Rest Day. Ultra in the Distant Future?

Today is a rest day from running.

As I was scanning through a couple of websites today, I came across an Ultra Marathon that will be held in Nashville in October. I've "thought" I would like to run one of these. Well, not actually doing the running, but crossing the finish line and receiving the bragging rights to say I ran an Ultra, is what I really want. A 50K, 60K, 70K, and 80K are offered, with the 80K actually being 50 miles instead of a true 80K of 49.6 miles. If I am to run, I may as well do the 80, right?

My interest in the Ultra came a few months ago. Sherri and I were at Crissy's house preparing for here to return home with her new bundle of joy, Lainey. (Okay, so Sherri was preparing and I was watching TV.) My channel surfing landed me on a channel showing endurance athletes running 100 miles through an American west desert. 100 miles! The runners had mobile aid stations - assistants in vehicles that kept the fluids prepared, suntan lotion at the ready, among lots of other necessities. Even after seeing that these runners were exhausted from the extreme heat and in pain after the mileage toiled on the body, I thought to myself, "I want to run 100 miles one day."