At 40?? Wow, I'm 49 and it's never crossed my mind. I had a conversation at work with a couple 35 y/o saying their bodies hurt these days. I think it's poor diet for most. Yeah, some days hurt, it takes longer to recover, but that's life. I don't get the drug appeal.

---

http://www.sfuelsgolonger.com

I'm 40, and have around 25 years of consistent training 5-6 days/week in various sports and close to 20 years of working in construction under my belt, along with 2 kids under 5 and a small business to run.

I feel like my body is akin to one of those Toyota Tacomas you see that's not too old but somehow has like 400,000 miles on it already :).

And for the record, I don't drink, smoke, and watch my diet very carefully. Weekly yoga, strength training etc. I really do try to take care of my body, but a busy, physical life with kids interrupting sleep, the stress of a young family etc will certainly wear you down!

Maybe once the kids are sleeping better and in more of a routine I'll feel a bit better, but honestly with each year I just feel like I'm slowly being dragged in the wrong direction....

---

Long Chile was a silly place.

Definitely crossed my mind in the, "I wonder how much faster this would make me with my training" vein of thought. My assumption has always been these cheaters still have to work insanely hard/consistent and this just adds that extra 5-10%.

But the combination of the ethic of it and high potential for detrimental health affects is a huge turn off. No one, even the doctors and scientists really understand the full ramifications of this stuff down to the level of the cell and organ across our bodies and lifespans.

But I'd be a liar if I didn't ever wonder what some kind of magic pill would do. The idea of injections and injections and so on, when you get down to the nitty gritty though is definitely something I'd never want to do.

Been there, done that! 67 and been in the sport for over 35 years now and since retiring almost 5 years ago training 7 days a week, avg 15 hrs a week. It's really incredible how much punishment a body can take but getting out of bed in the morning is just getting harder and harder as the years pass. Good thing they haven't outlawed ibuprofen because it's a godsend at this age.

A body in motion stays in motion. A body at rest, rusts :)

Don't forget to pair that ibuprofen with some prune juice, old timer ;-).

All jokes aside that's very inspirational! I hope to still be leading an active lifestyle in another 27 years, although hopefully a less hectic one.

---

Long Chile was a silly place.

I was in a race where the 60-64 age group winner openly talked about his TRT and what it has done for him. There are many guys I race against that take testosterone. It sucks that they’re cheating but I don’t really blame them for trying to get the most out of their last years of competitive racing.

You were tested twice in USAC events????

100% they also draft more too

---

Andrew Garwood
http://www.2xu.com
http://www.newtonrunning.com
http://www.ascendsport.com.au

Meanwhile in the NFL among people making gazillions….

I don’t agree with people doping but I never understood why so many freak out about sports like cycling where the athletes workout 10x harder for 10x less money. But you goto some of the other main stream sports and you’ll never hear a peep about doping. Don’t mind me. I’m just a silly conspiracy theorist. Carry on. But yeah. Doping as an age grouper is pathetic. Imagine the ego on that guy!

Ya, Dana Point Crit and the Sea Otter Classic.

---

"trashlete20" for 20% off Peak NA Cocktails for Recovery
Youtube

I think people look for an easy button and there's not one. It's just mentally getting over it and putting in hard work. The guy in this article is in the 30-34 AG and went 9:34 in Kona. I don't think this guy needed any help getting to 9:34 at that age. All he needed to do was put in hard work and be mentally strong.

---

http://www.sfuelsgolonger.com

They can if you are a member of a NGB. It is a condition of membership.

Assume he bought a day licence rather than being a member of Tri Brazil.

An alternative to taking exogenous testosterone is to take drugs that boost endogenous production for testosterone replacement, which is where I've seen this drug before. Makes sense if you're taking too much T or anabolic steroids, etc. and have shut down endogenous production this drug could be used to kick start it again.

Just wait to you hit 50. I see the appeal. Being motivated to train but unable to because your body breaks down sucks, not to mention the constant aches and pains and generally feeling like shit.

Not a gamble, as you say. Since >100,000 amateurs raced last year compared with max 200 genuine* pros.
Maths init
And for amateurs besides small chance of testing/test failure: a couple of years off like this bloke and then crack on. For Pros in a pool or not, a test failure is catastrophic, maybe career ending and a reputation sullied for life. Deterrence is high and the gamble for them not worth it if they are rational.

*Genuine pros - how many made more than $20k prizemoney? Though there'll be a lot more making a decent prize total in 2024 with the prize suckers siphoned off to T100, the next (IM-capable) cohort racing only IM Series races, leaving those who actually merit a pro license to make podia in the minor IMs, 70.3s and Challenge races.

Maybe try the enhanced games then. Sport is for clean athletes & more cheats need to be caught. I think triathlon lends itself to AG doping. Wealthy/competitive people mostly in their middle ages looking for advantages wherever they can buy them.

Liked that 2014 example. Would like IM to test at 70.3/140.6 Worlds. But honestly it's probably not gonna yield too many positives. Need out of competition testing & they're not siphoning off those (seemingly limited) resources away from pro athletes. All we can do is shame the people who are caught -- not whatever this is.

I *think* if you answer the door and lie about your identity that is basically refusing on site testing and is auto ban. Once WADA testers are acknowledged (you opening the door), any funny business is auto sanction. It is then treated like any in comp test- you have to identify yourself, you have to stay in sight of testers, you have to test in front of them etc.

So I guess you can hole up in your house and hope the testers get tired and go home to “beat the system”.

---

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I think triathlon is definitely dirty. Some of top age groupers over 50 look like bodybuilders. They have muscles popping out and don't look natural at all. I do have a close friend who's in medical(Low-T clinic for 30+ years) and he's agree with me as well. He races with me, and we are absolutely clean. No way!!

Is "more" a total number or a percent?

I would agree that there are MORE amateurs taking performance enhancing drugs because of the sheer size of the fields, particularly of older athletes. Some know they are cheating and some have prescriptions for aging-related issues (like arthritis) and might not even know (or care) that the drugs are banned.

But percent of the field that is doping has to go, easily, to the professionals. Will I get pilloried if I say that is likely close to 100%?

With the new crop of influencers who can live off the income from social media, some free pharma speed would go a long way.

Personally I've been stumped on being narrowly beaten to 1st place amateur at a famous full distance event by a pretty huge bloke.
My training was healthy, mod/low volume and strength-focused but still made me look like a weed. I couldn't fathom another age grouper also going sub 9 without losing all that muscle.

Given the liberal leaning makeup of ST it is only fair that we be more inclusive of women openly using T in this thread. Many claim openly that this is a right of passage in ownership of their body’s and mitigating effects of aging. In fact, I have seen post on FB about the benefits of HRT to include T.

As always many of the same folks offering speculative comments and assertions because people are faster than they are or look fitter.

Ever been at the morning swims in Kona? The woman look so…..must be doping…..

I’ve been a sprinter, bodybuilder, and have the requisite mesomorphic body type, I’m sure people think I’m on steroids. Here’s the truth as I told one muscular guy as I was passing him on the run…’body mass is not our friend’.

With the sheer number of people on hrt, trt, ozempic, etc these days I'm sure there are tons of people inadvertently breaking the rules in triathlons and especially marathons, etc. I'm 51 and not on anything myself except for the legal shit like some common supplements. I hope they test and keep it somewhat fair but I don't get bogged down with what others are doing.

Agreed. The fast upswing on times especially over L.D. / IM to 7:30's, 7:40's, etc. vs Allen/Scott/DeBoom days of 8:20's-8:30 for men, some years can't just be chalked up to aerodynamics & favorable conditions on some days. I'm not buying that 7's are that natural. First sub-8's was handed allegations of blood manipulation after a failed test--but beat it. Nina Kraft--EPO, Chartier...as Lothar Leder says in a past S.T. interview about doping in Tri HERE. Back in the day Renee Goldhirsch denied it for a long time before finally admitting it & banned for life. Katja Schumacher...as described HERE. I think more % of pros are than AG's for field size for sure are IMO.

Not sure about that. Of course it's impossible to prove something didn't happen but if you look at the run times the records aren't that different from Mark Allen and Dave Scott's 1989 run (2:40 in 1989 with poorer training, nutrition, shoes etc VS. 2:36 in 2022 by Iden) . Considering the improvements in shoes this is quite remarkable. Same goes for the swim. In fact the Kona swim record is still from 2018.

The biggest improvement by far is in the bike leg. 1989 Allen did 4:37 VS 4:02 by Laidlow in 2022.

This shows me how big a difference equipment has made and how stable the human performance has been.