Some of the fellers around here who do a lot of the winning are older guys who just have a HUGE amount of base and experience over 20 some odd years of racing and training. They are able to race and train every weekend but mostly because it seems to me that their racing is their training. I am sure Dev would likely agree on that one. If you are talking about younger guys winning, then I have no idea. Maybe they are just starting earlier than they use to?

What you are seeing are people with better genetics rising to the top and staying there. For most of us mere mortals with moderate talent and who train our asses off it is sometimes hard to compute how others can be so much faster then we are.....we put 2 and 2 together and get 5.



Of course there are a few cheats out there too, but these days they're just as likely to be in the middle of the pack as at the front. Some of the most insanely competitive, do anything to go faster people, are MOPers.

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"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy."
John Sawhill

Could someone let me know what these guys "might" be taking? Just for research....

Steroids are freely available in this country. EPO can be bought on the internet or in a Tijuana pharmacia as can HGH. These are the real PEDs.

Others take over the counter stimulants to give them an edge.

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"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy."
John Sawhill

WTF

They train harder, eat better, and are mentally tougher!!! And you know it...

OLD GUYS RULE!!!!



OLD GUYS RULE!!!!



OLD GUYS RULE!!!

hahahahahahhahahahaha

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I'll be what I am
A solitary man

We better keep myxomatosis away from bunnyman...

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Not posing as an expert, but the general rule is that PEDs age you, ergo the old dudes kickin' yer butt didn't take the same steroids you did, so they're gonig to live longer and win by attrition...

That's my 2¢ and also my plan to rule my age group in 25 years (that would be the 100-104 age group).

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Cousin Elwood - Team Over-the-hill Racing
Brought to you by the good folks at Metamucil and Geritol...

I was thinking the same thing. It's either that or the guy is a Radiohead fan.

Lets see. Am 48. Have done 12 tris so far this season. I think I am about 5 weeks in a row with races. Have 4 more to go then the IM sept 17th.

Never taken a drug in my life. See how many folks can look you in the eye and say that. Just something fun to do with my family.

Yep, all these folks who takes these drugs will pay for it over time. Maybe a short term again, but a long term lose.



Dave

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I can say that I notice some of this in South Florida region...you see the young guys come from no where, MOP and then next season they are top AG, then they burn out and they are gone.......I notice it in roadies, especially since we have a huge South American population here....maybe it is more acceptable down there....some guys even will explain to you how to take the stuff, what they take etc....

Saw are own hometown hero Jose Canseco yesterday on 60 Minutes being interviewed about the Juicy Fruit....and how he is a self made expert on Steriods...did anyone see it....unbelievable...

I see it around here at the Gyms, Parks (High School Sports, College Sports) and do not forget South Beach.....with all the muscle boys.....walk into any gym on SOBE and you sell them...text book examples....

The fellows that I know personally that are perpetual champs are gifted with appropriate genetics, work consistantly throughout the year, have families that also train/participate with them in the sport, and stay injury free (at least, mostly injury free). Oh, also, none of them can sprint worth a darn. One in particular can beat me in any time trial we do together, but I can drop him like a bad habit in a sprint. It's like he has one speed (which is fast), but nothing higher. In addition to these other characteristics, perhaps these perpetual winners have a greater percentage of slow-twitch fibers than "average"? I don't know.

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Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)

Uh... HGH is "human growth hormone", which affects muscle mass. EPO is erythropoietin (not sure that's spelled right), which affects blood hemoglobin. Totally different mechanisms and affects. I don't think they're selling EPO as HGH.

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Some are born to move the world to live their fantasies...

https://triomultisport.com/
http://www.mjolnircycles.com/

By the replies, can we call this the "Denial Thread"???

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"Yeah, no one likes a smartass, but we all like stars" - Thom Yorke


smartasscoach.tri-oeiras.com

i guess it depends...are these repeat age group winners putting up world class times that humble the mere mortal...or are they just much faster than the average age group slob but would get crushed like a bug by any bottom level pro?

I know a local person who races (wont say names), but I know for a FACT this person gets cancer meds from a friend who is a drug rep. A little "Procrit" and you are just fine....

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?

oh my god--that's really pathetic!

agreed! when I race, I'm out there competing against myself. I have to live with myself whether I finish 1st, tenth or 100th. Either way, I can't control what others do and who shows up. I'm just saying...

I wonder what the actual feasabilty of taking these drugs are?

I read an article about a journalist that purposefully went to a doctor that prescribed the "ultimate" mixture for him, his goals and his current fitness.

Apparently he made some great strides in his performance and the greatest aspect his progress was in his ability to recover. OTOH however he was under consistant doctors care, blood tests, etc etc as well as costing 10's of thousands of dollars.

Seems to me that the "availabilty" of drugs simply isn't enough. They have to be administered in a proper method and blance or they likely will do no good or possibly damage.

In my completely uneducated opinion it would seem that a proper "drug" treatment is simply out of teh range of your average age grouper and likely most triathlon pro's. To top it off aren't most of the "effective" methods injected? Wouldn't the tracks be fairly visible?

Just curious?

I guess my point is that even if some individuals are taking drugs, likely they have no effect or not much more than your typical OTC legal "performance enhancing" drugs like, protein etc.

~Matt

As pessimistic as I initially sounded I do tend to agree with many of the points made. Indeed guys with 20 years of experience are going to have a huge edge over many newer athletes and yes there are a lot of naturally gifted athletes that train really hard (on top of family, work, etc...) these people should be commended and are the ones that make our sport so great. Those of you have a knee jerk reaction and suggest..."well they train harder than everyone else and they are more gifted than everyone else" well you are right about the majority of elite level AG athletes but when people step it up race after race from a sprint up to Ironman and continually beat many very good Pro's suspicions get raised, this is not in anyway directed to the athlete out there that can race 5 or 6 1/2 IM's in a season, sure many people can do that and do it well. I suppose I was just fishing with this to see if anyone else had seen a trend such as this…

Maybe a greater point is why triathlon doesn’t adopt an upgrade system such as cycling in which accrued points raise you to a higher level of racing and you cannot sandbag as an amateur all of your life or go pro and then race amateur a year later. Once you get so many points you have to upgrade, grated this would take a while to implement but it would make the races much more exciting, with larger pro fields and more even competition based on ability level rather than birthday. This would also curb the desire to use a PED since elite AG’ers do not have any chance of being tested they are on a very long leash, whereas Pro’s know that at some point they will be tested especially if they are a top 3. So either ensure the integrity of the sport and extend testing to the top level AG’ers (I’d pay a little more per year for my racing license to see this implemented since it would be good for the sport overall) or force those guys to go professional where they are exposed to that sort of testing, those athletes that I am speaking of would already be top 10 as pros anyway in all but the most prestigious races.

As for PEDs causing you to age faster, possibly the anabolic drugs employed by such dominant programs as the former East Germans and such, those may, but in our sport the common drugs would be blood boosters which I find are more often used (in clinical settings) to slow down the aging process, I would be curious to see any literature that suggested otherwise.

Uh....I don't think I said anyone was selling EPO as anything other than EPO, or HGH as anything other than HGH.

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"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy."
John Sawhill

People who don’t think a decent percentage of folks in triathlon are using some kind of PEDs are kidding themselves. Just look at how many people cheat by drafting at every race you go to. If somebody would cheat in the open where everybody can see why wouldn’t they cheat where nobody can see?



Go to any 24hr Fitness or other “pumping iron” gym. Take a look at all the “unusually buffed” folks. Now ask any recreational weight lifter how many people he knows that are on juice. Now all these folks are using PEDs for the sole reason to get bigger and stronger. There is no competition with 2000 other recreational weightlifters; there are no slots to the world weightlifting championship to be won. These are people who take these risks, break the law, pay the cash only to lift more and look better.



Now take a look at the triathlon demographic. Overachieving, type A, competitive, generally highly compensated (according to triathlete mag) people who spend thousands of hours and dollars to go a few seconds faster. Now if you don’t think SOME of these people would take the medical risk to go faster or recover quicker you are kidding yourself. I would bet a lot of MOPers would take the risk to have bragging rights with their friends if PEDs were offered.



Dave

"EPO can be bought on the internet or in a Tijuana pharmacia as can HGH."

Yup. I misread it. Missed the word "can" in there. Makes a whole lot of difference, those three letters... Sorry.

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Some are born to move the world to live their fantasies...

https://triomultisport.com/
http://www.mjolnircycles.com/

2.Timothy 2:5

"Similarly, an athlete cannot receive the winner's crown except by competing according to the rules".

Quite clear to me!