Alberto tested Prednisone on himself

A few years ago, I was prescribed prednisone use to clear up some bad skin rashes. I don't remember the exact dosage but I took two pills a day for 4 days.

It's undoubtedly a performances enhancer, which makes sense considering it's a steroid. I didn't race on it, but for a few days while running I felt unstoppable. Like no pace or duration of my runs seemed to tire me out. I remember planning on going for a 60 minute easy run, which then turned into 75 minutes, then 90 minutes at 6 minute pace, and I felt like I could of easily kept going.

Why exactly are we supposed to believe this guys defense?

I mean he ADMITTED to doping himself on prednisone. He should be banned for that alone !

I don't believe you.

Drug-cheat Eddy Hellebuyck learned the hard-way that confessing to something after the statute of limitation had run its course did not protect him from being banned.

Coach who denies his athletes use prednisone to cheat...used prednisone to cheat 20 years ago.

WebMD wrote:

I don't believe you.

Another random guy who had a similar experience while on prednisone.

So Alberto was a cheater himself in the 80s. Strip him of his marathon wins

This should be really big news, great find.

Prednisone doesn't revive your adrenals it supresses them more.

This not some shocking or new revelation. He admitted to as much in his autobiography. He used it during a long stretch when he wasn't competing and was open and got permission from the anti-doping folks to do this.

It certainly makes you feel unstoppable. Was on some because of bronchitis a month back. I had only been running for 2 weeks since my break and I wanted to do tempo runs forever.

WebMD wrote:

I don't believe you.

"He used it during a long stretch when he wasn't competing and was open and got permission from the anti-doping folks to do this."

Prove that he got permission. I'd like to see another faked explanation exhibit, for laughs.

Got permission??? wrote:

"He used it during a long stretch when he wasn't competing and was open and got permission from the anti-doping folks to do this."

Prove that he got permission. I'd like to see another faked explanation exhibit, for laughs.

Don Catlin article said that Salazar applied many times for permission but was denied every time. So there you have it.

Also prednisone is meant to be used for short periods, like a week or two, because it can seriously eff you up.

So Alberto was a cheater himself in the 80s. Strip him of his marathon wins

I was on prednisone once for very bad "tendinitis" that turned out to be a torn tendon. So, it didn't help with that, but I definitely felt giddy/energetic immediately after taking it each time. It may provide a psychological boost, or even temporary physical benefits. But I'd have a hard time believing that continued use could effectively enhance performance-it has a nasty list of side effects, including weight gain.

Went back and looked up prednisone. Forgot about bone loss, another decidedly non-performance-enhancing side effect of long term use. Makes me wonder if messing around with prednisone and other drugs is what messed Salazar up such that he needs to take Androgel now. I'd even bet on that.

I was on it wrote:

I was on prednisone once for very bad "tendinitis" that turned out to be a torn tendon. So, it didn't help with that, but I definitely felt giddy/energetic immediately after taking it each time. It may provide a psychological boost, or even temporary physical benefits. But I'd have a hard time believing that continued use could effectively enhance performance-it has a nasty list of side effects, including weight gain.

tester of prednisone wrote:

Prednisone doesn't revive your adrenals it supresses them more.

Right, that was sloppy wording by the SI writer. If your adrenals aren't working properly and are failing to make adequate amounts of cortisol, prednisone can help make up the difference. But the longer you take it, the more your already flagging adrenals will fail even more strongly, because the prednisone tricks your brain into not releasing as much CRH and ACTH.

Salazar was a cheat in the 1980s and 1990s and he's cheating now. He wrecked his body not by overtraining but through the drugs (not just the one mentioned here) he was on. And yet today he says he doesn't want to risk his athletes' health by having them emulate what he did - yet he's giving them the same dope that fried his nuts and probably his ticker too.

What a prince!

How much you wanna bet that Sal's recently-revealed gonadism is the result of years of steroid abuse and/or testosterone doping?

Got permission??? wrote:

"He used it during a long stretch when he wasn't competing and was open and got permission from the anti-doping folks to do this."

Prove that he got permission. I'd like to see another faked explanation exhibit, for laughs.

He never got permission. Don Catlin said so.

Catlin, who developed Americas first anti-doping facility, says he was initially alarmed by Salazars conduct when he was a member of both the US Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee in the 1980s a time when Salazar was a professional long-distance runner.

He claims that Salazar would repeatedly attempt to apply for medical exemptions later known as TUEs to use restricted treatments for conditions that Catlin deemed him not to suffer from. I used to be on the board that reviewed TUEs for the US Olympic Committee so if someone wanted a TUE they would write it up and I would review it, Catlin says.

Read more: