Don't Hesitate

Last night I had a massive cluster of dreams that I wish I could fully remember.. but they all seemed to have a common theme of overcoming obstacles. I dreamed about obstacle courses and a freezing river. There was an obstacle with cargo netting that you had to climb, followed by running through a creek with turtles. There was another obstacle with a ladder leaning freely on a rope suspended across 2 poles that you had to climb over and prevent from flipping. There were lots of eager, but tired athletes trying to get past the obstacles. Further down, the group of people thinned out and I stand before a freezing cold and muddy river with my team. They were neither an elite group of athletes nor hesitant beginners. Just as I was about to dive in, my team dives in with no hesitation. I immediately dive in and down pretty far. It felt like a long time had passed before I surfaced and then swam across. I exited the water and ran down a road to catch up with the team.



Symbols

Obstacle Course:
To dream that you are going through an obstacle course, symbolizes the hardships and difficulties that you are experiencing in your waking life. It represents the things that you must overcome in order to reach your goals. The elements in the obstacle course is analogous to the barriers and problems in your life.

Turtle:
To see a turtle in your dream, symbolizes wisdom, faithfulness, longevity, and loyalty. It also suggests that you need to take it slow in some situation or relationship in your life. With time and patience, you will make steady progress.

River:
If you are crossing a river in your dream, then it represents an obstacle or issue that you need to deal with in order to move closer toward your goal. It is also reflective of a new stage in your life. If the river is muddy, then it indicates that you are in turmoil.

INTERPRETATION:
I would dive into some of the symbols and what they mean but I already know why I dreamed of such things. A couple of weeks ago I completed an event called Tough Mudder. It's a 12 mile obstacle course with mountains, freezing cold water, tunnels, fire, climbing, crawling, plunging, and running through a field of live wire. It ranked up there with my first Century ride as one of the most mentally and physically challenging events of my life.. but it was so much fun at the same time. After completing it, I experienced a great sense of accomplishment and gained a lot of confidence. I am now planning on running my first marathon in Atlanta in October and Tough Mudder again in Florida in December.

The dreams I had are reflections of the obstacles and cold, muddy water I encountered. And perhaps it's an unconscious night school that is preparing me for the next century ride, marathon and Tough Mudder. The turtles in the dream, I think are symbols telling me that I should slow it down. Because right now I do have a hip flexor injury and I need to rest and heal but I'm ready to step up my training soon. In the dream, I was surprised and also pumped about the team jumping in before I did. It shows that I long to train with a fearless group that pushes themselves and never hesitates to jump in. And perhaps it shows my lack of hesitance when tackling a huge obstacle. I know that I will be ready for the marathon in October and perhaps a top 5% finish time at Tough Mudder.. and maybe even a chance to compete and complete World's Toughest Mudder.