I have a nightmare

I had a nightmare.

Not a “I woke up screaming in fear” type of nightmare, it was more like “I showed up for school with no clothes” type of nightmare.

The only difference is that it wasn’t school that I showed up for and I didn’t forget my clothes. Rather it was True Grit that I showed up for and I had forgotten all my food. Anyone who has had the misfortune of seeing me hit the threshold of calories knows that it is not a pretty sight and things go downhill fast. And not the “hold onto the bars and point the front wheel” fun kind of downhill fast either. It’s more like an “oh shit I missed the turn and I am now trying to simply not die” downhill adventure. It’s definitely not something that can be controlled once it starts so it is best to avoid at all costs.

Anyway, back to my dream. I show up to True Grit and I have no food. Of course, in my dream the first thing that happens is me rolling into a rest stop and I start looking for my food and there just isn’t any. Also, the rest stops are century styled, in that they have food and water and are spaced evenly throughout the course.

So once the initial shock of not having anything to eat wears off, I am given Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups to fuel me. My desperate requests to know how far the next stop is are replied with a simply quizzical look and refusal to answer.

I take my Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and forge on. What else can I do?

As the nightmare continues, the scene is repeated over and over again. Me standing bewildered, out of food and bonking with a volunteer handing me the only food they have, a  Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. I toss it in my jersey pocket and head out with no knowledge of where the next stop is or if they have any food. This keeps going until I finally cross the finish line and collapse as someone hands me a burrito.

I’m not one to put much stock in the idea that dreams have deeper psychological meaning. I find them funny and sometimes slightly insightful of our worries. I’ve shared this nightmare with a few people for the humorous side of it which is also why I share it here. But as I said, I do believe dreams can shed light on the things that worry us.

As of right now, I am positive that I can start and finish the True Grit course just as I did in my dream. However, I am worried about how I am going to stay fueled without carrying PB and J’s in my hydration pack and stopping for lunch every hour or so. It really isn’t good for me to get hungry. It also isn’t good for me to consume gels, blocks or any other high energy type bull shit food. I go from normal to squirrel and then to dead in the course of about 15 minutes.

So I’ve been playing with some food options. One of my more successful forays into nutrition was the Del Taco Macho Veggie Burrito sans sour cream and cheese. I tucked said burrito into my jersey pocket and nibbled on it through the course of a 30 mile ride. I felt good throughout the ride even with the extra bit of exhaust that ensued. I didn’t mind so much and now that I think of it, said exhaust might keep people from trying to pass me. Added bonus.

The only downside I had to the burrito experiment was when I was done riding. I had about four bights left and finished them off and then dropped into the bath tub for a soak. Things were great until I tried to get out of the bath tub which happened to coincide with the point in time that my blood sugar dropped to that dangerous point and I headed down into zombieville. Yup I bonked getting out of the bath tube.

This can only be seen as a downside due to the fact that it happened. However, in hindsight I should have eaten a little more than a few swallows of a burrito when I got done. The burrito nutrition plan cannot be faulted for my oversight.

The other side of the dream is the fact that I was handed a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. I don’t eat sweets. I don’t like them and I don’t tend to crave them. As of January 3rd, I stopped drinking gallons of Mtn Dew every day. By eliminating said elixir from my diet, I basically eliminated my sugar intake. Since then those cravings I haven’t had in years, have slowly been creeping back into my mind. Hmmm sugar.

I haven’t tried the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup nutrition plan, other than in my dream, so I can’t say how well it works. I think I might give it a try.

P. L. and R.