Their substance use to ensure they stayed within the normative and legal bounds of their sport as far as they understood them. These runners did, however, continue to seek assistance with performance and recovery in the form of nutritional and dietary supplements and OTC medications. Most assumed these products posed no or very little threat to their health due to their wide availability, and few questioned whether or not such products contained substances that could lead to competition bans for elite athletes. Though non-elite runners agreed on the negative health impacts of doping agents and methods they described, they largely abandoned these fears when discussion turned to supplements. Each of the runners interviewed here, save one, acknowledged they GS-5816 dose indeed seek performance enhancement when taking supplements. Henry noted:NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptSurveill Soc. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2014 November 04.HenningPageWhen I first started running I tried everything off the shelves to see if they had any effect in performance enhancement or muscle or how much mileage I could handle, anything I read about I would just try it. Henry is accustomed to tracking his health and performance, as a runner who closely monitors his weekly mileage, pace, recovery, and nutrition when training. Seeking a performance benefit from supplements is a logical step in his view, as he relies on what he understands as expert recommendations for these products. Henry based his decisions on what to try based on the availability of supplements in retail stores, which he assumes signifies limited risks to his health, health risk, or information found through running websites and magazines commonly read by local runners, which are the main sources of running-specific expertise. Henry believes he is acting as a healthy and ethical runner by only using products legally available in retail stores and those recommended by fellow runners, who he assumes share his interest in legal performance enhancement. Carrie, an ultra-marathoner and health professional, also based her regard for the safety of a product on the context of information presented about it in the popular running media. Carrie reflects that she doesn’t worry about what she is taking because “I know that what I’m doing is legal and from GNC and in Runner’s World magazine.” Carrie assumes the products she sees advertised in Runner’s World magazine or sold at the supplement retail chain GNC do not present any risk to her health and may benefit her performance in some way. Carrie also noted that she gets a lot of advice and ideas about recovery supplements and fueling from other runners at races and in her local training group. By relying on recommendations or advice from sources she feels are trustworthy, both Carrie and Henry are engaging in another form of self-surveillance. They consciously avoid what they view as untrustworthy sources of information from runners whose performances they question or advertisements that appear to offer too much benefit from one product, and focus their supplementation decisions on advice from those in whom they have confidence. These views and habits are not uncommon for FCCP site athletes and the runners in the present study. Save one interviewee, each reported using a minimum of two nutritional supplements in their training regimes. The willingness to try a variety of substances found within a running context did not automatic.Their substance use to ensure they stayed within the normative and legal bounds of their sport as far as they understood them. These runners did, however, continue to seek assistance with performance and recovery in the form of nutritional and dietary supplements and OTC medications. Most assumed these products posed no or very little threat to their health due to their wide availability, and few questioned whether or not such products contained substances that could lead to competition bans for elite athletes. Though non-elite runners agreed on the negative health impacts of doping agents and methods they described, they largely abandoned these fears when discussion turned to supplements. Each of the runners interviewed here, save one, acknowledged they indeed seek performance enhancement when taking supplements. Henry noted:NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptSurveill Soc. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2014 November 04.HenningPageWhen I first started running I tried everything off the shelves to see if they had any effect in performance enhancement or muscle or how much mileage I could handle, anything I read about I would just try it. Henry is accustomed to tracking his health and performance, as a runner who closely monitors his weekly mileage, pace, recovery, and nutrition when training. Seeking a performance benefit from supplements is a logical step in his view, as he relies on what he understands as expert recommendations for these products. Henry based his decisions on what to try based on the availability of supplements in retail stores, which he assumes signifies limited risks to his health, health risk, or information found through running websites and magazines commonly read by local runners, which are the main sources of running-specific expertise. Henry believes he is acting as a healthy and ethical runner by only using products legally available in retail stores and those recommended by fellow runners, who he assumes share his interest in legal performance enhancement. Carrie, an ultra-marathoner and health professional, also based her regard for the safety of a product on the context of information presented about it in the popular running media. Carrie reflects that she doesn’t worry about what she is taking because “I know that what I’m doing is legal and from GNC and in Runner’s World magazine.” Carrie assumes the products she sees advertised in Runner’s World magazine or sold at the supplement retail chain GNC do not present any risk to her health and may benefit her performance in some way. Carrie also noted that she gets a lot of advice and ideas about recovery supplements and fueling from other runners at races and in her local training group. By relying on recommendations or advice from sources she feels are trustworthy, both Carrie and Henry are engaging in another form of self-surveillance. They consciously avoid what they view as untrustworthy sources of information from runners whose performances they question or advertisements that appear to offer too much benefit from one product, and focus their supplementation decisions on advice from those in whom they have confidence. These views and habits are not uncommon for athletes and the runners in the present study. Save one interviewee, each reported using a minimum of two nutritional supplements in their training regimes. The willingness to try a variety of substances found within a running context did not automatic.
