Just Life | Steve Tilford

I saw a Washington Post’s article this morning that said that caffeine is on a list at WADA that lists it as a on a “waiting list of prohibited substances”.

The article says-

WADA added caffeine to its Monitoring Program for 2017 so experts could study whether athletes are using the substance “with the intent of enhancing performance.”

WADA’s study will continue through September, at which point the agency will issue a three-month notice that the substance will be added to the Prohibited List the following year. To be added to the prohibited list, the substance must meet two or three criteria: 1) It has the potential to enhance performance; 2) It poses a health risk to athletes; and/or 3) It violates “the spirit of sport.”

Caffeine, ie coffee or caffeine sodas, was banned for use in competition before 2003. But there was a threshold, so you could drink coffee, but not just 5 double espresso before the start of a race.

I guess they are going to do a study to see how much caffeine an athlete can ingest to add in athletic performance. I hope they aren’t going to be super strict, because from personal experience, just a small amount of caffeine aids in lots of different things, but for sure, athletic performance.

I assume that they are going to set thresholds once again. The thresholds were pretty high before, so maybe they need to lower them a bit. I’m sure there are guys out there consuming a ton of caffeine in athletic competition, so I, hesitantly, have to agree a ban needs to be enacted.

There is a 100 mile “gravel race” down in Stillwater Oklahoma today. It is called the Landrun 100. I’ve never done the race. I’m not sure I’ll ever do the race. 3 out of the last 4 years, it has rained close to the race day and the course has turned into a mandatory walk for miles. Miles in red dirt that is sticky.

I know a ton of people that are racing today. I’m hoping for the best. I heard that the course was switched up some and that it hasn’t rained there for a long time, so even if the predicted rain comes today, it should be able to hold up better than previously. I’ll cross my fingers for that.

I actually just checked the weather out and it is raining there currently, with the temperatures in the 30’s. Man, what bad luck. It is so hard to stay warm when it is in the 30’s and you are wet. Wet and muddy is a hard thing to persevere through. Best of luck to everyone.

Tucker got neutered a couple days ago. He was a very unhappy camper for a day. I think it was more from anesthesia than from the procedure. He woke up the next morning feeling much, much better. He can run off leash for a couple more days and has so much energy now. He is going a bit stir crazy.

I found a pipe wrench a couple days ago riding. It was too heavy to carry, so I threw it into deep grass by a highway sign and drove out there yesterday and picked it up. It had a bunch of surface rust, but my brother Kris, cleaned it up and it should be fine. It is an 18″ Trimont pipe wrench. It is an antique, which means that it is a nice tool. I’ll make good use of it.

It is supposed to start snowing here in an hour or so. It is in the 30’s, so 30 degrees colder than a couple days ago. The training race today has been cancelled. Hopefully the Perry race will be fine tomorrow. It is only supposed to snow 1 inch and it is supposed to be 50 degrees tomorrow, so it should be fine.

Alright, guess I need to get some inside stuff done today. I’ve ridden nearly 400 miles this week already, so if I ride to the race and back, plus racing, it should be enough miles, so I don’t need to worry too much about getting out today.