since performance enhancers have been all over the news lately:
- A-Rod
- Clemons
- Phelps (bong man)
.
.
.
I thought I would share some truths myself and come clean, finally, about this dark little secret, or two, that I have been withholding from y'use all these last few years.
I was recently on a cruise with my client, Run and Fun Vacations, and Frank Shorter was the celebrity guest. Never heard of Frank, shame on you! Arguably one of the distance superstars of the modern (post war) era, Frank has few equals when comparing the careers of the great distance men.
When I started running, in 1995, I bought just about all the books available, to be "like a sponge" so to speak, and since nutrition was a field of interest for me already, I wanted to pay attention to what worked best in terms of my diet and what I would eat and drink during a marathon.
One of the more interesting anecdotes was from two-time Olympic medalist, American Frank Shorter (Gold in Munich, Silver in Montreal - Marathon). Gatorade and other sports drinks weren't available, so Mr. Shorter publicly endorsed the use of flat coke.
Why the hell not!
Fortune would smile on me in my 4th marathon, in Kelowna, May 1996, as I shared the weekend stage with Canada's top marathoner at the time, Peter Fonseca, gearing up himself for the upcoming Atlanta Olympics. Peter was flown in to act as local dignatary on behalf of the Running Room - speaking at the Pasta Dinner and running the 1/2 marathon himself.
By association, they figured I was fast too! Going along for the ride, I was asked if I had any "special needs" on race day.
"Uumm, well, yeah, I guess I could have my own sports drink available at the water stations"...was the best I could do under very quick circumstances (literally)....(:
So, then I found myself at the local variety store, soon then in my hotel room, shaking the fizz out and preparing 4 500ml bottles, which I happily shared with the race day volunteer crew. To my amazement on race day, I actually located 3/4 bottles, and to add further fuel to the fire, found myself with a new P.B. at the conclusion of 42.2 miles - 2:54!!
Was it the coke?
We won't get into Sudafed, that's another story...
cheers,
P.D.
peter@mynextrace.com
