I ran an easy 2 this morning, but it was sort of fast...

QOTD: What is the most unusual thing that has ever happened to you, running or non-running?

This is a tough question when I think about everything that has happened to me in life, much of it unusual. But, in the running sense, I think that taking a job in a very, very rural area in Louisiana being directly related to having an opportunity to meet, run with, and become friends with Dana Miller. In case you don't know who that is, Dana is a guy who won the Wasatch 100 something like 5 times, and is just a legendary person in world of mountain ultra running. It was just very surreal running in the Utah mountains with him. At the time, I don't think I had run anything beyond a half marathon, maybe one 50K.

Anyway, I got to thinking about this because I was awakened by my phone buzzing last night and one of my oldest friends from elementary school was texting me that he and a few other people had dinner at the White House last night with the POTUS. Whether you like Trump or not, that is a pretty amazing deal. He is supposed to call and tell me the details this evening.

LB2 - Really cool, both about being friends and running with Dana and your friend's dinner at the White House.  Looking forward to hearing about the details!

7 or 8 on tap for this evening.  If conditions are good, may go for a trail mix (half trail, half pavement).

QOTD:  Hard to pick one.  But something that will never happen again in my lifetime.  Back in the 90's when I was a young professional, my boss asked if I would attend a meeting in London on her behalf.  Of course, I said yes.  5 day trip for a 1 day meeting (4 days of rampant rampage in London... hell yeah!).  Arrived at the Intercontinental Hotel in the heart of Piccadilly Circus to check in.  Back then, they only took your first initial and last name on the reservation.  Apparently my first initial and last name matched that of the most famous English football (soccer) player at the time, Gary Lineker.  So they put me into the penthouse suite.  I had no clue of the mistake at the time.  A day or two later, there was a knock on my door.  A young staffer asked if I needed anything and then asked if I was Mr. Lineker.  I said yes, and the expression on his face was the most disappointing look I had ever seen.  He said everyone in the hotel thought Gary Lineker was staying here.  They didn't make that mistake again on the next visit, but man those were fun times!

MTA - warden, YIKES!  Yeah, a .44 mag would be a good safety net.

No run yet for me today, but I will get out to Coventry Woods trails this evening with the Lady. Hopefully all the snow is gone. It's pretty much all melted everywhere else with just a few patches here and there. Did my planet of fitness routine at lunch. Some nice scenery today while I was doing my stretching on the mats.

QOTD: Hmm. Running MMT100 my second time in 2010, ultra running legend David Horton handed me a Whopper Junior around mile 60 at the Camp Roosevelt aid station. This is somewhat unusual for a couple of reasons. 1. How did that whopper junior taste so fresh and delicious when the nearest BK was 20 minutes away down the mountain? 2. Why did David Horton then attempt to instruct me how to run after eating? Did he not know of my legendary aid station prowess?

Warden - Yikes on being stalked. Surprised you were not packing to begin with. Lesson learned I guess.

Berto - Ha. You should have just not answered the door. Maybe you could have kept up the charade?

8 miles on the road at lunch today. Realized it's been over a month since I've been on a real trail or gotten any vert. Maybe this weekend.

QOTD: Anything, not just running? I've worked in rural areas of ~20 tropical developing countries for anywhere from 2 days to 2 years, sometimes deep in the jungle, and I've seen some stuff, but I can't think of one particular thing. The 7 foot monitor lizard in Sri Lanka was pretty cool. My wife came across a huge cobra when running in Sri Lanka, but I missed it (I ran ahead and left my wife running alone through villages in rural Sri Lanka because I was faster and an idiot).

Rainy and drizzly, and all day I was looking toward the mountain, shrouded in clouds and fog and drizzle, wishing I could go for a run there. Unfortunately I was held up by chores all day, so no run.

But on the bright side, as I was driving on a backcountry road, I saw a flock of about 20 huge turkeys in the woods next to the road, and then several of them crossing the road. It was quite spectacular, all the birds very colorful and strong.

LB2: You seem to have some friends in high places...

warden: Scary. I also saw a documentary (the same, probably?) about these predatory black bears. Luckily I have never come across one myself.

Bert-o: Sounds like great times in London. I was once put up in a 3-bedroom suite in a first-class hotel in Austria because the company I was visiting thought I was the decision maker on a multi-million dollar project. My boss got set up in a simple room. Turned out he was the decision maker, but the company still got the contract.

Queen: I can totally relate to that scary night run. In my early days of late night trail running, I got so scared and freaked out a couple times that I had to turn around or get picked up ASAP, by animal screams, animal footfalls, or just my own thoughts.

GC: And your marriage survived that? Kudos to your wife!

moonlight: Oh those good olden days when we were kids in a hospital. Those experiences would be worth millions nowadays with the right lawyer!

QOTD: My story is also very mundane: I seem to have a sock-sorting dryer.

I just pack my laundry into my washing machine (it's a front loader, so the laundry gets mixed through a lot), then detangle the huge wet knot that comes out after about an hour and throw everything into the dryer, turn it on, and then roll the whole load out into a laundry basket. However, when I fold the laundry then, I never have to look for the matching socks. They are always, really always, right next to each other in the basket with the dry mess. Lucky me!