So we already have 14 liars on the PED poll
That would be such a slippery slope for anyone to stay up on.
I would say I wouldn’t but I think I would have to quit sports in order to stay away.
jaretj
Don’t take any of that crap! It’s suicidal to do so, IMHO. Eat clean, lift, train hard, get some sleep and have loving relationships in your life and you will race just fine. I’m sure a few guys are doping, but I like to think most endurance athletes are smart enough to avoid what is probably poison. I don’t care if they make all of it legal, or just not banned. I wouldn’t take it. Hell, I limit my intake of NSAIDS for all the known reasons. So, I’m very slow, but so what? The top guy in my age group might get an occasional hometown news story or maybe some mention on ST. ABC news will not be leading out with Marty “The EPO Earl” Baroni won the 40-44 age group at Kona and set a course record. (Even assuming it happens.) There are more chessplayers registered with the USCF than triathletes registered with USAT. Darts is more popular in England than bike racing. We are a marginal sport. 99% of America doesn’t care much, if at all, about what we do. I like it that way, I have to admit.
Exactly what the heck are you getting for your money when you purchase these drugs? I understand pro and Olympic athletes doing drugs, but age-groupers? If your self-esteem is so low, spend the money on psychiatric care…
-Robert
I’m one of those people that is just on the edge of winning races depending on who shows up. Normally a 10% person but I don’t have enough to make it to the top in the big races. That’s why I think it’s a slippery slope.
Then there are those people in the middle that just want to be a little better, maybe have some problems healing up after hard workouts. If they could do just a little more work they could be so much better…or they justify it that way.
How about the lower placed finishers, they may think nobody cares, why would anyone mind them taking PED’s.
There can be many reasons to do it, the temptations are there…making it legal would take away the main stumbling block to PED abuse.
jaretj
are you saying the liars are those who say they would never touch any PED?
As someone who has a blood clotting disorder, it makes my decision quite easy. Testosterone has been shown to cause clots in calves and it doesn’t take a genius to see what EPO could do in this regard.
That said, if PED’s were suddenly legal, and I saw my results dropping like a stone, I’d be lying if I said the temptation would not be very strong.
I don’t get the responses of “I would still consider it cheating”…it is only “cheating” because some governing body has said it is. If they say it no longer is cheating, I don’t see why people would feel otherwise.
Drafting is only illegal because WTC and USAT say it is. ITU says differently. Caffeine was once illegal, but no longer is. Asthma inhalers once required a TUE (and were cheating w/o one)…now they aren’t.
There is no “absolute” answer as to what cheating is / isn’t. If it violates the rules, it is cheating. Beyond that, if someone wants to believe it is cheating even though it doesn’t violate the rules, that is their choice, I suppose, but I really have to scratch my head over that one.
Yes,
Realistically though I would certainly hope that everyone would stay away, and I hope I would have the will power to stay away from them too.
You make some really good points.
jaretj
Honestly I don’t care if age groupers do drugs, assuming they are adults. But to me this is like cigs or grass. Why would you put your health at risk? If I win my age group at Kona will my kids love me more, will I get rich or famous? I would demand a very large quid pro quo for screwing with my life expectancy. I’d want to be king of England, at least. These are the only bodies we will ever have. Folks should act accordingly.
good.
I would take them. I even would consider taking them once I stop racing. The thought of being able to go out and hammer away day after day after day is very appealing. I hate that my body needs rest.
As someone who has a blood clotting disorder, it makes my decision quite easy. Testosterone has been shown to cause clots in calves and it doesn’t take a genius to see what EPO could do in this regard.
That said, if PED’s were suddenly legal, and I saw my results dropping like a stone, I’d be lying if I said the temptation would not be very strong.
I don’t get the responses of “I would still consider it cheating”…it is only “cheating” because some governing body has said it is. If they say it no longer is cheating, I don’t see why people would feel otherwise.
Drafting is only illegal because WTC and USAT say it is. ITU says differently. Caffeine was once illegal, but no longer is. Asthma inhalers once required a TUE (and were cheating w/o one)…now they aren’t.
There is no “absolute” answer as to what cheating is / isn’t. If it violates the rules, it is cheating. Beyond that, if someone wants to believe it is cheating even though it doesn’t violate the rules, that is their choice, I suppose, but I really have to scratch my head over that one.
Clearly the “cheating” is dumb because it would now be legal and not cheating …it would be a legal option for anybody competing.
The next issue would be relative safety … clearly longevity and “male enhancement” clinics provide testosterone and even HGH to many patients daily including many firefighters and police as well as at least testosterone being used rather prevalently in pro, collegiate, and often unfortunately even HS sports … issues obviously but you could find a physician who would provide it.
EPO is a different issue with some risk for sure … but you could autotransfuse your own banked cells and get much of the same effect.
So … if it were legal and you wanted to be competitive … you would have no choice.
Personally, I wouldn’t care because I don’t care that much to win at my age … and regardless, its all just talk because it never will happen for “legality” even though it occurs every day regardless in all levels of sports;-)
Dave
There’s no…“It just doesn’t make sense” option.
I just don’t get it. Unless you’re pro, then I get it as this is your livelihood…but as age groupers, we all suck and are just competing against ourselves.
It’s analogous to playing a video game with a “cheat code” to move further into the game. Ummm…doesn’t that defeat the purpose of playing the game?
imagine if you genuinely enjoyed swimming, biking, and running. Doping could enable you to swim, bike, and run more.
If you love to play a video game but are stuck on a level, perhaps you will use the cheat code to skip that level, allowing to return to the game you love.
It’s analogous to playing a video game with a “cheat code” to move further into the game. Ummm…doesn’t that defeat the purpose of playing the game?
And yet millions of gamers scour the internet immediately upon buying a game.
I certainly did it for Mike Tyson’s Punchout. 
Doping is different since it could have a detrimental impact on one’s health that gaming doesn’t. I’d like to say I wouldn’t but I probably would dabble a bit to see how it impacts me
LOL…good analogy. Some people just suck so bad at “games” that they can’t “advance” without the codes.
I could at least understand using PED’s as age groupers if they were legal. I mean, if they are legal, is it really any different that using “recovery” drinks or even a better diet?
Here is another example - boosting red blood cells. You can do the following:
Train at altitudeSleep in an altitude tentUse EPOBlood boost
1/2 of those options are illegal, the other half aren’t, but all achieve the same result - boosting red blood cell counts. Now, admittedly, EPO and blood boosting are MUCH more effective, but you get the point. 2 options are “illegal” simply because someone decided they were. There is no innate immoral quality about EPO or blood boosting.
If it were legal…
I’d like to think I wouldn’t because I think it’s wrong ethically. But if the community embraced these substances it would likely change my views of the ethics of things.
I think it would come down to cost and safety. Testosterone, for example, there’s no way in hell I’m taking that stuff unless there’s a clear medical need for it. Riding a bike faster doesn’t begin to qualify.
Yes…I know…I’m talking about myself. That’s the option I needed because that is the way “I” think.
I know why people cheat…
Yes! But, I play chess online and cheating is ubiquitous. One of the online chess clubs has a page devoted to cheaters they’ve removed from their servers, and they admit it’s a constant battle keeping up with them. WADA and USADA are fighting a similar battle, but they shouldn’t have to do this. It sounds cruel, but if you are an adult, and knowing the consequences still take cancer causing (or other health problems) substances, then you’ve basically committed yourself to a suicidal path in life. I got to 71 and would like to make it to 72. I don’t see how taking testosterone is in my self-interest. Maybe if I were 20 and thought I was invincible I might be inclined to be that stupid, but I hope not. (In all honesty, I did smoke about 5 joints of pot in the '60’s, but I was an athlete then too and didn’t like it. I’ve never smoked cigs. And, yes, I inhaled.)
Looking at this poll if 12% would take drugs if they were legal I think we have a problem. People are not getting the health message…
I don’t want my Johnson shrinking. I get enough of that, jumping into the pool.
But there’s drugs for that too!!!
I said I would not take any for health reasons. Whether these drugs are legal or not, I am assuming I am racing guys on these drugs, so it makes no difference to me because we’ll assume for a moment that 25% of the guys going for KQ at big races are doped anyway (I am not saying that 25% of guys who get a KQ are doped…just taking a guess that 25% in shooting distance are doped). I am basing this largely on how fast 40-49 times have gotten in the last 10 years in terms of depth of field while pro times have stayed static. If it was equipment related then the pros would have gotten faster too, but they have not…and drugs like T helps the 40-49 crowd proportionally a lot more than the 28-35 year old pro stud who will naturally produce a lot more.