Performance-enhancing drugs are a major problem in many sports, including the sport of distance running. Another reminder of this fact came very recently, when Martin Fagan, an Irish national record holder, tested positive for the blood booster EPO.

While only a small fraction of elite runners cheat with performance-enhancing drugs, all elite runners are affected by them. Clean athletes not only have to face cheaters in competition but must also deal with the fear and discouragement that come with knowing that they are not always competing on a level playing field.

Some clean runners deal with this problem more successfully than others. Consider the example of Kara Goucher, who won multiple NCAA titles at the University of Colorado and then started a professional running career under her college coach, Mark Wetmore. Although he is a brilliant coach, Wetmore has a somewhat cynical nature. Goucher got used to hearing him dismiss great performances by other runners as probably drug fueled. Before she knew it, Goucher was doing the same thing herself—basically assuming that any woman who ran faster than she did likely had an unfair advantage.

After suffering through a period of injuries, Goucher decided to hire a new coach, Alberto Salazar. In the early days of their partnership Goucher would sometimes toss off a cynical remark about the possible use of performance-enhancing drugs by faster runners, as she’d learned to do without thinking much about it under her previous coach. But Salazar wasn’t having it. He told her flatly that he didn’t want to hear any such talk, not because he was naïve enough to believe that every great runner was clean, but because he felt that being suspicious of other runners only served as an excuse for losing to them.

“I never saw how self-limiting my attitude was until I was exposed to the opposite attitude in Alberto,” Goucher says.

Salazar had the same attitude toward the supposed genetic advantages of Kenyan and Ethiopian runners. He didn’t want to hear about East African DNA. He wanted his runners to believe they could win at the highest level no matter what kinds of “unfair advantages” anyone else might have. Before long, Salazar’s attitude began to rub off on Goucher, just as Wetmore’s had previously. Within a year of starting to work with Salazar Goucher won a World Championship bronze medal.

In every field of endeavor, from sports to business, there are people who worry a lot about the cheating or unfair advantages of their competition. These people should be commended for their high ethical standards, and they certainly can’t be blamed for their frustration. But it must also be recognized that such complainers are limiting themselves with their focus on the strengths of others and essentially excusing themselves for losing. Don’t be one of these people! Believe that you can win, don’t waste one second worrying about whatever advantages your competition might have, and focus on making the most of your strengths.