Lance- Dope or Nope?

This morning I read about Lance Armstrong being stripped of his seven Tour De France wins. There's been so much speculation that he's a doper, that it's a witch hunt, that he's a fraud, that he has jealous haters out to get him, who the hell knows what to think?
What do I think?
It saddens me. All the way around, no matter if he's truly guilty of doping or not. It saddens me.
It's sad that there's truly no athlete that's safe from the 'temptation' of doping, or the possibility of being picked on, bullied by an organization or by haters.
Do I think he's truly innocent? Eh, my thoughts are wavering on this. If he was truly innocent of all charged, he'd be fighting like hell, and continue to work to clear his name. The anti-doping folks would have to continue to work to prove him dirty. Seems to me that if the sponsors are dropping like flies and he's been stripped of his titles, then yes, they obviously have something to go by.
But doping or not doping, does it really matter?
The man has still pulled the impossible from his ass and frankly, his abilities still impress me. Knowing what we know now, there's likely not a rider in any of the Tour De France races that's not been doped, at least a little. The bar has been raised. Regular abilities aint gonna do it anymore, riders know this, coaches know this. If you want to be seen as the top, you need to run with the top, and if the top is all about doping, that's what you do. I get it. Not to say I support it, that's a whole 'nother Oprah.
I recently bought " It's Not About the Bike" from a cheap used book store. I figured it might be a good read for any kind of motivation. Still haven't read it, but I'm waiting for it. Now that he's basically been banned from biking, Will I find it still motivating? I know I will. He wasn't born a doper, he wasn't born on a bike. He had to pursue biking, had to pursue the competition. That in itself takes guts, courage to step forward. It stakes discipline to get on the bike to begin with. Dope or nope, he still had to take that first step, every time. Dope is not going to get you out of bed in the morning. Dope is not going to get you off that couch. Dope is not going to make you want to do it, that comes from within.
 Plain and simple, the man is still an athlete. I have no doubt that the man showed some talent, dedication and drive before potentially doping.  At some point, he had to catch the attention.  He didn't start biking and doping at the same time, that much I'm sure.  I believe he got in with the dopers he knew,  it was a universal thing, he just happened to rise to the top of the game with more attention than the others and he was brought to light. 
Dope or nope, I still believe in him as an athlete. He still was there, he still did it. 

Finally....Now Can I Stop Whining?!

The fall weather has FINALLY decided to come to California!!  A week ago, give or take, we were dying of the heat during an evening run.  Sweating like farm animals, and wishing for a break. 
Yesterdays run was perfect.  Cool, cloudy and dry.  Love love loved it!

I could never get enough of the cool weather running, so I'm thrilled to death with this time of year, and have big plans~ I've just recently gotten the green light to register for the half marathon training through running school.  The session starts in January, so until then, I'm going to keep my mileage up and perhaps build up to 7 miles.  I worked my way up to 6.55 miles for the Urban Cow Half Marathon Relay, so to let my mileage slip now would be dumb.  As soon as I can, I'm also going to register for the Shamrock'n Half Marathon in March.  That, I'm excited for!

My boss just asked me " Do you still run in the rain?"  Of course!  I advised him that it's the best time of the year to run, rain or not.  " It also really minimizes the risk of sweating to death", of course giving him a chuckle.  As if I was kidding.  I could do without the darker evenings, the mud puddles and slippery conditions, but rain? Oh bring it.  I love the cool weather runs. 

The AfterGlow

October 7, 2012, I completed my longest race ever, 6.55 miles, in the Urban Cow Half Marathon Relay.  As with every race I've ever done, looking back, I think " Wow, what an experience" 

I purposely waited a week to write about it, because the race afterglow was so incredible, I was not convinced I'd be able to put two sentences together. ( Not to mention, every body- in fact body parts I didn't know I had-  hurt like hell for days)

While training, the longest run I had done was 6.00 miles in 2 hours.  This was stressful for me because I read somewhere that there was a 4 hour time limit.  I knew my partner would be able to do it in about 1.5 hrs or so, so I stressed on my timing.  A lot. 
So when our time of 3:07 was revealed, I was proud...so proud.  I had not heard what the exact split time was, meaning how much of that 3:07 was partner and how much of that was mine.  At one point it was confirmed my time was 1:43, which made me soar. More distance in less time that I ever trained for. 
But that's Race Day Adrenaline for you. 

I realized that my Race Day Adrenaline for me starts several days in advance.  I think this time it started on Thursday night.  Friday I felt like a hummingbird with too much caffeine.  It's a combination for excitement, nerves, adrenaline, fear, dread, wanting to get it over with, anxiousness, more excitement topped with more excitement.  I was more excited I think than anything. 
When the race occurs, it's almost a surreal experience.  I can vaguely remember only flashes of bits and pieces, yet I was extremely 'aware' during every minute of it. 

For days after the race, I crashed.  I was more sore than I think I had ever been, my fatigue level had caught up with me and then some.  I could not sleep or eat enough.  I wanted to wear my cow bell race medal around my neck showing people " look what I did!"  but I feared all 3 ounces of it would hurt too.  Essentially I took the week off from most, if not all exercise and rested.  It was a nice break, I feel well deserved.
Now?  The Race Day adrenaline is gone, and all I can think about is my next racing endeavour.