YSL: New Kit Weirdness; Invasive Species Suckage

Folks--
I have to confess, I find it annoying that the new kit, whilst lovely and red and blue and Union-Jack-y, is plastered all over with "Ironman." Now, I understand that this is merely a function of the fact that Ironman brand has now been extended from events to a clothing and equipment line, but it feels really stupid to me in strict terms of branding.

Follow me here:

1. I am not competing in an Ironman. I am competing in a HALF-Ironman.
2. The Ironman corporation, which "owns" all "Iron-distance" events, has tacked onto its roster the Half-Ironman distance, which it's now calling "70.3." Which, by the way, is also trademarked to within an inch of its life.

It follows that, in an attempt to preserve the Ironman name, Ironman has prevented any triathlon organization, unless said body pays the Ironman organization or has some other arrangement with them, from using the terms "Ironman" or "70.3." This is why you see a lot of events with random distances on them that are just slightly off of Ironman distance or 70.3 distance. This all makes sense to me.

Why, then, are you insisting that someone who's competing in a 70.3 distance event wear the Ironman logo? This seems like it's devaluing the Ironman brand, no?

I, for one, would steadfastly refuse, except that my fund-raising agreement with Rotary International requires that I wear the kit during the race, and that smart training suggests that I train in the clothes I'm going to race in.

I will say, however, that I feel like a big, fat poseur, wearing the Ironman logo when I'm not racing the Ironman distance.

Jim and I spent three hours Saturday pluckingGarlic Mustard from the Butternut Preserve in Crystal Lake. It was part of a delayed Earth Day project. It's an invasive species, you see. The organization we worked with has a goal of picking 100,000 pounds of the stuff out of this one park. Craziness.

Anyway, Sunday I woke up with completely locked hamstrings. So much for my scheduled run and ride. So infinitely depressed. They are marginally less locked today after some painful stretching last night, but god! what a lousy way to get back on the horse.