So, Anyone Talking About the New RunFam Blog?

TUEs? Sorry Im lost on that.

Dude writes like a middle school dropout.

Two comments: 1. Fam is deleting any comments that are critical of him from his blog. That's pretty weasely if you ask me. Just block comments if the only comments you will leave up are ones saying what a great guy you are. I used to be a fan, but the last few years all Fam seems to do is come up with excuses and whine a lot.

2. What's with all the coyness about naming names? If he thinks people are abusing the TUE system, NAME THEM. Part of the problem with the whole TUE thing is all of the innuendo. People want to be able to make accusations but not stand behind them.

You know I follow him on twitter and then when I read some posts on LR some some stuff sounds eerily similar. I've wondered if it's Fam posting. Glad to hear someone else say that.

Shades of Lauren Fleshman.

Nothing but a hype machine. Talks a big game, but won't do diddly on the track this summer.

Lauren was a W Champs finalist as recently as 2011. Fam...it's been awhile.

I wonder if Nike's behind all these people trashing him. How about you respond to his point instead of resort to ad hominems? The abuse of TUEs is an important issue.

Ho Hum wrote:

I wonder if Nike's behind all these people trashing him. How about you respond to his point instead of resort to ad hominems? The abuse of TUEs is an important issue.

The deal is that Fam wants to say that he won't get a TUE for his thyroid problem because he is too pure, unlike other people - whose names and medical details he refuses to give - that he suggests are abusing the TUE system.

When all Fam is doing is putting out innuendo about unnamed people whose medical details we know nothing about, how are you supposed to respond to his point. If he is accusing Rupp (or some other individual) and saying that Rupp has an illegitimate TUE, he needs to back it up and explain why.

Instead, this is more of Fam's usual deal of making excuses and saying that he would be running faster times except that he is too "pure" or "reckless" or cool or whatever to run faster times.

You do NOT need a TUE for thyroid medication.

It's not in the TUE category.

TUE is reserved for stuff that WADA has deemed as potentially performance enhancing but medically necessary in some cases. Things like medical procedures involving IV, or taking corticosteroids are in this category.

Thyroid is not. Thyroid meds are treated just like most allergy pills or an antibiotic or a pill for many other types of illness.

So, debate the thyroid stuff if you want. But there's no TUE required for them.

Like the above poster said, synthroid is not a banned substance so a TUE is not necessary. Check it out for yourself:

http://www.globaldro.com/us-en/search/BrandStatus.aspx?brandid=34049&countryid=3&sportid=10&exact=0&searchid=950707&userid=1&show=All&search=synthroid&newSearch=false

That's an interesting point.

So for the people saying that TUE's ought to be public in other threads, it wouldn't tell you anything about thyroid even if they were posted.

So should thyroid be banned, require a TUE, or do we make every athlete make every medicine they take public?

dkakala wrote:

The deal is that Fam wants to say that he won't get a TUE for his thyroid problem because he is too pure, unlike other people - whose names and medical details he refuses to give - that he suggests are abusing the TUE system.

When all Fam is doing is putting out innuendo about unnamed people whose medical details we know nothing about, how are you supposed to respond to his point. If he is accusing Rupp (or some other individual) and saying that Rupp has an illegitimate TUE, he needs to back it up and explain why.

Instead, this is more of Fam's usual deal of making excuses and saying that he would be running faster times except that he is too "pure" or "reckless" or cool or whatever to run faster times.

Did you even read the blog? He explicitly says that he WAS on asthma and thyroid meds. He says doctors told him he could get his levels back to normal with some time off, which he judged to be the better option than being on synthroid for the rest of his life. He doesn't have to name names, since we all know that a lot of athletes are on thyroid replacement meds. And probably more that we don't know. So if these guys have low thyroid hormone levels as a result of overtraining, which it seems they do, then all they're doing is synthetically adjusting their hormones to improve performance. How is that any different from taking EPO or testosterone?

Ho Hum wrote:

So if these guys have low thyroid hormone levels as a result of overtraining, which it seems they do, then all they're doing is synthetically adjusting their hormones to improve performance. How is that any different from taking EPO or testosterone?

How is taking iron for low ferritin levels caused by training any different from taking EPO or testosterone? Is everyone taking iron supplements a doper? Vitamin D for vitamin D deficiency?

I would say the difference is that iron is just a nutrient, which anyone can get from diet. Synthroid is a synthetic hormone only available by prescription.

Actually some iron supplements are prescription only and people often take iron sulfate, heme iron polypeptide, etc. because they can\\\'t absorb enough iron from their diets.

In any case, saying the difference is whether a prescription is required is just arbitrary because different countries have different prescription requirements.

here's the research based approach:

http://www.runnersworld.com/health/how-does-endurance-training-affect-your-thyroid-and-vice-versa

I think the major difference between iron supplements and EPO/steroids is that the former does not cause long term health problems. What side dobthyrpid meds fall on?

(Of course I know this isn't the full issue but oy forms an important component)

Flo'da boy wrote:

I think the major difference between iron supplements and EPO/steroids is that the former does not cause long term health problems. What side dobthyrpid meds fall on?

My 80+ yo mother in law has been on Synthroid since the 1970's (and not because she's a competitive athlete - LOL). I don't see any mention of long term health problems on Wikipedia, only problems with taking too much.

Just based on her experience she would probably have a lot more long term health problems if she had hypothyroidism than she has had from Synthyroid.

To me, if you have an actual medical problem like anemia or hypothyroidism you should be able to treat that problem without being called a doper. It's not giving you a unfair advantage - at least there's no science saying that for thyroid - it's just making you have normal levels of thyroid, normal ferritin levels, etc.

that blog post by fam reeks of jealousy. i agree, if youre gonna make accusations without naming names, what's the point?

admit youre specualting instead of trying to spin it in a way that judst makes yourself look better...