Me, Jen, Denny, Bill, Trix, Mitch and Terresa. We made the cover of http://www.blueseventy.com/I’m sitting here in my favorite chair with a box of saltine crackers, chocolate soy milk and a big glass of red wine. It is way later than I should be up but I am on Hawaii time and I have a broken shoulder (hence the big glass of wine) that prevents me from sleeping well. It is clear that a post Ironman depression has kicked in and due to the fact that I haven’t done a lick of exercise since the race, minus walking the dog which made my foot hurt, my serotonin levels are way down. Serotonin is that stuff that the drug companies draw pictures of on TV and tell you that if you take their pills that you will go from a sad little egg looking thing to a happy bouncy egg looking thing. Sure.
Mmmm yum. These crackers are so good. Anyway, I haven’t bloged in a while because the site was down and now I am at a loss of what to say. Well actually I have way too much to say and can’t formulate an outline of how to cram it all in without boring the reader and writing a 10 page blog. Let me chug some of this wine and see if that helps……
I’m sure you expect me to write about Hawaii and give the typical race report. I suppose I will but before I do I really need to get this whole Marion Jones thing out of my system. I would first like to officially thank Marion for cutting that last twine of rope that in my mind held professional sports together. You see, I went to high school with Marion and got to see her on a daily basis do things that would blow your mind away. I was there when she did the long jump in practice for fun and broke the national high school record. She would go to meets and destroy not only her competition but also most of the boys. She got along with everyone and was always very articulate with how she handled the fame of it all. I felt so honored that I was on a team with such greatness.
When she went to college and won an NCAA Championship in basketball it only reinforced what a super talent she was. Then the world championships came where she dominated and then finally her fab 5 in Sydney. I was so happy for her. I felt that because I saw her at such an early stage of her career I KNEW that she was clean. She was so gifted that their wasn’t even a shred of evidence that she needed the juice. So many others before her would get busted. So many after her would fall as well. But Marion was my tiny piece of truth that gave me faith in pro sports. I was a huge advocate for her when the allegations started….
I saw Gail Devers on a regular basis training on the Bruin track. I never called her out but if she turned up dirty I wouldn’t be surprised. Thanks to Marion though I can give my full opinion which is that I would bet my life that she is/was juiced up. Sorry Gail, but why should I think you are clean? Dara Torres? I don’t even know her or truly understand swimming but I’m not buying it. Lance? Oh please. Floyd? I know, he got screwed. I won’t even bother to list the people that were busted in track and field alone in the past 5 years. Just do a google search on it.
I found the timing of the whole thing to be quite interesting. Right before I go to race my first Hawaii Ironman and see the best Ironman athletes in the world! The people I look up to! The people I freaking train with! Marion has to go and cut the rope. Really what she did is make a persons word 100% meaningless to me. I knew her and saw what kind of person she was. If Marion can lie about this and go fight court battles over it then ANYONE is susceptible to being a cheat.
Do we need to bring up the fact that she wasn’t even caught by drug testing? The drug testing doesn’t work! I assume that the drugs are too advanced and that the politics behind them are also corrupt. If money is involved then you know the system is bunk!
How many “Marion’s” do you think were in Kona? It is hard to say. It makes me ill to think about it because again many of the top people there are friends of mine and sometimes training partners. I’m sorry but I have to turn my head away. I can no longer look up to any of them. They are what they are but they are no longer heroes. Shit, it is so bad that I even dare say that if I achieve my goals which are to go around 8:30 you are going to have to wonder about ME! I know I would never do it but like I said, someone’s word has no credibility anymore.
All those years in Kona with all those people racing and doing things that to some seem super human, how many ever got busted for dope? Nina? Maybe a few more? I would have to do my research. But in cycling anyone that shows up for a Tour race is getting busted. What segment of the Ironman has made the biggest leaps? Cycling. I am not buying it. When a woman that is 40 years old and ½ my size can put out more power on a bike than me, a red flag goes off. I want so bad for the people in my sport to be super heroes but I just can’t do it…..it is so fucking sad.
