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I was dreaming that I had a house with Melinda Cruz on Lake Erie. We had a bunch of roommates. There are always roommates in my dreams.

Like.

idk.

I can't be successful in the dreamscape or some shit.

Anyway. The water behind our house was very warm. Plus it looked like the Pacific Ocean.

But then it was six a.m. and I had to get up. Melinda stayed up late watching MNF so she was basically a rock beside me. The bed was warm.

My room was cold.

I couldn't open my eyes in the bathroom. Melinda said she heard me telling myself to wake up. She says I always do that.

I never remember.

Several minutes later I was walking up the street with my hands under my armpits. Shivering.

Mizuno's looking eerie on my feet. Glowing.

Pitch black. My daughter's friend [wearing her robe and pjs] in her driveway saying goodbye to her dad as he drove off to work.

And then I was running.

Past the high school kids on the corners. The black forms in the shadows.

Always the same questions in my mind: Who rides the bus to high school, and

when the fuck did that stinky loud yellow monster start arriving before 630?

Legs moving. Purplish sky in the east. Still night in the west.

Soft breathing. Warm up pace.

A mile. 2 miles.

Pick it up, man.
Pick.It.Up.

Long forever hill to climb. Horrible attempt at spitting leaves snot on my Under Armour pullover.

A stretch of sidewalk running. High traffic. No streetlights. Oncoming cars make me see spots.

There are things to dodge. Manhole covers. Sewer drains.

I take teeny tiny [alliteration] little steps.

And then the backside of the loop. Not quite the homestretch but 5k on the books with no problems.

Running. Onetwothreefour. Left knee wobbles once. Right quad pain for a sec. Should I order the Stick from the Internet bounces back and forth across my brain.

4 miles.

God turns on the lights. I Run on the dewy grass for a few.

More commuter traffic.

Get past the black car sticking out of the end of that driveway and then it's a matter of making it around the corner. Oh yeah. Don't forget to avoid the goose poop.

And then I see the streetlamp up ahead on the corner of the court aka the finish line. Yeah. Sprint toward it. Long loping strides at the end. Breathing not as quiet but not so bad.

6.2.

The cool down walk home. The best feeling of the day and it's only been light outside for several minutes.

Time to take a shower. Get four kids out the door by eight.

Morning.

And Monday was a day ago.