The marathon fever has broken out around me. This is the case every year around the time. Marathons are popular again now as the corona restrictions are slowly being lifted. The number of registrations is increasing steadily. Also in my circle of friends.
Unfortunately, many conversations about marathon training sound like medical proseminars. Plantar fasciitis, i.e. heel spur, inflammation of the patellar tendon, periostitis of the tibia, pain in the shin. And so on. The list of complaints is long. The trigger is usually wrong and too intensive training. Often it would help to shift down a gear. But unfortunately very few are willing to do so, because they fear that their service life could suffer as a result. For many today, however, this is an important testimony to their own performance.
Many take pain medication before competitions
Instead of resting, many resort to painkillers. Also from my friends. Some even admit that they believe they cannot endure the rigors of a marathon without aspirin, ibuprofen or paracetamol. A trend that can also be proven with numbers. Every second marathon runner says they take pain medication before starting. Doctors have long warned of the dangerous development. Because the tablets are nowhere near as harmless as many think. First, because pain is a warning signal from the body and it is generally not a good idea to ignore it. And secondly, the products have significant side effects, especially for runners who are under high physical strain. Blood in the urine, nausea and vomiting are minor sequelae. Overworked muscles literally disintegrate. In the worst case, there is even a risk of organ failure.
Marathon has long been a sport for everyone. But obviously not everyone who goes to the start is ready to get fit through hard and consistent training. When it comes to doping, professionals like Lance Armstrong and Co. also seem to be role models for recreational athletes. Excessive use of painkillers is also not unknown in cycling, swimming competitions or in fitness studios, as a look in chat forums reveals.
According to a survey by Techniker Krankenkasse, one in six people under the age of 25 does not find anything wrong with taking medication in order to perform better. Every third person has already resorted to painkillers and every fourth person to cold preparations. Because they have a stimulating effect. Asthma drugs are also popular today among recreational and professional athletes alike. Their use can significantly increase performance because they facilitate oxygen uptake. They also have an effect on the muscles and can stimulate development.
Where is the border? Where does doping begin?
What madness. What all of this for? Many of my friends are of the opinion that a pill and a little spray here and there is not doping at all. I can not find that. For me, doping starts where I try to use medication to help my body perform better. Regardless of whether by legal or illegal means. This also includes when I have an injury that actually requires a break, but I let the doctor inject me with cortisone or other medication.
So where is the thought that sport is something healthy, something beneficial for the body? Sport is not just a record to show off.
Where is the line? For more and more it no longer seems clear. Every year in Germany customs confiscate several tons of illegal doping substances at the borders. Ascending trend. The amount of anabolic steroids is easily enough to fatten several thousand athletes with them. The funds are easy to buy on the Internet. If you enter the search term “buy anabolic steroids” on Google, you get over 800,000 hits. Many of them are dealers who promise to send the goods to Germany for muscle building. Where it comes from is mostly unclear. And with it, what is really in the ampoules and tablets.
It should go quickly, so help is given
Why do more and more illegal means? Research has the so-called “gateway hypothesis” for this. After that, athletes first resort to legal substances to improve their performance. This can be protein shakes, for example. And then the muscles actually grow, but not as quickly as desired. Then the reach of doping substances is not far away.
This mania for optimization and top performance among recreational athletes annoys me a lot. Pain relievers are not made for preventative use. I cannot be proud of an achievement that I achieved with the help of tablets. Then I’d rather leave it as it is. I don’t have to do a marathon. For me, running is the best way to do something good for my body