Leirbag wrote:
Can someone tell Paula that blood is not complicated?
Having synthetic EPO in your blood is not complicated.
Having steroids in your blood is not complicated.
Having a hematocrit about 50 is not complicated.
When I stopped running for 6 weeks due to injury my hematocrit was measured at 50.9. When I am running regularly, it tends to hover around 50.3. My father, who is in his sixties, routinely tests at 49, whether he exercises or not.
I would say that some isolated marker - such as a hematocrit over 50 - could be a falsely taken for proof of blood manipulation, which somewhat supports Paula's worry. However, it would be patently easy for me or my father to demonstrate that our natural hematocrit is in the 50 +/- 1 range and has nothing to do with taking drugs.
So, in this day and age, where all endurance events have become suspect for drug use or blood manipulation, the fastest woman marathoner of all time should, in my opinion, be comfortable in sharing her blood values because otherwise she gives the impression that she has something to hide.