Wednesday, August 02, 2006

CASE-IN-POINT

While the temperature only got to 75 or 76 yesterday, the dew point was still soupy at 72. And I can’t remember the last time it rained here. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it was back in April. It’s been super dry all summer-long. Well that all changed last night. It was raining at the start of our group’s run, but the sky really opened up as we were finishing our last hill repeat. It continued to pour during the first of three one-mile repeats. Standing water on the track and 20-25 mph winds on the back-straight definitely slowed times from last week, as I only managed 6:19, 6:24, 6:19. All told, I got in 12 miles last night, along with 6 in the morning. So August is off to a good start. I’m on-pace for 558 miles this month.

Wait. I ran an easy 5 this morning, so I’m only on-pace for 356 miles.

During last night’s run I was talking with a guy who’s a perfect case-in-point for my post yesterday. He’s not a first-time marathoner, but I think he has an aggressive goal, compared to his training. He wants to drop his PR by 8 minutes and qualify for Boston with a 3:10 at TCM. Given that he’s running circles around me on the hills and track, you’d think it wouldn’t be a problem. However, a red flag went up last night when he said, “I’m not worried about the miles. I’ve run 11 miles so far.” I’m thinking, “Chicago is 3 weeks after TCM and I feel like a slacker for only running 17 miles so far.”

While I hope he reaches his goal, I just don’t see it happening unless he steps up his training – starting like tomorrow.

Now they’re saying Landis’s tests show synthetic testosterone. Greg LeMond is urging Landis to tell the truth. Thanks to Eric (the non-blogger) for the links.

I’m to the point where I think they're all dirty. I've come to the conclusion that anyone faster than me is dirty. Alright, maybe it's not that drastic, but anyone who makes a living at sports is on “something”.

My question for LeMond is “How do we know you were clean”? Maybe you just were never caught and now you know you don’t have any samples "on ice" that could be tested with new technology.

Hell, if the first riders of the tour were taking amphetamines, why should we assume drug use has ever stopped?

On this topic, here’s a “fun” video.

Today’s quote of the day comes from a letsrun.com post, so I cannot vouch for it’s accuracy.

“Miles are miles and work is work, the time of day means nothing.” – Mark Nenow, former American Record holder at 10K who was known for running late at night.

8 comments:

Duncan Larkin said...

I'm not as quick as you to rush to judgment on this. Never one to shy from conspiracies, I found this quote peaking my interest(bold is my add): "Kay said there could be many explanations for Landis’s high ratio, including a naturally high testosterone to epitestosterone level, bacterial contamination, alcohol consumption the night before the test or contamination of the specimen during testing." Who is watching the henhouse and who's watching who's watching the henhouse?

Chad said...

Yeah, I read something about they'd have to prove that the sample was contaminated. Well, how the hell are they supposed to do that?

:) said...

"I've come to the conclusion that anyone faster than me is dirty."

I like your thinking... :)

Lance Notstrong said...

I agree Zeke.....I think they are all on something....Landis, Ulrich, Basso, Armstrong, and Lemond. There's too much money at stake for sports to be drug free. Not just cycling, ALL sports.

You make a good point about Lemond. I think it was probably more of a "free for all" back in the days of Hinalt, Lemond, and even further back. Did they even have tests back then? And how good were the tests?

Ryan said...

With hard work and planning, you can get right back on that 558-mile month pace. Just knock out 25 or so tomorrow

So, I read your yesterday's post. I'm doing 50 miles this week - and have run 17, 16 long so far - my PR is just shy of 3:24 - so is my 3:10 goal unrealistic? Wait, never mind, don't answer...

Maybe, but it'll be fun trying.

Chad said...

Lance, yeah it's gotta be all sports.

Ryan, no I was talking about the first timers who, for example, think they can believe the calculators that convert their 18:30 5k to a 3-flat marathon. Yet they are following a plan that has only two 20-milers. Sorry, but sub-3 won't happen.

Your 3:24 was run using a modest plan. Using a more advanced plan, 3:10 is within reach. Maybe you won't get there in Oct., but you're within 2-3 marathons, for sure.

Mike said...

Hey Zeke,
Although it doesn't look good for Landis right now...I'm not writing him off yet. We're talking testosterone here....so many other more effective choices out there. If he tested positive for EPO, it would be a done deal but will have to wait and see. Even Gatlin now...crazy stuff.

That video link was hilarious!

Eric said...

Based on this article, it may be more obvious that Floyd just had an outlier due to the alcohol, stress, etc. on that day, and that he is a regular recovery junkie.

They tested him six times during the tour, and stage 17 was the only positive. It was the only positive ratio test. They don't do the test to determine the origin of the testosterone until you fail one. If Floyd really wanted to 'track down the real killer', he would order tests on the 'b' samples of the other five 'clean' tests. If those came back negative for synthetic testosterone, then he would have a case for tampering. Otherwise, he is a doper.

Not that there is anything wrong with that.