Performance enhancing or cheating
While I was wandering the grocery store the other day I happened by the caffeine section. Geez, who knew there were so many different types of energy drinks? From tiny vials of liquid itching to be pricked by the needle of a syringe to 16 ounce cans that would seem at home in a brown paper bag. Canned energy in every shape and size, perfect for those all-night study benders, or the times when you need a lift right at the start of your run.
Last year I found myself wondering the ethics of it all. I was wandering the infield of the Sea Otter Classic, the huge bicycling event here in Monterey, perusing all the vendors were selling. With the marathon on the horizon, I was probably an easy mark. I sampled the energy gels, bought in bulk, grabbed a handful of samples of the pill that's supposed to battle lactic acid build up (as I've noted, I'm lactic acid intolerant) and sipped on several sports drink cocktails. All in the name of science, or better performance.
Heck, I don't want to set any records, but I do want to feel like Steve Prefontaine when I hit mile 18.
Then it hit me. I'm the guy who puts all the BALCO stories in the paper (Who saved baseball? Victor Conte). I'm the guy shaking my head when I hear Barry thought it was flax seed oil, not steriods. I'm the guy who led the investigative project on creatine and told my son to stay far away from that "wonder" powder.
Yet, here I was, with a fistful of pills that promised to make me feel better around Mile 16.
It's not that I want to cheat, I just want to work smarter, not harder (isn't that what always comes up on your job performance review?) But where is that line you don't want to cross? Probably closer then I want to admit.
I ran 10 today, up and down the rolling hills near my home. Afterward, I drank a delicious glass of iced "power" tea. There was no mention of flax seed oil (or "the cream" or "the clear" for that matter) in the list of ingredients.
Last year I found myself wondering the ethics of it all. I was wandering the infield of the Sea Otter Classic, the huge bicycling event here in Monterey, perusing all the vendors were selling. With the marathon on the horizon, I was probably an easy mark. I sampled the energy gels, bought in bulk, grabbed a handful of samples of the pill that's supposed to battle lactic acid build up (as I've noted, I'm lactic acid intolerant) and sipped on several sports drink cocktails. All in the name of science, or better performance.
Heck, I don't want to set any records, but I do want to feel like Steve Prefontaine when I hit mile 18.
Then it hit me. I'm the guy who puts all the BALCO stories in the paper (Who saved baseball? Victor Conte). I'm the guy shaking my head when I hear Barry thought it was flax seed oil, not steriods. I'm the guy who led the investigative project on creatine and told my son to stay far away from that "wonder" powder.
Yet, here I was, with a fistful of pills that promised to make me feel better around Mile 16.
It's not that I want to cheat, I just want to work smarter, not harder (isn't that what always comes up on your job performance review?) But where is that line you don't want to cross? Probably closer then I want to admit.
I ran 10 today, up and down the rolling hills near my home. Afterward, I drank a delicious glass of iced "power" tea. There was no mention of flax seed oil (or "the cream" or "the clear" for that matter) in the list of ingredients.
posted by dave kellogg at 12:31 AM
1 Comments:
Hey, you're a good writer! You should work for a newspaper...
I think it takes an athlete to truly appreciate the dilemma that professional athletes go through when deciding what supplements to take, legal or otherwise.
It can be a very fine line between legal, over-the-counter supplements and illegal substances. Many times, substances that are perfectly legal are so close to banned substance that there's no appreciable difference - take andro, for instance.
If a pill could help take 3 minutes off your 10K time, would you take it? What if taking 3 minutes off would help you land a shoe contract or feed your family? The temptation would be immense.
Keep up the running and good blogging.
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