I explain when I don't believe in the effects of EPO as PED, looking at what I can see in practice.
I give you the example of 3 athletes of my Group, in proper training for long distances from one year only.
ERIC KIPTANUI :
he was a specialist of 1500m (born in 1990) with best results of 3'37"73 in 2016 and 3'38"4 in 2017.
We (myself and my assistant coach John Litei) recruited him in our camp (that started in April 2017 only) for helping in training Ronald Kwemoi, probably the most talented athlete for 1500m together with Elijah Manangoi and Timothy Cheruiyot.
For this reason, the preparation of Erick, till half of July 2017, was in direction of 1500m.
In Monaco, during the race, Ronald had a stress fracture, that stopped his activity for more than one year (he resumed training from June of this year only, and has still to compete this year. His next race will be an easy 5000m in Japan this week).
Without Ronald, and already at the end of the track season, we needed to find some competition for him, and the only races were on road.
So, Erick went Nederland for two easy races of 10 km, winning both with not important times (28'51" and 28'47"), in October, and after that we continued to have more long run, using sometimes fast pace with variations of speed.
In November I planned a workout of 7 times 3 km in about 9' alternated with 1 km in 3'30" - 3'20" for Sondre Moen, one of the last workouts before the Marathon of Fukuoka, and nobody among the athletes of my Group was ready to work with him, for different reasons.
The only one free was Erick, and I asked him to go for 19 km with Sondre (5 times 3 km with 1 km recovery), the longest training till that moment.
Erick didn't run in 9', but in 8'45", and I asked him to recovery more slow, in order to start every new 3 km together with Sondre. With my surprise, he arrived till 24 km, and I stopped him only before the last 3 km of Sondre.
After this training, I asked him his feeling, and he told me "I don't do too much fatigue, and mentally I don't fear the distance : I like running long and fast".
So, I prepared a new plan looking at longer distances.
On 31 December, Nike wanted one athlete on the podium in the 10 km of Madrid : I sent him there, and he dominated in 27'34".
After that race, I asked the management to put him in the HM of Lisbon (the same of the WR of Zersenay Tadese), on 11 March. The conditions were terrible, but in the race there were 7 athletes with PB under 1 hour : Tadese WR holder (58'23"), Atsede Tsegay (58'47"), Sammy Kitwara (58'48"), James Wangari (59'07"), Samuel Tsegay (59'21"), Morris Munene (59'38") and Edwin Koech (59'54"). Erick remained in the Group till 20 km, and in the last km gave 11" to the second, winning very easily with a very fast final (60'05" against 60'16" for the Eritrean Gebregergish and 60'17" for Munene).
However, I was not satisfied about the chronometric result, because at the end of the season, in the final lists, there is not written "60'05" with terrible conditions", so I asked the management for another race in order to run around 59'. We chose Berlin on 8th April, organizing a fast pace with another athlete of our Group, Daniel Kipchumba.
Paced by Daniel till 12 km, Erick went for 13'32" the first 5 km, 27'32" at 10 km, 41'38" at 15 km and 55'43" at 20 km, finishing in 58'42", best seasonal performance and 4th all time in HM.
This with less than 6 months of specific training (of course, without using anything, like ALL the athletes in our camp).
DANIEL KIPCHUMBA :
he was a junior of average level (born in 1997), starting in a camp in Kaptagat built by a German Christian Fundation that supports Young students of the area who want to run.
The event of Daniel was 3000m steeple. In 2015 he ran in 8'55"6, in 2016 (his last year as Junior) in 8'37"9, in 2017 (he joined the camp in June only) in 8'30", and tried a 10000m finishing in 29'29".
After that period, I explained him that his future was in longer distances, and he changed mind, only asking me the permission to try steeple again this year in February during Trials for Commonwealt Games. Without any specific training of speed, he ran in 8'32"37, and that was his last competition on track.
Being the pacer of Erick in Berlin on 8th April, we planned for him a full HM the next week.
In Berlin, I was surprised by his performance : Always in front with splits of 13'32" and 27'32", better than what I supposed. His pacing allowed me to discover his "agonistic" attitude : he is able in the competition to give 100% of his value, and is very smart under tactical point of view.
So, the next week he was in Verbania (Italy), and won his first HM running immediately in 59'06" (and is another athlete never using anything).
For many Kenyans, running fast one time is not a problem, but to repeat the time is not easy, because there are not clear strategies, but casuality. This is not the way we work : we need to know several months before when and where there is the competition, and the training plan looks at the best shape for that event. The athletes, in the activity of today, can run well and earn good money only if they know when they have the competition, and are prepared at their best. If this doesn't happen, they can't compete.
Therefore, already in May we planned to run in Copenhagen, together with Erick. But Erick had an injury running on a muddy road, so last week Daniel was the one looking for the best position.
Paced by another athlete of our Group (Noah Kipkemboi) for the first 10 km, Daniel ran perfectly under tactical point of view, remaining in the leading Group using Always an even pace, and moved at 20 km with "one shot only" : the time of his final 1100m was 2'59" (at 2'42" pace), and was enough for winning again repeating the same time of Verbania (59'06").
All this with an athlete of "average level", in one year time.
JOSPHAT BOIT :
Born in 1995, he had his first competition last year in Nakuru (5th and 6th of May), running 5000m in 14'25"4 (heats the first day) and in 14'24"8 (final the following day). He joined our camp in June only, and practically started training for the first time in systematic way.
Also if he liked run on track (during Kenyan Trials for Commonwealth ran 5000m in 13'39"), I started to coach him immediately looking at longest distances.
His first real competition was the same HM of Daniel in Verbania (15th April). He was very aggressive, attacking several times, but at the end paid this tactic, losing 13" by Daniel in the last km.
However, his time was 59'19", very good for an athlete in training from short time.
On 2nd June, he went Valencia for running 15 km. He went immediately in front, without any pacer, running his first 5 km in 13'32", going at 10 km in 27'40" for finishing in 42'02", winning without any aid from other athletes.
After this, we planned to pace Eliud in his attempt against the WR in Berlin Marathon. There, he had to run faster than the plan because Eliud pushed the pace, but was able to pace alone for more than 10 km (from 15 km to 25.5 km). So, we can say that now he can run at the same pace of his first competition of 5000m of 15 months ago, FOR 6 TIMES WITHOUT RECOVERY (30 km at the same pace of 5 km, in 15 months of training).
This is what athletes of good talent can achieve with training only. And this is also the reason because I DON'T BELIEVE IN THE EFFECTS OF DOPING IF THE TRAINING IS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION (like for example in the case of Eliud).
Physiologists, scientists, researchers, posters of LR, everybody can have his idea. But who knows what is possible to do with training only (and I'm not the only one), absolutely has to refuse percentages of improvement that are totally out of every logic, when the training has continuity and gives the right stimulus to the body for changing physiological parameters, at the base of every improvement in the performances.