I definitely can't speak for tanstaafl14, but I think his remarks were directed towards the living - not coyote's parents. When it comes to smoking, drinking, recretational drugs, obesity, I think every individual these days knows the consequences they are ultimately responsible for bringing upon themselves.



More pleasant topic: GeekGirl - do you know what kind of triathalon he did? from shortest to hardest, they are:

• sprint
• Olympic
• Half-Ironman
• Ironman (the killer everybody is thinking of: swim 2.4m, run 26.2m, bike 115m in 18 hours )

A Half or full Ironman is truly impressive as they are more difficult than a marathon. Given enough training time, nearly anyone can run a marathon.

Someone in another forum said that exercise is the thing that allowed him to quit smoking.

An eighty-year old person's VO2 Max (lung capacity) is about half of what it was at 30. Exercise can prevent most of that decline. I bet a doctor would say his triathalon training accelerated his recovery from smoking.

 

I do believe it was a full Ironman. He did several qualifying events in the states and then qualified for a major competition in the Netherlands. I can't remember the year, and I've lost track of him as we no longer work together, but I do believe he's still active in triathlons. His pre-race and training eating habits were legendary.

 

GeekGal, I AM impressed by what he did!

Another one of my off-topic to on-topic comments: I'd love to know his stride/stroke economy. I mean, we all know how to ride a bike, but there are a few that can do it really well - for instance, Lance Armstrong. Here, there is a lot of discussion about the "running economy" of cars.

 

More off topic stuff, but the semi-retired part owner of the company I work for is a Marathon runner at the age of 66. He pops in to work at 11, does some bookkeeping, and then goes for a run.

But before he arrives he stops at Wendy's EVERY day and gets a Burger, Side salad, and a Coke. The idea that "Junk Food" is as or more dangerous than smoking is a joke created by lawyers to make money, helped by our governments basic need to creating problems it can try to solve.

 

If you are running as much as this marathoner, most of that burger is going to be burned off, leaving a lot less cholerstol to deposit. It's eating fatty foods and a seditantary lifestyle that kills. I read somewhere that Americans in 1900 actually took in more calories than they do now. Not sure about that, but they were certainly more active.

Daily, he burns about 2000 calories plus an additional 100 calories for every mile he runs - a lot.