I usually don't remember my dreams, but it's funny to notice how many of them are now related to the UTMB.

Before the UTMB last year, I remember I dreamt about the event several times. And unfortunately it was mostly unpleasant, demonstrating the kind of fear from an unknown event. Most of the times, I dreamt that I arrived too late at the starting line. Everyone was leaving, running in a very cheerful atmosphere (which happened in reality !). But I was standing aside, looking at all these runners. Typically, I was wondering whether I could get changed very quickly, and prepare my bag to join in. But I just couldn't. I felt such a frustration not even being able to start, to waste all this preparation for nothing.

And I started to get that kind of dreams again. Now that I've really run the loop, the images of the race are not more realistic anyway ! A couple of days ago I dreamt that part of the race was crossing some kind of very complicated network of corridors and staircases made of concrete. I remember I dreamt about that last year as well. I think there's not much space for interpretation here. It's clearly related to the first time I started to run in the hills: on the slopes under the Grenoble's fortifications. It was such a labyrinth, I missed the path several times, and I can tell you it doesn't look like the best place to get lost. If the scenery can be amazing, some corrdiors are really dodgy. In the dreams, however, I never got lost.

The novelty in the last dream was "the missing bag". I realised at Courmayeur (after 72km) that I forgot my bag ! Just impossible in reality. Then I simply went back home quickly in the middle of the race, packed my bag, without not really remembering what to take... and went back into the race !

Why accomplishing such a great dream gives awful, repeated nightmares ? Freud, where are you (*) ?

Ultra dreams.

(*) except DMC.