An old friend of mine once took a vow of celibacy. His reasons had nothing to do with love, fidelity or any such noble motivations. He was going to "purify his temple". I found this uproariously funny. In my opinion, he'd have done better cutting out the caffeine, nicotine and beer being consumed in excess. It must have been some Zen thing. He had a copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I don't know what Zen has to say about celibacy or if its even in the book. I just know my friend got a tad strange after reading it. I was given a copy as gift once. Never read it. A lot of people seemed to have it on their bookshelves and I wasn't then, am not now, and never will be, a lot of people.

I've never bought in to this whole "no sex while training or competing" thing coaches put athletes through either. If you ask U.S. Sprinter, Dennis Mitchell, he'll tell you it increases your performance. When found with excessive levels of testosterone in his system he claimed that it was from a night of marathon sex with his wife. The U.S. Track and Field Association accepted it. The International Association didn't but then they've probably never had sex with his wife.

So, the question is: What lead to me taking a vow of celibacy?

The answer: Beats the hell out of me.

Celibacy is hard… er… what I mean is that maintaining a vow of celibacy is hard… to do. Just ask any Catholic priest or alter boy. It's simply not natural. Humans are tactile creatures. Medical science has proven how important touch is to a person's development and continued health. The benefits of sex are even better. Regular sex increases muscle tone and cardiovascular fitness. It benefits mental health as well, relieving stress and tension. You even get a better night's sleep afterwards. And on top of all that, it feels good. Damn good.

Well, it's supposed to anyhow. Some are of the opinion that sex is sex and there's no such thing as bad sex but that's wrong. There are degrees of sex. There is sex, good sex, great sex, mind blowing, breath-taking sex, sex that turns your legs to jelly when you try to walk afterwards and then there is also sex that flat lines so badly that masturbating with a cheese grater, while it may not feel good, will at least provide some sensation.