Natural or Environmental or No Ones Special

Is the use or anabolic steriods and performance enhancing drugs like EPO a natural progression of a competitor or a product of the environment you live in.

Back up a moment from the stigma of designer drugs or tried and tested anabolic stacks and look at your medicine cabinet. Do you have some fat burners in there? Perhaps some electrolyte replacements?

While it is a stretch to equate an electrolyte tablet to a steriod, don't YOU think that taking that pill full of sodium and pottasium will give you the edge over someone who doesn't in a race? You may be thinking you only take it to fuel your own body to run your own race, but c'mon people are you willing to tell me you never thought about blowing by someone in a race because you felt you were better prepared for it than them with your nutrition.

When you have used considerable will power, lost some weight and still have that nagging last five or ten pounds; you haven't reached for that appetite suppressant or fat burner to give that 'liitle extra bit"? Of course you have.

Now the big difference in my examples is that I am talking about the common man and not a paid professional or amauter athlete looking for a podium finish and cash. But I am here to tell you the difference between taking testosterone and a fat burner is the same difference between being a pro athlete and being a common man.

Now my memory could be fuzzy but didn't an olympic gymnist have her gold medal taken from her because she tested positive for a banned substance. By the way that substance was cold medicine.

In researching this post I found four triathletes that had all tested for high testosterone and been banned from racing only to have the courts throw out the rulings based on faulty designs of the testing, those would be Rutger Beke, Berasategui Luna and fellow Spaniard Iban Martinez and also Katja Schumacher.

Did Floyd? Didn't Floyd?
Thats really the whole point of my post. I find several things confusing. First, if Floyd has naturally elevated T levels, why have they not been identified in earlier tests during the tour or in previous tests during his career. Second, much hulabaloo has been made that the test came back positive after his incredible stage finish where he made up so much time.

Well I can tell you this with asurity and it not been mentioned once by the media, Landis did not go back to his room after his poor showing and before he went out boozing, stick a 16 gauge needle of testosterone in his ass and inject 4 cc's of it in his body then rip out the ride of his life the next day.

That is how he is being portrayed. It simply does not work that fast. If it did, then why would sprinters do cycles of steriods for two or three months before a race. It takes weeks for the effects to produce results thats mimic what Landis did in his now (in)famous stage. According to this media math you could pop three fat burners on Friday and drop six dress sizes by the party Saturday night.

If Landis did this, used banned drugs, and got popped like he did he could have taken a different track. How could Landis think that the technology wasn't there to determine what is and what is not real? He had a perfect environment to admit guilt and still be seen as a good guy. Remember several top level cyclists along with Ullrich that got chucked out of the tour before it even began?

Landis could have said something like this:

"A sample of my urine has come back testing positive for high levels of a banned substance. I am here to confrim this report and confrim that I did indeed use a banned substance in order to be competitive in and ultimately win the Tour. I am deeply saddened by this turn of events that will result in my loss of the title but I will not apologize for seeking to be competitive in a sport that rewards success with millions of dollars and failure with nothing.

As has been seen already this year, I am not alone in this desire to be number one at any cost. The sport of cycling is rampant with the use and abuse of substances that are manufactured to illicit a response that allows a finely tuned athlete to have an edge over a peer. When everyone is using banned substances in this sport then everyone is to blame for the environment it cultivates and when everyone is to blame no one is guilty.

I was born and raised a christian and I will continue to live my life in a christ like manner. I am ashamed of myself for failing to recognize my walk down a path full of temptations and I thank the governing bodies of this sport for having the courage to do what is right. I hope my fans will forgive me and my sponsors will have the faith in me that they had just days ago to be allow me to continue representing their brand."

Of course, he could really be innocent and this all a big misunderstanding but if not, why put everyone through this prolonged hassle. You know your going to get busted in the long run. Didn't the baseball scandal teach people anything?

I think all three choices are valid. It is natural for people to want to find shortcuts for success. Its hard to fight the environment you live in that says, 'to be great at this or that you have to corrupt your core values or you will be irrevelant.'

And as society is so quick to point out that when no one is special, then everyone is special. The following converstaion may have taken place many years ago between Floyd Landis and his elementary school teacher at the end of the school year fitness day...

Teacher: "Here's your blue ribbon for finishing the one mile run."

FL: "But I won, I beat everybody. Don't I get a trophy or a medal that says #1."

Teacher: "Oh no, everybody gets the same ribbon just for participating. We can't let the slow and disinterested people feel bad about their performance. Their personal accomplishment should be applauded."

FL: "But...but...I trained really hard to win this race."

Teacher: "Yes you did and you should be proud, but we can't diminish those that didn't train at all."

See when everyones speical, no one is.