FS Author Nat Herz copied the link to this article during a FasterSkier email team-building session earlier this month. It is written by a guy that turned himself into a Dope in order to write about it for Outside Magazine.
I felt nauseous whenever he got to the details of the effects, and about injecting himself.
It’s from 2003, but if you haven’t read it, I suggest you do.
http://outside.away.com/outside/bodywork/200311/200311_drug_test_1.html
4 comments
32degrees
December 27, 2009 at 8:54 pm
I remember reading this article way back in the day. good read.
Tim Kelley
December 29, 2009 at 12:28 am
I remember reading that … it was a good read. I remember that the author said he missed growth hormone because it improved his eyesight. And when he stopped using it he had to use glasses again. That was a twist I never expected. I also remember him talking about the on-line bantering of California body builders talking about the steroids they would buy from Mexican veterinarians. Sounds like they were using peer pressure to down pills made for sick cows: “What’s the matter, you afraid of getting BIG!” Crazy, crazy stuff. I you haven’t read this article … it’s worth your time to read it.
Cloxxki
December 29, 2009 at 7:20 am
Amazing.
I pretty much let go of athletic dreams when I caught a kind of excersize induced asthma allergy thing. Because the meds I need to work out, are on the list.
As I’m over the years crawling out of that canyon, and now reading this, it’s kind of depressing. Wow, does that stuff really help THAT much? I better make sure that when I go back to serious competition, the podiums are doping tested as standard practice. I’ve been in occasional races that were sample checked, just never got lucky myself.
I hear plenty of stories about amateur cyclists who ride “too” easy. Should be lauded elites, but for some unknown reason aren’t. Really, being “over thehill” at 33 now, I don’t feel like competing at that level anymore.
If my competition is doping, they better be spending fortunes on it, going through trouble not to get caught. I know I’ll be better rested then, come race day.
I’m a proponent of non-illegal nutricional supplements, as I know they can make a difference. Each person has a deficit of something, that could in theory be closed by eating a lot of something. Might as well get the appropriate capsule. That to me is different from taking something that works for everyone (I don’t believe Erik Zabel).
How does this article make you people feel about competing?
This HGH seems like something I’d want to be having, had I not been an aspiring racer…
Tim Kelley
December 29, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Though I liked this article, I will have to say – it is quite outdated. It’s almost 7 years old. The drugs have changed. The way people use drugs to cheat has changed. The way people hide illegal drug usage and keep from being caught has changed.
So … what I see here is a great opportunity for FS !! A FS writer should do an under-cover, skiing specific, try-every performance enhancing drug available to mankind experiment and write about it. Such an epic article series will then pull zillions of new readers to this site, just like it did for Outside. View counts will go up, FS can charge more for ads, FS readers have great content to enjoy – everyone wins.
All FS just needs to do is choose which writer should be the guinea pig that takes the needles. Ok, so that’s an easy choice. You’re going to be famous Patrick!!! 😉