Dreams Pt.1

19DEC2023

I often dream about climbing stairs. They are often bizzarro versions of real stairs. I might as well document before I forget. 

Premise: I met a young, fit Asian girl and convinced her to try competitive stairclimbing. I took her to RPI to practice at the Approach (an outdoor stair case). 

Dream: For the first round, the goal was to climb as fast as possible to the top of the hill (Approach + Running + More Stairs) to test her fitness. However, I was slightly nervous as I was carrying an extra 20 lbs. But surely, I could still keep up with a newbie, right?

We started up the steps. Although we were at the Approach, the staircase looked different. The stairs were nestled between brick walls of apartment buildings reminiscent of a hilly NYC suburb. In addition, the pedestrians were well-dressed. Not the college kids, vagrants, and the occasional exercise fanatics I'm used to seeing. 

I kept up with her on the first extended flight. I was winded but so was she. I decided to pick up the pace.

The next flight was long and straight. About 100 steps. Rather than pass her on the stairs, I decided to take a parallel detour consisting of a dirt path carved into the grassy hill (note: this parallel path does not actually exist irl).

I ran up the pathway, pulling away from my trainee. However, at the very top of the path, a four-foot wall blocked my path. For some reason, I didn't notice the wall until the very top. Despite the rails (which struck me as odd considering I was on a dirt path) my muscles didn't have enough strength to get me over the top*. I was stuck.

Somehow I managed to get a leg over the wall and pull the rest of my body over the top. I had lost maybe 10 seconds. My trainee was nowhere in sight. I had either lost her on the previous flight or she was way ahead of me. Probably the latter. So I continued my ascent as quickly as possible. I couldn't let a newbie beat me to the top.

*Imagine doing pullups to exhaustion. That is what it felt like. Enough strength to hold on to the pullup bar, but not enough for one more full rep.

The end.

Analysis:

• Clearly I dream way too much about fit Asian girls... and stairs. 
• Despite taking place at a real location (The RPI Approach) the dream version looked nothing like the actual location. The four foot wall blocking my path seems to be a common theme. Something *always* prevents me from finishing a race in my dreams.
• In real life, I'm actually struggling with losing the excess weight I gained during the COVID19 pandemic . It turns out I need to lose about 19 pounds, so from now on I'm just going to call it "The COVID19". It has a nice ring to it.
• Like usual, the dream finishes without anything being resolved. Did I make it to the top? where was the trainee? More questions raised than answers...