Lars opened his eyes to the sound of the radio talking. No light met his eyes since it was only four thirty in the morning. After a few groans, he climbed into his sweats, grabbed his water bottle and braved the cold outside air. As a member of the Norwegian Olympic long distance running team, he had to train hard to keep up. Besides, since the 2006 ruling on drugs, Lars wisely signed up for three classes on safe drug use.

Drug Timing II started at eight AM, Advanced Steroids at nine and a Pain Level Theory test at ten o'clock. He considered skipping the Steroid class to see Jenny, but last night's news placed steroid abuse at the top of the fatality list.

Jenny only took yellows for pain, timing the release with a tooth capsule epenphrine concentrate to kick in on the last lap. It seemed to work, since she already had a bronze in the 1200 meter sprint. Lars had been taking stripeys for strength build up, but the first chapter in the Steroid Manual recommended only one per day. More and the cell damage could slow you down. Lots of his friends popped Benzies and Theos, but it just made them reckless and crazy. Lars believed in safe drug use and refused to join the Floaters Club back home since his buddy was arrested for breaking up a bar and cursing an Official after a race.

The only thing that worried Lars was the longterm effects warning on the drug labels. Not enough was known about residual side effects, since the legal use of drugs started only eight years ago, he wouldn't know about the bad side effects until he was fifty. If he lived that long. Oh, well, the Olympic Committee wouldn't sanction them if they weren't safe. Anyway, everybody's doing it.

Love the digital age.