You mean everyone doesn't do this?

"I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous." 

it's cold

"Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday." - Don Marquis 

"People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it's safer to harass rich women than motorcycle gangs."

Another day where you get extra bang for your buck (2 quotes)

"Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day.  Give a fish a man, and he'll eat for weeks." 

"When a person can no longer laugh at himself, it is time for others to laugh at him."

"When you reach for the stars you may not quite get one, but you won't come up with a handful of mud either." - Leo Burnett

"Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness.  Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness." - George Sand

"It is only necessary to make war with five things; with the maladies of the body, the ignorances of the mind, with the passions of the body, with the seditions of the city and the discords of families." - Pythagoras 

"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence." - Robert Frost 

"I can't complain, but sometimes I still do." - Joe Walsh

Running on Friday the 13th just seems like a scary prospect to me.

A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And, maybe, theyd be happy for a while.

But February made me shiver
With every paper Id deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldnt take one more step.

I cant remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.

So bye-bye, Miss American Pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
Singin, thisll be the day that I die.
Thisll be the day that I die.

Did you write the book of love,
And do you have faith in God above,
If the Bible tells you so?
Do you believe in rock n roll,
Can music save your mortal soul,
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

Well, I know that youre in love with him
`cause I saw you dancin in the gym.
You both kicked off your shoes.
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues.

I was a lonely teenage broncin buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck,
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died.

I started singin,
Bye-bye, Miss American Pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
And singin, thisll be the day that I die.
Thisll be the day that I die.

Now for ten years weve been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin stone,
But thats not how it used to be.
When the jester sang for the king and queen,
In a coat he borrowed from james dean
And a voice that came from you and me,

Oh, and while the king was looking down,
The jester stole his thorny crown.
The courtroom was adjourned;
No verdict was returned.
And while lennon read a book of marx,
The quartet practiced in the park,
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died.

We were singing,
Bye-bye, Miss American Pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
And singin, thisll be the day that I die.
Thisll be the day that I die.

Helter skelter in a summer swelter.
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter,
Eight miles high and falling fast.
It landed foul on the grass.
The players tried for a forward pass,
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast.

Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
`cause the players tried to take the field;
The marching band refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?

We started singing,
Bye-bye, Miss American Pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
And singin, thisll be the day that I die.
Thisll be the day that I die.

Oh, and there we were all in one place,
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again.
So come on: jack be nimble, jack be quick!
Jack flash sat on a candlestick
Cause fire is the devils only friend.

Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage.
No angel born in hell
Could break that satans spell.
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite,
I saw satan laughing with delight
The day the music died

He was singing,
Bye-bye, Miss American Pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
And singin, thisll be the day that I die.
Thisll be the day that I die.

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news,
But she just smiled and turned away.
I went down to the sacred store
Where Id heard the music years before,
But the man there said the music wouldnt play.

And in the streets: the children screamed,
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.
But not a word was spoken;
The church bells all were broken.
And the three men I admire most:
The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died.

And they were singing,
Bye-bye, Miss American Pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
Singin, thisll be the day that I die.
Thisll be the day that I die.

They were singing,
Bye-bye, Miss American Pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
Singin, thisll be the day that I die.

supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Took a page out of Brent's "Rool Book":  pick up the pace into the wind; pick up the pace up a hill; pick up the pace into the rain. 

Fun run.

"Those who face that which is actually before them, unburdened by the past , undistracted by the future, these are they who live, who make the best use of their lives; these are those who have found the secret of contentment." - Alban Goodier 

I like this one.

"Runners just do it - they run for the finish line even if someone else has reached it first." - Author Unknown

"The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us.  If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man." -  Euripides

"What others think of us would be of little moment did it not, when known, so deeply tinge what we think of ourselves." -  Paul Valery

"The trouble with jogging is that, by the time you realize you're not in shape for it, it's too far to walk back." - Franklin P. Jones

This is the fourth year of the Mount Cheaha 50k, and I've been hearing about it (and its difficulty) since the first running, so this year I decided that I should finally see what all the fuss was about.  I must say that it did not disappoint.

The night before the race, I rode up to the Bald Rock Lodge, which served as the race headquarters, finish line, and location of the prerace supper and briefing.  My brother and another Auburn student went up there with me, both of whom would be running their second 50k.  After eating, getting some final race instructions, and chatting it up with some ultrarunner friends, we headed back to the hotel.  The next morning, I got up at about 4:40 to get myself dressed and ready to go in time to make a quick stop at Waffle House before picking up Josh Kennedy, a friend from Huntsville staying at another hotel to head toward the race start.  Because my dad had come, we had a driver to take the car back from the start (once the race was over, there would be no transportation back to the start), so we did not have to park at the finish and ride a bus to the start.  The race was supposed to start at 7:30, and we had to check in at the starting area before 7:15, so we decided to arrive at 7.  Once we arrived, however, we got word from a few others who had driven themselves that the bus had gotten stuck in the mud, resulting in an hour delay.  At 8:45 or so, the bus finally got there, so at 9, after we had been standing around for 2 hours, the race got underway.

Other than working on getting through aid stations quickly, I didn't really have a race plan, but I had told Dink Taylor (the eventual winner), that I would run through the first aid station with him.  Needless to say, this was a less than wise decision.  The first aid station was a little over three miles into the race, and even though none of the runners around me stopped, I knew that I had better slow down; otherwise the last few miles would turn into a hike.  After the first aid station, I reigned in the pace a little and settled into a more comfortable pace for the long haul.  The next several miles and couple of aid stations went by relatively quickly and uneventfully, plugging away the miles at a modest but solid pace.  Shortly after the third or fourth aid station, my good luck on the rocks came to and end when I managed to turn my ankle like a pro, leaving me limping for about a half mile, but, counter-intuitively and fairly well known among ultrarunners, if you manage to turn your ankle (as long as you don't actually tear a tendon or break something), the worst thing you can do is stop; continuing running hurts, but it keeps the swelling down and lets the blood flush out the area.  In any case, after hitting my ankle, it took quite a while for me to get back into a rhythm. 

Also during this portion of the race, we had several creeks to cross.  The course contained a plethora of little streams and unavoidable puddles, but there were several notable creek crossings that could sweep you off your feet if you weren't careful.  One in particular was about 15 or 20 yards wide and came up to my waist with a strong current.  Even with the rope strung across the creek, it was pretty hard to keep from being carried downstream.  Some might see the creeks as utter inconveniences, but all of them were somewhat refreshing for me, cooling off (or numbing) my legsand providing a nice break from the monotony of uphill-downhill-uphill downhill...

After the big creek crossing was another section of trail that spit us out on a road that carried us to the last aid station.  The aid station is at mile 28, which means that there was only a 5k left in the race.  This 5k took me a little over 45 minutes.  Why?  The first mile or so is on a trail affectionately known as "Blue Hell."  It is an incredibly steep, rocky section of trail that slows down even the winners, but is an enjoyable (in a weird, ultrarunning way), albeit difficult section.  Once at the top of the mountain, just a few more minutes of running through the park to get to the finish.

Marcus Farris, one of the guys that rode to the race with me, finished about 20 minutes ahead of me, Josh Kennedy finished in around 7 hours, and my brother Peter finished in about 8 hours.  Several others from Auburn with whom I have run also completed the race.  Allen Smith and Bob Lawson finished a few minutes after me, and Fred Trouse (who was a pacer for me in the Pinhoti 100, during which I think the "caught the bug" and decided to try this crazy pastime of trail ulrarunning) finished a little ahead of my brother.

All in all, I think this is a very worthwhile race.  Although it's not necessarily a PR course, it does manage to keep your attention (as the race director, Todd Henderson said, there aren't 3 miles of flat running in the whole course).  This is definitely a race where people realize that just because you're running on a nice bed of leaves, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're not running on jagged, ankle-twisting rocks; it just means you can't see them.  If anyone is looking for a well organized and very enjoyable event that presents a true challenge to runners of all abilities, I would highly recommend the Mt. Cheaha 50k.

My apologies on a bit of a ramble.