We want tacos!

LA gets 2016 US Olympic Marathon Trials, Rupp's training, Desi in Kenya, Suzy Favors-Hamilton is back, 2/15 is the date that Rupp goes for the World Indoor Mile record betting on races, and the lovely Miss Kara Goucher.

I LOVE this article about betting on races.  Not because I'm a degenerate gambler at heart, but mainly because of the marketing and PR potential from this.  Getting right down to the bare bones of things, how is this any different from horse racing?  Establish a small minimum, then let the people take care of the rest.  The individual runners aren't going to become instant millionaires over this, and I could see an entire new genre of viewers/spectators watching events.  Not to mention, it will just make everything a little more fun :)  Ben's idea of getting sponsors tied into the betting is absolutely brilliant.  Have you ever been to a STL Blues game?  They used to have this wonderful promotion where if the Blues scored 6 goals, you could redeem your ticket stub for a free taco at Taco Bell.  This promotion no longer exists, but you can still hear the "WE WANT TACOS" chants loud and clear anytime they are close.

One of the biggest things for our sport is to create awareness in the individual athletes - tell their stories, and let the public become enamored over the trials and tribulations of their respective journeys.  I think once you create the repeat viewer, who wants to study up on their favorite runners and reads about the absolutely fascinating journey of an athlete such as Lopez Lomong, that you'll have people hooked for awhile!

Monday, January 27th - 5 miles.  COLD and SLOW

Tuesday, January 28th - 6 miles.  Ran in Forest Park with Crystal and Kyle after work.  Another cold day, but less wind.  The goal was slow run in anticipation for the next day workout, and I instructed Crystal to tuck in behind us since she was worried that the pace would be too fast (right, I know).  So she was actually pretty obedient for the most part, and we motored along at a pretty easy pace.  Once we got out onto Skinker, the pace picked up a little then once we got onto Lindell, Crystal left her position and proceeded to try to hammer us into the ground.  So much for an easy run - for the last half mile, I was pretty close to full stride.  While it felt fine, my lungs were hurting the last 1-2 minutes as the cold air was getting to me.  We were on pace for 8:10-8:15's through 4 miles, but that got all screwed up because of the last 2 miles.  46:18 total, last mile was 6:29.

Wednesday, January 29th - ~9 miles (2 up, 12 x 400 (200 m jog in between reps (400 m jog in between sets, 3 sec cutdown), 4 x 200 (100 m cooldown), 1 down).  Track work at SLU with Crystal and Kyle.  Goal of the workout was two-fold - turnover work, and some strength training.  We started out at 10K pace, then cut down 3 sec/set with minimal rest.  Kyle did this workout with me, and it felt ok although I am still very rusty.  It's crazy to think I was doing quarters in sub 80 last summer, and struggling to hit 90's now, but then again this was a different workout.  Got slightly aggressive towards the end, and definitely was hurting on the 200's which we were trying to hit in 40-42.  Happy overall, but a long way to go.  Splits were: 1:35, 1:33, 1:34, 1:34, 1:31, 1:31, 1:32, 1:30, 1:28, 1:29, 1:26, 1:25, 42, 40, 40, 43.

Thursday, January 30th - ~6 miles.  Solo at home.  Was in Bloomington, IL for work all day on my feet, so wanted to knock this one out as soon as I got home.  So did an improvised loop on the trails, then 270.  Funny how my body wanted to push, but I held back substantially and stayed conservative.  My legs were physically tired, and my left knee was hurting but mainly old person joint pain and was able to shake out pretty quickly.  Quads are still feeling the effects of the workout, but I'm ok.  ~50 minutes total.

Hill work tonight, then easy running over the weekend.  Legs are starting to feel the fatigue of the process, but good work is being done!