Competing under the IPF umbrella means that you have to follow WADC doping standards.
"All members of the CPU, by virtue of membership, are agreeing to submit to periodic drug testing, either at a sanctioned CPU contest, or on a "no notice" out of competition basis. "
This was actually one of the main reasons why I decided to compete in the IPF. It meant an even playing field.
I was tested for the first time at Ontario Provincials. This meant that I went over 13 months as a competitive athlete in the federation without being tested. This is normal and to be expected since drug tests can be quite expensive.
Immediately after my final deadlift attempt, in a haze of ammonia, caffeine, and devastation from a bad meet, I was greeted by a nice lady with a clipboard. Smiling, she asked to chat. When I finally realized what was happening, I had complete lack of emotion or nervousness, and treated it as if it was another day at the office. I pretended as if it wasn't happening, because I knew that if I let nerves kick in I'd be stuck with stage freight and it would take me a long time to pee! She explained my rights as we were walking to a private bathroom, and thankfully at this point I had to pee.
I was given a package with cup in it. I was told to check for any tampering of the product and cut open the packaging myself. I was told not to wash my hands before peeing, but I showed my chalk and baby powder covered hands and she thankfully allowed me a rinse. She explained how much urine she needed and that she would need to watch the process (At this point I was thankful for my experience with taking urine samples because of my kidney disease). I stepped in the bathroom stall and did my darndest to avoid eye contact.
I was told I did a great job, which is up there on the list of weirdest compliments I have received. It was now time to play scientist! I had a gentleman sitting at a table and he would instruct me on the next steps. I had two more packages in front of me, this time glass containers. From there I just had to separate my sample and make sure it was't too watery. Easy peasy!
From there was the waiting game. I had to wait just over two weeks to get my results back.
Now heres the truth - I have very bad anxiety and find myself over-thinking and over-worrying over things like this all too often. I began too run every worst case scenario in my head. What if my supplement's labels aren't true, what if I had too much caffeine, what if, what if, what if....
After speaking with many other lifters, the worrying is normal. I was very glad to hear that! A few more veteran lifters even said that after many times being tested they still have a little worry every time.
Fast forward to two weeks later, when I checked facebook quickly while waiting for my 6am client to arrive at the gym. My heart stopped for a moment, and I suddenly had a feeling of relief, but also frustration that I was finding my drug test results on social media instead of an email, phone call, or even if it had been posted on their official website first. Whether the test is negative or positive, should we really be receiving results by a facebook post or tweet?
At the end of the day, this was an eye opening experience for me. I hope if anything, more people will be aware of the process so they can be more prepared for it.