I had a nightmare. My family was trying to escape zombies. Can you believe it? I had a zombie dream, a la 28 Days Later. We were trapped in a house, trying to sneak from room to room. We made it outside and into a truck, but there were no keys. Max wouldn’t keep quiet and they kept finding us. A little girl zombie got in the truck and was puking. I was afraid if we got it on us, we’d turn into zombies. Everything was in sepia tone — like House of 1000 Corpses. I woke up with genuine fear that I could not save my child.

So my run was lame this morning, just like everyone’s. This heat is dragging us all down. I tried to tell myself, “Run another quarter mile,” but I’d be walking in 5 seconds. Then I tried timed intervals, and I failed. Then “just to the end of the song” — fail. To that tree. Fail. And in my brain I was feeling that failure chase me down. Then I decided to just stop and enjoy the sights and sounds of the morning and downtown. Then I enjoyed my time I had to myself and quit worrying about running the prescribed amount.

These two things are somewhat related by the fact that I’ve been going on 6 or less hours of sleep a night for weeks, and I’m suffering for it. I like working out in the morning, but my family stays up really late. I’d like to be asleep (as in totally not awake) by 10:00 at the latest. My people are night owls, though, and last night had me up until almost 11:30. I do not know a solution to this problem. Even though it’s #firstworld, it’s a problem that’s eating my brains. My child has been paying the price because I’m always tired. I am the zombie.