being in Athens it was in a really lush, green forest and there was a HUGE mall/high school track building thing where we were supposed to start from??  We had to park in the very back of the parking lot and we got lost in the mall part of the building before finding the school part of the building.  Anyway, we end up finding the right place but the race was delayed for a couple hours. We went to someone's house and the toilet was overflowing and I realized that I didn't have my Camelbak, earphones, fuel, NOTHING for the race. I even left my phone in the car so I had to run back to get it but it was coming close to the start of the race so I had to sprint and got really tired.  Then when I got back, the race was delayed again.  There was also some roach-coach type food trucks outside by the field but instead of selling food they were selling running stuff.  I kept asking people about what to do for blisters but no one would tell me.  Then I saw Billy sitting at a picnic table, but I didn't have time to talk to him because this huge football coach guy started making everyone do stretches.  Then we had to line up for our race packs and Maria (8 months pregnant) was there wearing a white karate uniform and so was the guy from Kendrick Fitness (just not pregnant or in a karate uniform).  What is going on?! So, we get our packs then have to run around the building to the starting line but the line out the door is packed with Kenyans (Kenyans again!) and I lost my phone!  I was trying to retrace my steps in my head to find my phone when I woke up.....AGH!!!  WHAT WAS THAT?!

Needless to say, I woke up quite flustered so I thought I'd look up why this horrible scene played out in my  mind.  This is the article I found, "5 Reasons You Dream."

"Dreaming is a symbolic language designed to communicate your inner wisdom to you while you are asleep."  

 Hmmmm...inner wisdom...I like it...okay....

"While many agree about what dreams are, there is still debate over why we actually dream. Most experts believe we dream to assist the body with rest, repair and rejuvenation. Others speculate that we dream for psychological reasons: to reexamine the day's events, to reduce and relieve stress and to provide an outlet for pent-up emotions. Keep reading to see the five most widely accepted reasons why we dream."

 Hmmmm...that dream did NOTHING for relieving stress....0-1 article.  0-1.  Let's keep reading...

"Famed psychologist Carl Jung believed that even our most fanciful dreams are methods of compensation for events that occur in our waking lives. For example, a person who experiences unhappiness in their waking life may have fantastically blissful dreams as compensation, so their spirits won't plummet into complete despair. On the other hand, a person who is largely successful may also have dreams of failure or defeat to compensate for feelings of invincibility and power."

  Well, I wouldn't call that dream blissful and I'm not largely successful OR have feelings of invincibility and power...so, okay then...0-2.

"When dealing with stressful situations, your dreams become markedly different, and sometimes reflect your inner feelings. By displaying significant symbols and issues relating to your waking life, your dreams are trying to establish relevance as an effort to cope with your inner turmoil."

Stressful situations, inner turmoil...now we are talking...1-2.

"Most dreams incorporate recent events and occurrences we've experienced....These kinds of dreams might actually be your brain processing and organizing the conscious and unconscious stimuli it receives throughout the day." 

Sounds about right...2-2.

"Some scientists also propose that while we sleep, our brains continue to process issues of concern in our waking lives and constantly attempt to come up with answers and solutions."

Issues of concern, YES...3-2.

"In Sigmund Freud's  influential book, The Interpretation of Dreams, he suggests that dreams are the direct result of repressed emotions and they might represent unconscious thoughts, wishes or desires."

I think it's more conscious thoughts but, okay....4-2.

I guess my answer as to why I dreamed that nonsense last night is pretty straightforward.  Hello, I am about to run a marathon in 20 days...one I feel very, very ill-prepared for!  Maybe I just needed to let my mind get all the negatives out of the way so nothing like that happens on race day?! Or if it does, I will know not to go to someone's apartment with overflowing toilets and try to get advice from people in food vans.

Sigh....here's hoping...here's hoping...