Strong Men

Although I can watch just about any sport on t.v., I'm not generally a fan of bodybuilding or strength athletics. However, yesterday ESPN was showing a marathon from the World's Strongest Man competition held in September and I was hooked. I admit that it was a gross fascination, as I was simultaneously awed, curious, and appalled. The training these guys invest in their sport is amazing, but the competition itself is ... well ... just kind of strange.

You expect lot of lifting and carrying of heavy things, but the creativity of the events was impressive. Some of the most intriguing, and disturbing, events were the car carry (where they hoist a 900-lb. car body on their shoulders and walk a set length), the car lift (where they do repetitions lifting two cars weighing about 650 lbs.), the water barrels (where they carry three 200-lb. barrels through water), and the pillars of Hercules (where they prevent two pillars from falling for as long as possible).

And I thought I had a hard time explaining my job to people. Can you imagine the dinner conversations these guys have? So, honey, what did you do today? Well, I tried to carry two refrigerators for 25 m., but I could only go 20 m.