I had one of those restless, excited, in-and-out of a dream state, while tossing and turning sleeps the other night.  Earlier in the day I had made a supremely satisfying purchase on E-Bay; one that causes Tri-Geeks to reminisce about the sleepless nights before Christmas when they were kids.  I felt like a kid.  Albeit, when I was 5, I would not catch a moment of shut-eye in anticipation of the next days plunder.  At least this time, I was getting some much needed sleep.  I know, because of the lucid dreams dancing in my mind.  In these dreams, I moved effortlessly; with power, poise and pace.  It was a basic vision, the ultimate in moving your body.  I had the healthy fitness capable of propelling your body over land and sea with efficient speed.  A daily ritual I tirelessly attempt to improve on.  Although improving all the time, perfection only gets farther and farther away.  In this dream, I was relaxed and feeling euphoric, yet I was racing at max effort.  Being in that fleeting state of mind where the task at hand flows with the body and focuses on seemingly nothing and everything to do with your movements; where your body and mind merge into that elevated state while your movements become beautiful and tranquil.  My mind was clear and calm and in a state of being contemplative.  Time slows down, allowing me to further enjoy the moment, as I race along with a slight grin; a small window for those watching to see and experience my internal pleasure.
Although I did not get the best night of sleep I was still cheerful from all the good visions of the previous night.  I had to wonder if the single act of purchasing a disc wheel triggered my lucid dreams.  “Maybe”, I thought, as I began to daydream about taking my first ever pedal stroke and having the huuumm, huuumm, huuumm sound of a disc wheel. 

Surely much of the lucid dreaming comes from the simple fact of enjoying my fitness.  I have been breathing a lot of air; healthy and consistent in my training while steadily improving.   Having a breakthrough workout is rewarding enough to have me in the clouds for several days.  Like last weeks BRIC workout at the Boise High Track.  It was 4x (10 minutes on the bike trainer then a mile run.)  I was not feeling up for this workout, tired and hungry after work and being just 3 days removed from the NYC Triathlon.  The east coast trip was disruptive on my sleep patterns.  I lightheartedly showed up at the track and began warming up.  Feeling lethargic and heavy I wasn’t sure that I would be able to hit my goal time of 5:15 per mile.  To my surprise I clocked a 5:07 first mile; then went 5:01, 5:07, 5:08.  That’s good stuff for me. 

Then, yesterday in the pool I felt strong and fast while swimming high in the water.    Swimming at the Downtown YMCA is awesome.  I started learning the intricacies of water in this very pool over 30 years ago!  However, it is not a fast pool; being a shallow 6 lane pool while having 4 guys in my lane with 3 guys in the wall lane and 5 or 6 on the other side causes a raucous.  But we like to think its good simulation for rough open water swimming.  The main set was 12 x 100’s on 1:40 going 75fr/25Fly descending in 3 sets of 4.  My times:
1:02, 1:01, 1:00, :58
1:03, 1:01, 1:00, :57
1:03, 1:01,  :59, :57

Solid, feel good swims, especially considering the wavy pool and negotiating butterfly with so many arms flying.  I had more than a few awkward recovery strokes in the butterfly to avoid smacking arms.  But the feeling strong and being high in the water is sheer joy for me.

Up next, the beautiful McCall Mountain Triathlon.