Oh, anxiety, I haven't missed you. Not at all.

The race-related anxiety dreams have started a bit earlier than usual, but Vineman is a longer race than I've done before, so I guess it makes sense.

This round of anxiety dreams are centering around the race's split transition area. T1 and T2 are miles apart. So  if I drive to the start of the race, I have to leave my car there, about 20 miles away from the finish line and T2.

Vineman provides shuttles, of course, but then I have to finish the race, find someplace to lock my bike up (since I doubt they'll babysit it for me and they don't allow bikes on the shuttles), sit on the damned shuttle for 20 minutes, get back to my car (and I'll have to carry my car keys with me for the entire race), then drive my stinky exhausted ass 20 miles back to T2, load up my  bike (if someone hasn't stolen it), then drive another half an hour to my  hotel.

I'm not happy about this. Not at all.

I'll have a large group of friends doing the race so I've got a reasonable expectation of having someone give me a lift to the start line, and failing that I'm sure someone will be more than willing to accompany me from LA and use the free hotel room in Napa in exchange for sherpa duties,  but right now my brain is assuming that I'm going to be on my own the whole time and is, of course, imagining the worst.

Hence the anxiety dreams.  In addition to the standard 'sleeping past my start time' dream, now I'm having 'finishing the race after the shuttles have stopped and not being able to get to my car' dreams, with 'OMG my bike's been stolen while I got my car' dreams.

For good measure, last night my brain threw in a 'guy I don't know well but have a very mild crush on is somehow in my hotel room making out with my best friend' dream.

I don't know where that one came from.

In the interest of some good news - my run's doing very well. I'm still struggling to maintain race pace runs (and I'm aiming for a race pace of a 9 minute mile), but I'm cruising along at a 10 and change without breathing hard, which is a HUGE improvement over last year, when I was struggling to maintain an 11 minute mile.

Also - I have a new bike!  I bought it used,  and it's a TT bike, not a road bike, so I'm not going to retire Gary just yet :)

Complete bike story next post!