I first met Weiss (though I didn’t know it was her) last July to be precise, after I’d been running through the hills and mountains near Aspen for more than three hours along with my adventure racing teammates. Weiss and her companion awaited our arrival in a darkened meadow. The two of them, as volunteers at the X World Cup Adventure Race, had been flown in by helicopter hours earlier to serve as recorders at one of the race’s official checkpoints. We hailed them, thanked them for their volunteerism, and went on our tired way, little knowing that a few years earlier, the woman standing before us had weighed in at 150 pounds heavier than her current weight.

That was before her mother’s premature death prompted her to face the hard fact of her own lack of fitness. Stunned into action, Weiss decided to take control. Through proper diet and exercise, Weiss gradually lost the extra weight. As the weight came off, she found herself enjoying exercising more and more.

“I was really wanting to get into multidisciplinary sports,” she explained. “The main thing was to find activities to help me improve my fitness. I know that if I took up running and that’s all I did, I’d just get bored. Plus I love the mountains. I grew up in Colorado. I love to hike and to backpack, and I just love being up there.”

Weiss’s love of being outside and her pursuit of more than one fitness activity made her a natural fit for adventure racing, which usually incorporates at least three disciplines – trail running/hiking with navigation, mountain biking and paddling. Last March, when she heard about the 2000 sea2summit race that was taking place at Copper Mountain in August, she made it her goal to finish the race.

“I wanted to see if I could do it,” she said.

Weiss entered the two-day stage race (meaning competitors sleep at night) as an individual competitor, but planned to race with a male coworker who had also entered as an individual. As “teammates” the two trained together and supported one another throughout the race. When she reached the final section of the sea2summit on the second day – a mountain biking section – her teammate raced ahead, but Weiss was already elated. Though she hates mountain biking, it was at that point that she knew she was going to finish the race.

Not only did she finish the race, but also, she discovered a new passion and purpose in exercising that went beyond merely keeping fit. Today, at age 42, Weiss is more in shape than ever, thanks to her commitment to racing. She plans to compete in three adventure races and numerous smaller races this year. In addition she has become an enthusiastic promoter of the sport, volunteering at adventure races and working with an adventure racing club, among other activities – in fact, she said, she does something with adventure racing nearly every day.

“I used to say, ‘I don’t run unless someone’s chasing me.’ Now I’m seeing a running coach and thinking about getting involved in 50Ks,” said Weiss, quickly adding, “but the only reason I’m running is for adventure racing!”

Before you can begin to interpret your dreams, you have to be able to remember them. This guide will show you what it takes to remember your dreams.

The first hurdle you will have to jump on your way to interpreting your dreams is remembering them on a regular basis. By following the steps outlined below, you will have no problem soaring over this obstacle.

1. Develop a Sleep Schedule

The most detrimental thing you can do to your ability to remember your dreams is not following a regular sleep schedule. The ideal situation is one where you can wake up without an alarm clock (they tend to jar you out of your dreams); however, if this is not possible, you can still train yourself to be ready for the alarm by (a) getting approximately the same amount of sleep every night and (b) going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day. This may seem slightly simplistic, but it really does work, as long as you give it a chance. Remember, it takes 21 days of continuious activity to create a habit, so don’t give up too soon!

2. Repeat After Me: “Dreams are Important”

Many people have trouble remembering their dreams because, subconsciously, they do not believe their dreams have any value. This concept is easy in the way our culture uses the term “dreamer”. Instead of being viewed as visionaries or creative, the “dreamer” we tend to think of is foolish and lazy. In order to combat this, you must tell yourself that dreaming is important to you. That it will help you discover the answers to your problems (it can) and that you need dreams to maintain your mental health (you do). The best time to say your mantra is right before you fall asleep (since that is when you need to hear it the most).

3. Write Your Dreams Down

While it is possible to remember your dreams, you will be hard-pressed to do so if you do not write them down. I’ll go into dream journals in part two of this series, but, for now, the easiest way to do this is to write down everything you can remember, and also any emotions you were left with. Don’t worry too much about continuity or getting everything down, the goal here is just to write down what you can as you remember it. (As you get into the habit of writing down your dreams, you will find that not only do you remember more of each dream, you will remember large bits and pieces as the day continues.)

If you follow these three steps every night, soon you will have a collection of dreams waiting to be put in a dream journal, which is where we will pick this up next time. Until then, happy dreaming!