Does EPO really work? How much faster can a person get?

I want to know how much faster these doping athletes get? Lets say a 15 minute 5k starts doping, how much faster will he get? Have they done any tests or studies or has an invidual actually tried this in the open? I am just interested.

we should run our own study...are you going to volunteer?

Ask Cathal Lombard.

I remember reading somewhere that drug use typically improves performance about 3% if used during races and training (so training can be harder). A 15:00 5k guy would probably be able to run 14:33ish if he used EPO. Not insignificant, though as you get faster the benefit is probably less and in shorter races it is probably less too. A 13:00 5k guy might not realize the full 3%, and just might get to about 12:53ish. Still, that's enough to go from just pretty good (on the world stage) to occasionally winning championships and big meets.

*Disclaimer: I just remember reading this in an article or hearing it on the radio. I do not claim to be an expert or have any further info to back any of this up. Conjecture only.

I'd say it depends on the individual but a wild guess would be 1 to 2 minutes off a 15 min. 5k.

mcgato wrote:

Ask Cathal Lombard.

Took the words right out of my mouth. Definitely the best example of how much you can improve with EPO use.

You are nuts. A 15:00 going down to 13:00, yeah right. Improvement would likely be around half a minute.

Does the phrase "wild guess" mean anything to you? And 2 minutes was at the extreme end.

For all the talk about EPO, there's one issue I've never seen discussed: the merits (or demerits) of distinctly sub-elite runners using blood doping as a way of--well, making large improvements, winning age-group categories (and money!), whatever.

Not that I, at 47, am really considering blood doping as a way, say, of lowering my current 5K time (19:36) to, say, my PR at 26 (17:27).....

But hey: in the Memphis/N.Mississippi area, that would get me noticed.

So let's have an honest discussion. Has anybody here--midpackers, I mean--tried blood doping? I mean, why not?--apart from all the obvious moral & health reasons (i.e., it's sinful, bad sportsmanship, against the rules, and might thicken your blood into deadly chesse-goop).

Seriously. Why should we over-the-hill guys try it, once?

I meant to say, "Why SHOULDN'T we overr-the-hill guys try it, once?"

Great article in Outside Magazine written about 2 years ago where the author experiments using perfomance enhancing drugs for a couple of months. Excellent read. He's a competitive x-country skiier and biker and said a few things happened when taking drugs:

1. When he started taking HgH, his eyesight got better (he was in his mid-40s and was thinking about getting glasses at the time). He could read the morning paper without squinting anymore. Sort of blows a hole in the argument that performance enhancers, when it comes to hitting a baseball, don't make a difference. The Dr. supervising the author's usage in the article states that it will help the ocular muscles function better. I'm no Dr. but it would seem to me that if your ocular muscles are functioning better, you could pick up the ball a bit better as well. And as far as the the "hand" part of the "eye-hand" coordination phrase goes, he stated that it makes all muscles function better.

2. When he started taking EPO, he went from riding something like 40-50 miles a day to 100 and said it was not only the riding that was easy but he'd wake up the next day and he could do it again with no problem. He never felt tired.

I highly recommend the read.

KudzuRunner, he was not an elite athlete either and it seemed to greatly help him.

KudzuRunner wrote:

I meant to say, "Why SHOULDN'T we overr-the-hill guys try it, once?"

Because of people like Eddy H.

Indeed. Lombard went from 30:30 something 10k best to 27:33 in a little over a year and a half! Check it out.

I remember reading it would take a 32-33min 10k to a 30min. I was a sub low 32s at the time. Why not try it...

how about the reports of death while asleep b/c your blod gets too thick for your heart to pump. That'd be a downer eh

drugs are bad wrote:

I want to know how much faster these doping athletes get? Lets say a 15 minute 5k starts doping, how much faster will he get? Have they done any tests or studies or has an invidual actually tried this in the open? I am just interested.

Try asking Lance Armstrong. He knows better than anyone.

I just don't see how it is worth it. No one knows the real dangers and if you are an elite athlete winning prize money, you are a criminal in addition to being immoral. I hope Lombard was forced to give up any money that he won and have it sent to the athlete's finishing behind him! I know some people feel that they will do anything to become elite in any sport, but that's pretty low in my book. It will never stop unless testing becomes more strict and error proof.

Has anyone tried deer velvet? Isn't that suppose to be an "all natural" hgh?

No bigger expert than Teddy Mitchell.