You said it...

Landis got screwed by the system...

I have so much to say about this I could not possibly type fast enough.

BUT I will say this:

This is a system where he was judged by three arbitrators. One selected by the prosecution; one selected by Landis but only from a list approved by the prosecutor, and a third, selected by those two arbitrators.

HOW IS THAT A FAIR SYSTEM???

"The panel does, however note that the forensic corrections of the lab reflect sloppy practice on its part," the majority decision noted. "If such practises continue it may well be that in the future an error like this could result in the dismissal of an AAF (Adverse Analytical Finding) finding by the lab." Read the Full Text of the Decision

So tell me this: If the errors would not stand in the future why would they not be thrown out in this case? That does not make sense…

At least someone had some sense. Landis' chosen arbitrator had some interesting comments in his decent .

What is most frustrating for me is the hypocrisies of sports fans in the United States. This whole case brings me to my larger point about cycling in America. Americans know nothing about clean sport, yet constantly reticule cycling for being full of dopers. It astounds me how fans of football and baseball can pass judgement on cycling, without ever considering the troubles that exist in their own chosen sport. Without saying anything about Landis's guilt, let me say this: at least cycling admits it has a drug problem, unlike some other sports. These are athlets that are tested nearly everday during a competition event - that is likened to the pace of a baseball schedule. Unlike in America where athletes might be tested before and after a season, and possibly randomly throughout. Being a cyclist means living day to day with testing, not living with a remote possiblility of testing like football.

Air Force Marathon… A zesty enterprise

I was excited about this race all week and it for sure did not disappoint. The weekend, the race, the beer and the football were all awesome. I could not ask for a better weekend to run a PR.

Emily, Tom and I left a little late on Friday for our eight hour drive to Dayton. Eventually we arrived and were in bed by midnight so we could get a cool five hours sleep before the race Saturday morning. The weather was awesome; clear skies with temps in the low 50’s. perfect race weather.

I took off right from the start, nudging myself into the 3:30 group before the first hill broke up the field. I felt good through mile six so I decided to bridge the gap to the 3:20 group from mile 7 to 9. Once comfortably situated in the tightly bunch group of runners, I held tight for a few miles. Eventually I felt a little anxious that I was running too slowly, so I began moving away from the group. So some guy I couldn’t understand left with me. We hung together for a while, but eventually he dropped back. I decided to run alone for a while. I’m not sure if this was a good or bad idea. In the end I had a great run, actually a personal best time of 3:22. But, in hindsight if I had stayed close to the 3:20 group I could have saved energy by not being out on my own. Had I stayed with the group, its possible I could have used that extra energy to pull ahead in the last two miles.

Travis and Emily managed to see Tom and me four times on this course, which is incredible given that it was run on an Air Force base. They were the best fans out there. Every time I saw them I felt so much better.

After the race we headed to Milano’s on campus for some food and beer, which turned into more beer, which turned into more beer and wings and… well… you get the picture. I think Tom and Emily enjoyed the University of Dayton. I think all in all, this was the more fun I had traveling to a race this year.

I had a best time (both on and off the course). I’m really looking forward to Chicago. I think that with a smarter plan from the start I can drop a few minutes. I think sub three hours was a little out of my league this year, but next year for sure.