Part 1 of plan A is complete

To get an "Athletic License" in Turkey you must first get a form filled out by a doctor, indicating that you are fit to compete. After completing this task I ask my brother in law why the doctor didn't collect a fee and I discover that health insurance is free in this country. The exception is drugs, and there are enough Turkish pharmaceutical companies making licensed knock-offs that most drugs are pretty cheap anyway. For example a months supply of Nexium is 360$ in the US, last I checked. Here, its about 100$. Anyhow.. My brother in law is inside the Sports Federation building trying to get my license for me so I can race in the Masters Nationals this weekend. It's a 10km time trial on Saturday and a 70km road race on Sunday. Of course, the way things are organized here, no one knew until yesterday what kind of races there would be. Maybe in the next 48 hours they will be kind enough to announce the start times.. But I guess that's what Friday's "technical meeting" is all about. They tend to do some things really pro and others really lousy.
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