station and trail running

2023-03-12

Me and my whole family are at the Station, a huge megastructure that combines hotels, shopping, and plane and train terminals in strange and confusing ways.

We’re trying to catch a connecting flight and it’s very difficult to find out where we’re supposed to go. We get separated, and I’m running around the Station. Going up escalators and stairs and elevators, running down hallways. Getting into and getting out of lines.

At one point I find my brother in a crowded area and I wave to him, and I feel relief because at least I’ve found somebody and now we can try to navigate this maze together.

I wave him over and head over to the elevator to wait for him. The elevator doors start to close as he approaches, and I consider stopping the elevator and holding it so we can ride up together since he’s so close. But I decide to let it go, and we can catch the next one. But at the last second, my brother gets close enough that he is able to dash and close the distance, and he darts between the doors just as they close. I’m surprised, left standing by myself, as he takes off by himself into the Station.

Later, I’m recounting this whole story to my other brother, recalling that it was a dream. My goal is to tell him how selfish and thoughtless our brother was being. But I get so caught up in describing the Station and the dream, that I forget to even tell him that part.

So then I’m going some trail running. It is super crowded. There are other runners all over the place. I fall in alongside another runner and we start chatting.

I tell him that I’m running to work, like I usually do. I’m a run commuter. It’s a long commute, about 11 miles there, and the same distance back. I don’t do it everyday. But I do it every now and then.

We get passed by another runner that my companion seems to know. They wave and greet each other. Apparently this person is on day 30 of a daily challenge to run 30 miles every day.

The trails are well maintained. Groomed dirt, and at the steepest parts there are wooden steps to climb. And at the lowest points, there are small bridges where the water pools. There are some open spaces, but a lot of the running is through heavily wooded areas.