Originally Posted by robertv

Sick, please please please let us know how to pronounce your name, it's driving us all nuts.
I don't think any of my friends ever had what it takes to be world class runners, just competitive in college. I also highly doubt their diet was holding them back.
I also believe that it's entirely possible to live a good life, have some vices, and still be a good, if not great, athlete. I'm not a competitive cyclist. I like touring and I also try to get faster and train when I'm not touring. When I'm on tour I have to do whatever it takes to feed my self. Even if that means three bananas a pizza with extra salt and a 2 litre bottle of coke topped off with a pint of ice cream. In fact, I find that by the 7th day of doing 150 k's a day, that's the only thing that will leave me satisfied. And even then I lose a bit of weight(Thankfully I'm heavy guy to start with so I don't drop weight too fast while touring). If I can function on tour like that I think a racer could have a pizza and some beer once in a while without harming their training.
Also, I once did 700+ kms stopping at every pub on the way for a beer. Never felt better. I was drinking lots of water so dehydration was not an issue and the extra carbs made me feel just lovely. I even had some green tea here and there. I don't advocate this as a "healthy" training lifestyle, buuuut, if I was able to keep going with no noticeable side effects then I doubt a few beers here and there will harm anyone.