Have a cup of coffee and catch your breath.

I had a very weird dream last night.  They (who, exactly?) say all dreams have meaning.  What, then, does this one mean? 

I open the door to step outside into near whiteout conditions.  It's cold, dark, and I can barely see.  The wind is howling, it's snowing, and there's several inches of snow on the ground.  I am in a hurry, and I run to my car and start it up.  I let it run for a bit, and then carefully start driving down the road.  But...something is wrong.

The car doesn't seem to be moving as fast as it should be.  I accelerate, but pick up no speed.  It's almost like something is weighing me down.  "Could just be the extreme cold," I thought.  "But why does my car feel so...so...heavy?" 

And then I see it.

It was not noticeable at first, as I did a double take.  It was hanging down off the roof onto my windshield.  A white paw.  Not just any white paw.  A very LARGE white paw.  The size of a child's baseball mitt.  With black padding.  "Ummmm, what the...?"

I slowed down to less than 10 mph and rolled down my window and, as carefully and quietly as I could, stuck my head out of the window and peeked up onto the roof. 

Yep.  A polar bear was on the roof of my car. 

There it was, taking up the entire roof of my car, just sleeping.  I rolled up the window and tried to comprehend what, exactly, was happening.  I picked up a little speed and then applied the brakes sharply, wondering if I'd see him roll down onto the front of my car.  No such luck.  The paw disappeared, and I wondered if he was stirring...

...and he was.  I could hear the roof of my car groaning and straining under his enormous weight.  Panic was setting in at this point.  This had to be a dream, it had to be!  I watched as the speedometer crept up to 40, then 50mph and I suddenly braked and turned left sharply.  I slid for what seemed to be an eternity and looked over my right shoulder as the bear flew off of the roof, rolled several times into the snow, and disappeared.  I had no idea where I was but all I knew was that I was back on the road and a polar bear was no longer on the roof of my car.

Thought all day about what it could mean, but could not figure it out.

One Foot Follows the Other, One Foot Follows Something New

* sips coffee*

Oh, hello there.  5+ months since my last update.  The winter doldrums have, thankfully, come and gone.  WORST.  WINTER.  EVER.  Just a "blah" feeling I couldn't shake, no matter how hard I tried.

Currently I'm watching "Breakfast at Wimbledon" and trying to figure out what I want to do today.  Run this morning in humid but not hot temps?  Hang around the pool with Calli?  Hit the gym and work in some stairs and bike work?  Why not all three?

What's happened since my last post?

1)  Purdue's basketball team finished up a mediocre B10 season and played Kansas - eventually national runner-up - quite well in the NCAA tourney.  It's sad to think I won't see Rob Hummel in a Purdue jersey anymore, but with any luck we'll be watching him in the NBA thanks to the T'Wolves.  Excited to see the new crop of players come in and want to stomp IU to shut their mouthy fans up.
2)  Ran Winona Lake again in April.  50 miles worth of trails, 30 of which were covered in a steady rain.  Dropped last year's time, and a morning start certainly helped, as I didn't have to finish in the dark with a lamp on my head. 
3)  Completed first trail marathon last month down in Tell City.  8,800' worth of elevation gain, which is simply ridiculous and challenging.  Ducked in under the 5hr mark with a few minutes to spare.  A great road trip all-around, as my friend Shanna accompanied me down there.  Fun times.

 Work is good, running is good, life is good.  Looking forward to continuing a great summer of hard running and seeing where it leads me. 

"Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own; sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction."