I'm finally feeling a little bit better after a shitty week last week. I guess the dehydration thing was more severe than I thought. Well, coming home from urgent care and crawling into bed with my clothes and down coat still on should have given me the first clue that I was pretty unwell. I didn't think it would take so long to be feeling OK again, and I'm still not quite 100 percent yet. I am going to try a run though. I did a few walk/jogs at the end of last week. So much for riding that nice little breakthrough wave after the shootout. Oh well. Back to focusing on just getting out the door.
I got caught up reading the debates and comments floating around regarding Christian Hesch's admission that he used EPO. I love that he tries to make it seem like less of a crime by stating that he only used it outside of racing, as if that's so much better. Crazy. I'm glad I was oblivious to drug use in my early days of running. It wasn't until I was in college that I even heard about anyone using. My team at CU briefly had an assistant track coach who had a bit of a moustache on her very angular face, and she also had very well defined muscles. I thought nothing of it until some of the other girls started speculating. Wow, I was naive. But I'm glad I didn't know there were people cheating before that. I think I might have felt discouraged. Knowing how I was back then, I would have also tried to make a point of promoting running drug free, but there's no doubt I would have been disappointed to know that some people I admired (Mary Decker, for one) were using.
I know now that even sub-elite runners run dirty, but I was really surprised to hear someone make a comment about a high school runner publicly contemplating using. Again, when I was in high school, those kinds of thoughts never crossed my mind. I have made plenty of comments about running being a different sport now, but I generally meant in terms of better equipment, improved training methods and more information about nutrition available. I'll admit that I'm a little bit in shock the more I hear about the kinds of people who admit to having tried or know someone who has tried performance enhancing substances. I even met a lady years ago who ran a few ultras at the sub-elite level and suddenly jumped to the elite level after meeting her 2nd husband, a guy from South Africa. A few people I know told me they saw things. I guess because I didn't actually witness it, any use of performance enhancing substances is not really confirmed other than her ex stating that he knew for certain that she had started using, but it wouldn't surprise me one bit to know all the rumors were true. I guess running really is a different sport. :/
My head is spinning lately. I'm going to keep this short. I can't seem to string together a decent sentence lately. I don't know if it's not being fully well yet or other things going on in my brain, but I need to get back to writing more coherently soon.
People like Hesch make me sick. He was stealing cash off the runners who finished 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc in those races and being a total dickhead while doing it (pushups on the finish line etc).
ReplyDeleteI know there are masters runners out there who are doping and they're less likely to be tested, especially in the higher age-groups. Should be banned for life if ever caught.
I agree, Ewen. The punishments for doping in sports aren't harsh enough, more just a slap on the wrist. In once case in the Comrades race, I think a guy was banned for a month or something ridiculous. The circus around Hersch is insane. He acts like all this negative publicity is a good thing. I guess attention, no matter how it's gotten, is the main goal for some.
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