I had a very disturbing dream last night. I dreamt that the Seawheeze showcase store SUCKED. Seeing that everyone whined incessantly about the petri dish shorts from last year (which were odd, but still fun and colorful), the training shorts they sent out ahead of time for Seawheeze 2016 are an incredibly dull and demure disappointment (IMHO) in comparison to previous years.

Not only did the dream merch disappoint, the space itself was tiny and the complete lack of lulu stuff (there were VS Pink bikinis on the wall!) explained why there was shockingly no line to get in. It wasn’t worth going. After all the complaints about petri dishes and bug prints in real life last year, lululemon said “f*ck it” about the showcase store in dream 2016 and didn’t even try. Why bother to do something special when all everyone ever does is complain?

I was so sleep-upset about the store fail, and then I realized NO THIS IS A DREAM THERE IS STILL HOPE FOR THE REAL DEAL. So then my dream relapsed into a second incarnation of the store that actually included a limited amount of lululemon gear. It was white and had closeup photographic prints of leaves and grasshoppers all over CRBs and billowy MC Hammer pants.

There were 2 levels to this ‘store’ and it seemed much more like it was hosted in a convention center like the real store is. So I decided to take a couple items in hand into some atrium and down the stairs to the other level of the shop. There was some security guard stationed in that space, and with him he had a K9 guard, a German shepherd.

This was not just any dog, it was a clairvoyant dog that somehow knew and would attack/pounce and try to bite me in the neck whenever I even THOUGHT of a cheeseburger. I didn’t say or do or eat anything in my dream about cheeseburgers. But somehow this dream dog knew when a cheeseburger crossed my mind and that caused him to attempt an attack on me.

I did have a cheeseburger for dinner in real life. Maybe that had something to do with it.

Anyway, in my dream efforts to wrestle this canine off of me, I actually whipped my head so hard that it translated into real life and I woke myself up in fright at about 3:55a. How happy was I that A) I wasn’t being attacked by a psychic dog and B) the Seawheeze showcase store still has a chance of not sucking? Incredibly.

I ran 8 miles nonstop last Tuesday. Cardio and legs felt great, it was just the blister situation that killed my toes. Going to have to try to tape/wear different socks or something.

Wednesday, my toes were all messed up. Rest Day.

Thursday, I had to work a fight all day and night. Rest Day.

Friday, I worked half a day and drove up to Cape Cod. Rest Day.

Saturday, Fun on Martha’s Vineyard. Rest Day.

Sunday, Fun in boats and lots of drankin’. Rest Day.

CrossFit Monday and Tuesday of this week.

As you can tell, ‘training’ has become a serious afterthought recently.

There are people who run, and then there are RUNNERS. I am not a runner. I signed up for my first half marathon last year because I had an injured wrist, couldn’t do CrossFit and needed some sort of tangible goal/deadline to train for. The injury had left me feeling a bit lost, and I needed a purpose. At that point, I honestly felt like I didn’t know who I was without CrossFit.

Because it’s such a hot ticket, I actually had to sign up for Seawheeze in September, weeks before I even ran my first half back in October. Seeing that registration takes place 11 months in advance, lots has changed since then. I was stoked up the wazoo to have gotten into a race that’s notorious for selling out faster than you can say “lululemon”. I still am stoked, but my time across the finish line isn’t going to define how happy I am with myself.

Last time I ran a half, I needed it. I needed a goal to reach. My goal was to run it nonstop, and I did. Mission accomplished. Then, something happened in February. My wrist FINALLY began to heal. Lifting became possible again. I started mixing CrossFit back into the routine.

Yet, I was also mixing in happy hour, listening to my body, taking rest days and realizing that I didn’t need to be a ‘Runner’ or a ‘CrossFitter’ in order to be a happy person. I let myself read more books, and become less obsessed with following 18 million fitness accounts on social media.

In the past few months, my social media and blogging game has been the opposite of strong. While I love writing and creating content for you all, committing to doing it DAILY seems like a fun hobby at first until the idea well begins to dry up and suddenly you’re making yourself miserable while trying to sound interesting.

Seawheeze means something different to me now than when I initially registered. When I signed up and through the winter months, I was convinced I had to train and become some serious runner in order to participate in the race. Well, guess what? I don’t.

I’m a fit person. I am going to get through the race just fine, because guess what? To me, this is no longer a RACE. I’m not stressing myself out trying to beat anyone across the finish line. Not even myself. I have a 50% chance of PR-ing because I’ve only participated in one other half in my life. If it doesn’t happen, that’s not going to ruin my weekend at all.

Seawheeze 2016 is going to be an experience. The experience of Vancouver, the experience of the showcase store, the experience of being around a bunch of happy people who are just as into luon as I am. It’s going to be a blast, and the results of my 13-mile run aren’t going to get in my way of having FUN. I won’t let them. 🙂