Ironman Rule Changes

This year IM instituted six new rules regarding competition. The complete descriptions are here.

Number one is about disc brakes. I've heard good things about disc brakes, especially regarding safety, so that's a positive.

Number two regarding cell phones, good luck with that. I see people using cell phones in too many uncalled (yes, meant that) places. It doesn't surprise me that competitors would use them during a race. People are generally idiots. I ran a local 10k race this past Sunday. When the starting gun went off a guy and two girls decided THAT was the time to take a selfie. Unbelievable, 20 feet from the timing mats, 600 runners behind them (including me right behind) and that is when you are getting a photo?
So riding your bike in an IM and taking photos with your phone, or taking a call, I can see that happening. Enforcement will be close to impossible.

3. Yellow Means Stop. Well, hopefully an official never sees a reason to stop me and issue a penalty.

4. Cover Up. What a bummer, now women can't compete with their tops zipped down past their sternum. Oh, men too of course, but that doesn't interest me as much. Just saying.

5. Physically Challenged athletes have more opportunities to compete as their guides can be of the opposite gender. This wasn't true in the past. I don't know why it would have been an issue, but it was.

6. This is the surprising rule. "The ITU has access to the latest technology able to detect the use of motors in bicycle frames or wheels.” What? Who has a motor inside their frame and competes at an IM? That is unbelievable. I'm just not smart enough to think of things like that. Even if was aware such devices existed I couldn't imagine using them. So maybe the pack of 12 guys who sped past me in a mini-peloton like I was riding a unicycle at the Florida IM a few years back weren't just breaking the no drafting rule, but had tiny motors in their frames?

I guess people will go to any means to finish an Ironman.

Potty Mouth Mike

The older we get the more Jan and I seem to swear. The majority of our swearing is just when the two of us are alone. We swear for a lot of reasons, from accidentally dropping an item, to emphasizing a point we are making, at bad drivers on the road, or from getting hurt.

When our kids were growing up we seldom swore, especially around them. I might have let a few choice words fly out when doing repairs around the house, but otherwise kept myself in check. Jan just didn't swear at all.

It's only been the last couple of years that "bad" four letter words have been used more frequently by Jan and myself. This is kind of strange, too, since when we hear certain words that used to be considered bad on television we are still shocked and glad our kids aren't little anymore and listening to this stuff.

A couple of years ago a "new to us" runner joined the Sal's group on our long runs. We soon called him Potty Mouth Mike, because he had an uncontrollable need to swear and to differentiate him from the other Mikes who are in the Sal's group. Potty Mouth Mike only ran with us for a year or so before injuries and work requirements took their toll. But his legend lives on.

Last Saturday I was running on the canal path with the Sal's group. It wasn't until I got home that I realized when I was talking while we were running that I let a few F-bombs fly. I also slipped on some mud and lost my balance when another F-bomb flew out automatically. It was a reflex response to thinking I was going to fall. Falling is bad. I can't fall anymore and not get hurt. It seems a justifiable reason to swear.

Now I wonder if I am going to be the new Potty Mouth Mike. No one seemed shocked by my swearing, which means they don't care or are so used to me speaking like an uneducated/uncivilized teenager that they've become oblivious.

The good news is that a new study says that "Swearing aloud can make you stronger".  Participants in the study were put on exercise bikes and then given aerobic power tests while swearing or not swearing. "The results showed that the participants produced more power if they had sworn in the first experiment and a stronger handgrip if they had sworn in the second." The athletes could withstand pain better or for a longer period if they were swearing.

It may be a good thing for me to keep letting a few F-bombs drop on the run. Wait until racing season starts and every other breath is FU. I may end up being banned from racing, but at least I'll have some fast times to show for it!

Questions That Need Answering

Many things puzzle me about the world around us. Please provide feedback if you have answers to my questions.

1. Why do telephone poles still exist? Is it really necessary to cut down all those trees and soak them in toxins? The poles constantly come down in wind storms and tornadoes, then communities are without power for hours or days. People drive into poles everyday. Just bury the lines, save a life or two, save a tree, stop visual pollution and long term soil pollution that occurs when poles are eventually discarded to damage or age. Really, the squirrels can find another way to get around. The noisy crows near my house can just leave.

2. Why are fitness rooms at clubs and colleges always so warm? At least keep the aerobic section temperature down and/or provide plenty of fans. I ran three miles in the college facility today and probably lost three pounds. My sweat was flying everywhere.

3. Due to number two I couldn't stop sweating, even after showering, to get back to work. Is it really bad for an old man to walk the college halls and enter the library without a shirt?

4. When a hotel advertises a fitness room for guests, does one treadmill and one bike count? I think there should be a minimum standard and the rooms should be given a star ranking. Two pieces of aerobic equipment would be a one star. Add a weight machine and/or dumbbells for two stars. (and keep the room cool!!, that'll get you three stars). Add more equipment to get up to a five star ranking, like a restaurant.

5. Every decent motel/hotel should provide maps or an app that gives safe running routes outdoors near the hotel. Really, this could be a good marketing feature. I picked our Hampton Inn in Lakeland, Florida based partly on looking at Google Maps and seeing that a safe one mile loop was just out the door.

6. Is it my imagination or reality? Every time I drive, in the village, on the expressway, or the Interstate, another vehicle comes across the line from the other direction and almost hits me. I drive a full-size pickup and probably would win a lot of those battles, but I really prefer not being a participant. What the hell is going on out on the roads?

7. This season I only know maybe two NY Yankees, Gardner and the fat old pitcher who's been there forever, Sabathia, oh, and Ellsbury, so three players. But the Yanks are winning and battling for first. Maybe not signing has-beens to huge contracts is paying off?

8. The Buffalo Bills fired their General Manager, Doug Whaley, a couple of days ago. This came as no surprise. But why not fire the president of the team, Russ Brandon? He is the one constant during their 17 non-playoff years. If you are going to clean house do it from the top down. Oh, and Brandon is also president of the Buffalo Sabres, how's that working out?

There you have it. Eight questions that affect all of us and need answering.