Horse and Auto Racing

...with my wife, and she let me eat her dust this time. It's so nice, to get some confirmation of that fact that she let me win last time... I guess that's the foundation of a strong marriage.

Anyway, after that, I got on my bike and rode. Maybe I had to prove something, or maybe I just wanted to get the most out of my day off, but I rode more than 30 miles before lunch. I ended up in a small town, about 17 miles outside the metro area, tired, sweaty, and a little uncertain about how to get back home. Fortunately, the folks at the library were nice about letting me peruse their local map section, and after I had my bearings, I bought some food at a convenience store and ate lunch in a little park near the main street of town.

It was pleasant sitting there, so I lay back in the sun, with my bike locked to a nearby tree, and mused on my jogging weaknesses for a while, and then headed back.

I was a good 25 miles from home, and hadn't really intended to be out this long, and didn't have my cell phone, so I was pretty sure that my wife was worrying. She might smoke me at jogging, but she's a good sort, and our rivalry is friendly. So I put some speed on, kept an average of 11 miles per hour, and was home in less than two and half hours. As usual after a good bike ride, I felt energized. I even called that local bike club, with the weekly group rides, to see where they're going next. And best of all, my wife wants to go mountain bike shopping with me.

I bike. My wife runs. Through our married life, this has sometimes brought us into conflict, especially when we want to get out and get our exercise together.

So, as frequent readers will know, I've taken up jogging. Every day. For at least 30 minutes. For a year now. And it's finally paid off:

Last weekend, when my wife and I went running together, I finally kept my wind the whole way. And finished with a sprint that got me back to the house first. At long last, I have not been outrun by a girl!

OK, so maybe I'm a little too happy about this. The next day it was raining, so we went to the indoor track at the gym where she blew me away over five laps. I guess I forgot that she ran track in high school and college, and likes to go out for marathons twice a year. Maybe she let me win....

Anyway, the upshot of it all is that even the most non-running runner can do well, and can train himself to run efficiently over a long haul. It takes a lot of work, but it's worth it. And not just because you can finally match your wife at the one physical activity she was always better at. Rather, it was worth it because of the other benefits. I've noticed over the last few months that I feel better. I don't get tired so easily, I have more stamina, and I can't remember the last time I caught a cold. There are holistic benefits to regular exercise that just can't be denied.

The next great adventure: Get my wife on a mountain bike, and see how long before she beats me down the trail!

I have written here before about Olympic level runners, because they fascinate me, and about Oscar Pistorius because his story is truly compelling.

He's a South African sprinter, at the world class level of competition. I've written about him before, because he has no legs. He was born with a congenital birth defect, and before he was a year old, his legs were both amputated below the knee. He has prosthetics for walking, and refuses to consider himself handicapped. He won't even park his car in a handicap spot. Considering his abilities, I don't blame him.

He holds the world record in the Paralympics 100, 200, and 400 meter sprints, and until this past winter, was competing in South Africa's Olympic trials. And then he got derailed.

The IAAF, track and field's world governing body, ruled this his running prosthetics give him an unfair advantage over "able-bodied" athletes. They said that the tension and spring effect of his running blades give better performance than a human ankle. You can read an article about it here:

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=ap-run-iaaf-pistorius&prov=ap&type=lgns

I'm not going to get into the ethics or physics of this sort of ruling. There are a lot of questions about the performance of his blades versus the abilities of human bone and muscle, and about whether it's fair on either end to have paralympic athletes enter regular competition. Rather, I have some questions based on Pistorius' record in competition with non-amputee runners.

In non-paralympic competition in the South African national championships last year, he finished second. In South Africa's Olympic trials for the upcoming Beijing Games, he was 0.8 seconds off the qualifying time. It seems to me that his running prosthetics are not giving him an unfair advantage. Based on performance, there are apparently some 'able bodied' runners who can beat him. So why not let him run? By a combination of grit and technology, he's running with no legs, and manages to match the world's best. Sounds like a real challenger to me.