The GMAN wrote:
uk_bloke wrote:
I understand the ethics of doping and why cheating in any form annoys people to such an extent, and I am completely against it, however I can understand also why people ignore the rules too. If you're diagnosed with low testosterone, you have 3 choices:
- Cheat and take a banned substance (e.g. testosterone gel), hope you never get caught
- Stop endurance sport and hope your testosterone level increases
- Continue endurance sport and live with the symptoms of low testosterone and risk the long term health risks associated it with it.
WADA states that unless there's a firm medical reason for the low testosterone (e.g. only having one testicle) TUEs will not be granted, regardless of who says you need it, whether you're getting a performance advantage or not, or level of performance.
Even if a specialist endocrinologist prescribes the drugs, you have regular bloodwork done to monitor your levels and your testosterone levels are "normal", and you finish an ironman in 16 hours, you're a cheat, you will get banned if you get tested.
I agree with much of what you said... unfortunately. I often wonder what I would do if I had a serious Low T issue. Not the typical I'm getting older and my T is dropping normally but a serious issue, like my T is <250 ng/dL for whatever reason but I have both of my cajones.
I like to race and train but I don't want to do so at the total expense of my health and well being. I would never take T unless I had some serious issue (which I do not), and doing so for the pure reason for performance enhancement and edge on the competition is just downright scummy to me. But if faced with the situation that say I'm 50, my T is 200 ng/DL, I still like to do races and have a normal life... what would I do? I don't know what I'd do. Part of me says "Oh, I can't race anymore" but another part of me says "I'm still going to live my life and do what I enjoy, to include racing, I'm not a threat for a podium or whatever, so I'm going to roll the dice and still race."
I'll be honest and tell you I don't know which decision I'd make. To me that's very different than the 40-something asshole with T within normal ranges but wants some edge so he/she can qualify for Kona. That's very black and white for me. My example in the previous paragraph is not black and white to me.
I know people in this exact situation and the ongoing joke with them is that they've got more time and energy for training because they're not wasting time having sex or chasing women!