It says in the transcript that he "was not training at all" until mid-december 2009. It also says his last race of the season was september 20th. Now call me cynical, but what elite athlete, professional athlete, Olympic champion athlete, takes THREE months off training at the end of the season???
IMO, he thought he would get a lighter ban if he said he was not training when he tested positive, thereby gaining no performance benefit from the illegal drugs in his system, and so threw it out there hoping the panel wouldn't cop that NO PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE OF HIS CALIBRE WOULD BE TAKING THREE FREAKIN MONTHS OFF WITH ZERO TRAINING AT ALL. His excuse may explain the presence of the drug in his system, but I think Mr Merritt was telling a few fibs to get a lighter ban, the cheating chancer.