Monday, January 7, 2013

Do you care a little too much?

I read a story about cycling last week that was pretty sad.  It revolves around the New York Gran Fono that took place in May of 2012.  Fondo's are basically a cycling festival including bike races, vendors, a bike Expo etc.  The NY Gran Fondo this past summer had more intrigue than usual thanks to a racer named David Anthony.  In the article at THIS LINK you can read that he popped for EPO while at the event.  Just to be clear, this guy was not a Pro cyclist with millions in endorsements on the line if he failed.  He was simply a Cat 3 racer.  If you read my last post, you realize that being a Cat 3 racer might be cool for a weekend warrior but it is certainly not going to get you on the landing page of VeloNews.com unless of course you fail a drug test during a Cat 3 race.  This guy has a real job and decided to take drugs in order to beat other fully employed husbands and fathers at a weekend group ride.

Hematocrit is the percentage of your blood that is made up of red blood cells.  They are the little servants that dutifully deliver oxygen, four molecules at a time, to your demanding muscles.  The more you have, the better your endurance.  Adult men typically register hematocrit levels that range between 40-45%.  Amgen which is the largest biotech company in the world created Erythropoetin (EPO) in the early 90's primarily to help cancer patients who were going through chemotharapy.  It is a wonder drug really.  Chemotherapy wreaks havoc on your red blood cell count that results in the significant drop in energy experienced by patients after treatment.  EPO is administered to increase the body's production of red blood cells to give patients their energy back.  As is the case with most revolutionary discoveries, they end up being used in unintended ways.  Cyclists began to realize it's potential for sustained endurance/power when climbing hills particularly during extended stage races.  As a bit of irony, Amgen is the primary sponsor of the Tour of California.  That's kind of like having a commercial break half-way through your AA meeting and hearing, "The second half of this AA meeting is being brought to you by Budweiser, the King of Beers.  Drink responsibly"  It's a place Amgen shouldn't be.  As a bit of trivia, I interned at Amgen while I was in MBA school.  Fantastic, and very successful company; poor marketing department.

In 1997, before there was a test for EPO, the International Cycling Union (UCI) placed a max hematocrit limit of 50 for anyone participating in sanctioned racing events.  Mr. Anthony reported his normal hematocrit to be in the "low 40's".  He said that his doping regiment resulted in him keeping his hematocrit at "52-53", a full 10 points higher than his walking around number.  This is nearly 25% more red blood cells than he naturally had. Apparently this wasn't just a "I only did it once and you caught me" situation.  They rarely are.  After being caught he admitted to a $1,000/month EPO habit in order to elevate his hematocrit to a more "competitive" level. 

I think the story hit me because it kind of feels like it could be me.  Before anyone goes making wild assumptions I want to be clear about what I've used as "performance enhancers".  My list includes Gatorade, Clif Bars, Cliff Shot Bloks and GU.  I understand the frailties of the human condition and know that being over 40 years old means that even with EPO I wouldn't be as good as I could have been when I was 27.  The similarities are that we are both over 40, both started cycling in 2009, both went headlong into training and loved it from day one.  That's where they end.  The differences are that I spent about $200 last year on my "performance enhancers" (mostly cliff bars and Bloks) while he spent thousands on illegal drugs and injected himself with live proteins to artificially increase his chance of winning.

Want to know how to increase your hematocrit legally?  Get enough sleep.  Go to bed an hour earlier during the training season and you'll give your body enough time to regenerate.  Rest will help you recover quicker as well.

Long story short, if anyone beats me in a race this summer, I want them tested.  ;-)  Lesson number two, get your priorities straight.  Unless you get paid to do it for a living (which I would love by the way) cycling shouldn't be in your top 5. 

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