Timely Thoughts

Well it certainly has been a while since we provided an update and a blog posting of any sort.

The major reason for the delay in posting a blog has been the development of the DMG-network as well as the Time-to-Run portal itself.

The development of the new forums and news category has seated very well and it is nice to see those who are using the service benefitting from the feedback regarding the 10k programs that Time-to-Run provides.

The news section is blossoming with many an article being added on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. The introduction of the new Calendar service is also coming along in a pleasant manner and it is good to see a few people taking the opportunity to add their race data.

We also provided our first product review for a 'foot conditioner ' balm and we hope to enhance on this area in the forthcoming months as I feel we are able to provide a real and accurate review on the various products out there that you can benefit from.

There is still so much that needs to be done however we are happy with our progress, we are working towards polishing the whole Ad delivery as well as quality of ads provided however there are only so many hours ina day and the fact that we are on a 26 hour day routine does push things already, but who knows, maybe a 28 hour day is soon to appear.

The USA Olympic Trials have been a big hit state side and all the years of the country's athletes faltering after leaving college seem to be becoming a thing of the past with the strength in group training rising and the results filtering through to many athletes and not only those that grab the headlines.

The Kenyan's have selected their squad for the Beijing Olympics and they seem fired up to build on the 2007 World Championships where they had a resurgance in the medals won.

Whereas I am a great fan of ex-Kenyan Bernard Lagat who won the double in the 1500 and 5000 in last year's Osaka Champs, I do believe that his opposition will on this occasion be ready for him and the winning of a single Gold may indeed prove to be something of a different story on the tartan oval.

Jeremy Wariner, who split with his coach this year, is not a definite certainty for Gold anymore these days, a certain LeShawn Merritt is growing in confidence with every meeting between the two and it seems that 2008 may be a year where the splitting of Wariner from his coach may become the proverbial bite in the rear end if Gold is not hanging round his neck in Beijing.

There is a lot to be excited about this year and the emergence of Kenya's Pamela Jelimo from nowhere is a dynamic force to be reckoned with in the Women's 800m , it seems as though this athlete does not know her limitations and so we can expect a great deal from her, as she has already captured the African continents record for the distance and lest not forget the great Maria Mutola held the record before her.

At last year's 800m final in Osaka, Kenya had Jepkosgei to that for bringing home the Gold, so with the force of these East African duo, it looks like the competition for the remaining medal will be even more fierce than ever before. The distance is looking healthy and we shall certainly be aiming at providing more data to cover this distance in the future.

Coming back to developments we running a few vids in the Video section which we hope to enhance on in the future.

Do pay us a visit in the forums and even consider leaving a message of thanks, we really won't mind.

TheEd.

The Slovenian, Jolanda Ceplak, has been suspended after testing positive for EPO.

Whereas I was hoping to avoid commenting on this scenario with a blog post, it was simply too much after a week of controversy which hit the Tour de France.

With an article just been written about Alexandre Vinokourov under the title,

Those amazing men on their cycling machines .

it was certainly with much trepidation that I needed to follow this up with an article titled

Well there you have it - since removed
 

and to now have to write about Ceplak makes an awful week for me. I truly love our sport and I truly admire sports persons who commit to their sport, hence the article on Tamsyn Lewis. However, to have this continual blight on sport during the past week, seems to give everyone the impression that you can only shine if you take drugs.

I cannot emphasise that this is further from the truth than one can imagine. When money comes into a sport along with it comes the agents and managers who are often there only for the money. This is a broad brush that is being used however it is time to paint the full picture and to nail those who are integral in bringing the sport into disrepute.

For long cycling was slow to respond to the knowledge of the drug problems they had, however this year's Tour will forever change that perception. Their very livelihood is being threatened and it is time for things to be brought to an end in sport. We need to learn from what takes places and move to eradicate the hanger ons in our sport who try to encourage silence and the turning of one's back. This is not a case for whistle-blowing but more a case for the players in sport to stand up and be counted. This applies to the athletes (all sports persons) as well, it is time for them to say NO!

For Ceplak it spells the end and when in the past she was referred to as the future of the 800m on the site, it seems she was more from the past where the 800m record is tainted with doubt and the controversy of the record and the record holder under suspicion.

Kelly Holmes had made murmurs and the eye brows were being raised however Ceplak was invited to a role within the IAAF which with hindsight now available to us, was a complete and utter mistake. Such occurences will hopefully be avoided in the future.

I shall close in saying that in a next blog on the subject I shall mention certain aspects that I have been aware of which maybe highlights how things do occur.