URP Daily News

Read this. After winning Western, Pam Smith had a series of medical issues that resulted in fatigue, depression, prescriptions, and a revolving door of doctors, not to mention sub-par times–for her at least. Then she finally discovered what the problems were and is all set for 2016.

Justin’s Week in Review for IRF is right this way. I’m blown away by some of the guys who ran fast at XC nationals just one week after killing it at North Face. Nice recovery!

I don’t know if this is cheating or what, but Serena Williams jumped in a cab halfway through the 5k that she hosted. Gotta believe she could finish in a decent time, right?

Good questions/conversation posed by Outside: What if there were a drug or treatment that made exercise easier and posed no risk to the user? Non-athletes could become active and that’s a good thing, right?

And for something strange. Beer! The Musical!

Ever thought about running PTL (longest of the UTMB events)? If not, this post will make you consider it.

Lake Sonoma 50 lottery will be announced tomorrow. Looks like “one ticket” holders have a ~6/10 chance of entry, while those who didn’t get in last year are around an 8/10 chance of entry.

Lance won a 30k trail race in Woodside, CA yesterday. I’m so conflicted on all of this right now, but here are my immediate thoughts: It doesn’t sit right with me that he won it. Breaking the tape is a big deal and I wish someone else had that opportunity. Also, I’d love for RDs to police their own registration lists for former/active cheaters, but asking that is pretty tough. At least explain to the public and paying registrants what that policy is and allow the market to sort it out. Finally, I’m already sick of writing about this and there doesn’t seem to be enough of a movement to actually do anything.

If drugs aren’t tricky enough to navigate, CX racing is dealing with transgender athletes and the issue of fairness.

I’m still tracking Jill’s training and preparation for the Iditarod Trail Invitational. This is what week 9 looks like.

I’m recording two interviews tomorrow! Whew! Drywallers here all last week and the banging wasn’t too conducive to recording.

Some people read stories like this and are uplifted. Others are wracked with sadness. I use them to stop feeling sorry for myself.

This guy is walking around the world. Here’s what he thinks about and why he’s doing it. I think he’s thinking too much.

Dave Barry’s Holiday Gift Guides are always funny.

RE: Gordy. He’s posted a lengthy explanation of his specific situation on his Facebook page. Too long to go into here, but it seems like it’s all worked out and everyone is happy. My final comment on the matter: If someone could map the #letgordyrun people, my guess is the vast majority would all be outside of Northern California. Just an observation.

24 Responses to "URP Daily News"

Jesse says:

December 14, 2015 at 8:05 am

F Lance Armstrong. He lied repeatedly then went after Greg Lemond. Lemond is a class act and didnt deserve any of the crap Armstrong smeared him with. Lemond likely would’ve won more Tours, however, the era of doping overtook him and produced the ultimate King of the scum heap: Armstrong. If you truly want to be sickened by Armstrong go watch the documentary on Netflix.

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Dave Tapp says:

December 14, 2015 at 8:06 am

I’m going to start with “This will not happen”, BUT, Lance needs to hit the reset button. We all make mistakes, some bigger than others. And there should be forgiveness and redemption available to all. I followed Lance’s career, supported him against naysayers, bought his books, and a bracelet. Do I forgive him? Not sure that it matters, but yep, I do. Tapp’s two cents. . . he should give it all back/away and start from zero. He can say sorry all he wants, but while he’s walking around with wads of cash, living in posh housing, and gallivanting around the countryside, all with ill-gotten gains, he’s not truly “repented” for his wrongdoings. Donate that cash to a charity, pay back anyone who’s livelihood was negatively impacted by his actions, write a public/ and private note of apology to those he accused of lying about him. Start over at the level of a recent college grad making his start in the world. Be willing to take your lumps from those who are suspicious of any athletic success as it comes with the territory you created for yourself. Realistic, meh, probably not. Tapp Out.Reference

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1. Matt says:
  
  December 14, 2015 at 8:48 am
  
  My 2cents on Lance: He messed up. But now he has a life to live. He made bad decisions. But now he wants to run. Is he banned from MUT running in any way? Can anyone be banned from a sport that doesn’t have a set of PED restrictions in place? Leave Lance alone, I say. High profile mistakes are hard to live down.
  
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  1. Arvid McFly says:
    
    December 14, 2015 at 5:25 pm
    
    Mistake? Accidentally taking a banned cold medication, or perhaps even falling prey to an overzealous coach/traiiner and succumbing to temptation ONCE is a mistake. What Armstrong did was cold, calculated deception over many years and at the expense of many others. How can he not be in prison?
    
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John Burton says:

December 14, 2015 at 8:19 am

We definitely need to get ahead of this thing! We should organze a mob and contact every park service in the country (federal, state, and local) and ask them all to ban Lace from ever entering any park and defiling our trails. He should only be allowed to run on sidewalks!Reference

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Kevin says:

December 14, 2015 at 8:56 am

Let the guy run a trail race and win for crying out loud without having to get all high, mighty and morally superior about it. It’s tiresome.

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Chris says:

December 14, 2015 at 8:57 am

Lance portrayed as a victim of the MUT mob cracks me up.

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Jill Homer says:

December 14, 2015 at 9:34 am

Thanks for sharing my training posts! I participated in the Woodside 50K yesterday. I didn’t know Lance was out there at the time, but I do remember the guy wearing the yellow shirt leading the 35K, who smiled and said “good job” to me and probably every other runner on the return.

My personal feeling about it is, while it’s certainly at the discretion of race directors, it’s a little silly to ban Lance from every competition from now until the end of time. I think such witch-hunting even goes against the all-inclusive ethos that we all love about trail running. It seems highly unlikely he’s still doping, has nothing professional or monetary to gain by competing in your local small-time trail run, and if you’re one of the faster runners out there, you have a real shot at beating Lance Armstrong! It’s all in good fun, which is the point.

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1. A says:
  
  December 14, 2015 at 11:42 am
  
  Well stated, Jill and John B.!
  
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2. Dana says:
  
  December 14, 2015 at 12:36 pm
  
  I completely agree Jill. I would hate to see him take prize money from any event, however the guy is an athlete and should be permitted to compete.
  
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3. eric schranz says:
  
  December 14, 2015 at 12:39 pm
  
  It’s certainly a tough one, and my feelings are all over the place. What I do know is this: If someone has been busted for a banned substance with long-lasting affects (like EPO), then I believe a lifetime ban is appropriate. Give the guy a pass on a horrible personal mistake and forgive him, but for the sake of sport, you just can’t let that sh*t fly. It’s great that he wants to get into the sport and if RDs want to let him in, that’s fine (and their call), but all I’d ask is that the drug policy is clearly laid out on the registration page, giving both mid packers and elites the power to decide whom they’ll be racing against and to whom they’d like to pay their money. Let the market work.
  Other drugs, I don’t know. Allergy meds so your nose doesn’t blow up with pollen…a little pot at a concert weeks before a race…There’s a LOT of room for discussion here, and I’m a big believer in NOT using WADA’s banned substance list. Without a governing body, we’re nimble enough for each RD to create–or not use–their own list.
  Who’s testing? Nobody. And that’s what makes this so ridiculous. There are a tiny handful of MUT runners who’ve been tested and a few weirdo crossovers from other sports, but that’s it.
  But wait…he was wearing a yellow jersey? Whaaa?!? Not a cycling jersey. Please tell me it wasn’t a yellow cycling jersey…
  (Thanks for speaking up Jill. Certainly an interesting conversation.)
  
  Reply
  1. Rob says:
    
    December 14, 2015 at 1:25 pm
    
    What long term benefit from EPO are you referring to? Do you have a source for this claim? Most likely he is experiencing negative effects of his past doping, if any.
    
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    1. John Burton says:
      
      December 14, 2015 at 1:44 pm
      
      I agree with Rob. The consensus seems to be that EPO doesn’t confer any lasting benefits and actually reduces your baseline performance once you stop taking it. http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/02/training-center/an-analysis-of-the-long-term-effects-of-performance-enhancing-drugs_317590/3
      
      That being said, Lance took a lot of other stuff too, including anabolic steroids which do confer some lasting benefits in terms of muscle memory, etc.
      
      Reply
    2. eric schranz says:
      
      December 14, 2015 at 3:01 pm
      
      I’m wrong and misspoke/wrote. You’re right, EPO messes up the athlete when it’s no longer taken. I’m referring to steroids referred to in this study, though it’s not clear which specific PEDs (other than testosterone) was being administered. My mistake is a great example of why this is such a tough subject. We’re dealing with science and biochemistry, ethics, rules, corruption, etc.
      Thanks for correcting me.
      
      Reply
  2. Ian Sharman says:
    
    December 14, 2015 at 1:47 pm
    
    Lance still calls himself 7xTdF champ in his Twitter bio. There’s the ultimate denial and lack of remorse.
    
    Reply
  3. Jill Homer says:
    
    December 14, 2015 at 2:12 pm
    
    Ha ha, no not a cycling jersey. Just a T-shirt, looked like a North Face logo, and a trucker hat. Here’s a photo from the race: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10102017441817223&set=a.10100484194077983.2460657.206527&type=3&theater
    
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Mike McKinnon says:

December 14, 2015 at 1:38 pm

There’s a statement concerning this matter on the ITR Facebook page for anyone who hasn’t seen it already and is interested.

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luke says:

December 14, 2015 at 1:45 pm

him actually wearing a yellow jersey to a race is laughable.

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Michael J says:

December 14, 2015 at 3:51 pm

Dude can run all he wants, free country in that regard. Entering races and competition for a person that’s benefited from performance enhancing drugs to me is not fair to people that compete clean and don’t want to put these things in their body to be competitive. He doesn’t have to have a right to compete in a competition, his actions ought to carry those sort of consequences. Forgiveness doesn’t have to cancel out justice. A person convicted in a fair trail can be forgiven by the victim and society, yet they still owe a debt. That’s what it takes to keep standards in place. Why should our sport be the one that’s okay with PEDs? I have a child that is going to go off and run in school soon and I’d hate to think that one day she would want to compete on the trails, yet for that to mean making a choice to do something that she either has a moral stance about or the fact that these PEDs are known to be harmful, I’d hate for her or anyone to have to choose that in order to be competitive. That’s how it is in cycling isn’t it? You can be a standout athlete and that alone get’s you a position as a domestique, but to reach beyond that, you have to be on something. So yes the sport should get out in front of this and it should be reasoned, if someone has been proven to use a banned substance,(let’s not conflate recreational with PEDs), RDs should not let them run and should remove their results if they turn up dirty in the future.Reference

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nedbarrett says:

December 14, 2015 at 4:00 pm

I read on another thread that he ran in a USPS jersey, which, if true, points to denial or worse. I have no proof of this, and claim none.Reference

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  December 14, 2015 at 4:15 pm
  
  Rumors. Look at the pic Jill posted. Regular yellow shirt.
  
  Reply
  1. nedbarrett says:
    
    December 14, 2015 at 4:25 pm
    
    Thank you–missed that part of the thread.
    
    Reply
Starchy says:

December 14, 2015 at 7:14 pm

As a non-elite cisgender runner, I would avoid any event that either excluded a trans athlete or forced them to register under the wrong gender. This comes down to inclusion and respect, and it has much more potential to effect and reflect on us mid-packers than doping. That said, I’ve never heard of anyone checking driver’s licenses at an ultra, so it’s hard to imagine Molly’s particular situation coming up, and I’m glad to hear USA Cycling isn’t standing behind this SNAFU.Reference

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Leslie says:

December 15, 2015 at 1:28 pm

Thank you for sharing Pam Smith’s post. I have suffered from asthma since I was a kid, and it’s a pain. I carry an inhaler with me at all times, and absolutely have to use it before any type of physical activity more strenuous than a regular walk. Her comment about even her legs not working has happened to me many times, and it usually takes awhile for my brain to go, “Oh! You’re not getting enough air!” Usually I can get away with a couple of puffs on my inhaler, then I’m off for my run; but winter running, breathing in the cold air, really does a humdinger on me, and I usually have to use my inhaler at least once more during a run, sometimes twice more depending on the distance.

Asthma – and the lack of oxygen – can really create havoc to your body. Thank you for sharing this important topic.

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