So I am not a total slacker after all! (Thalassemia Minor)

I have always been slower when it comes to endurance activities... I doubt that I've ever run a mile in under 10 minutes in my life. I gave up trying to do that by middle school. Everyone, myself included, has always chalked it up to lack of training & preparation... in other words, being a slackass.

So I finally just came across this: article about Pete Sampras, who, like me, has thalassemia minor. Rumor has it he did not admit to this until after retirement, so that opponents could not stretch out matches to strategically tire him out. (Another athlete with thal minor is the midfield footballer Zinedine Zidane).

In a way the Sampras article makes me feel better because it explains why I am slower than most of the people I climb with, especially on the approaches. But it's a bit of a bummer in the grand scheme of things: it means that there will definitely be limitations when extreme endurance is required. It's like driving up a steep grade but your car has a smaller engine & only four cylinders... you have to shift into a lower gear sooner. It means I should look towards sport climbing or bouldering... as opposed to long alpine routes. Too bad I dislike bouldering & can only see sport climbing as a means to an end for building strength.

I also came across a study in the where it was decided to be legitimate medical practice to give epo to a Division I NCAA football player with beta-thalassemia minor. Since when was American football an endurance sport requiring genuine endurance?

I wonder if I'll ever want a climb so bad that I'd resort to epo injections & risk stroking out. At least I now have a legitimate reason to hire a porter for a long approach. But that still feels like cheating. Or can I call it aid climbing?