Albuquerque

This past weekend was an exciting weekend with many running related events going on.  First off, the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships were in town, so all the local runners were at the Indoor facility along with the sold out crowd to watch all the distance events.  Saturday started off with the Mountain West Conference Championships, were plenty of UNM athletes got to compete and rock the Mountain West Conference.  Unfortunately, I was not able to attend this meet, which I was very upset about.  But, I was able to attend the US Indoor Championships that evening following the Mountain West Championships.

The highlights of the evening in my opinion were the the mens and womens 3000m final.  The men's race went out at a pedestrian pace with Lagat controlling the jog for about a kilometer.  After that a few other guys slightly took the lead, but still remained at a meandering pace of 4:40 for the mile.  It was a hard race to watch among the fans who wanted to see a "race" transpire, but with about 400 meters to go, Lagat started his kick and took the field with ease.  Rupp was second in this race, so both of them get to go to the World Championships in Qartar.  

After watching that race, I regret not trying to qualify for it and have the privilege to race against some of the best mid-distance runners in the country.  When I saw the leaders coming through at 4:40, and some guys falling off from that pace, it only inspired me to enter in this race next year and race to the best of my potential, and hopefully other guys will do the same.  Instead, this race was more of a sit and kick race, with only a few of those guys able to sit and kick without much contention.  

Anyways, training now is focused on the spring marathon and a 10k on the track about a month before the marathon.  Speaking of which, I need to buy my ticket.  Hopefully a special someone will be there and I can watch her (Laura) run the 5000m to a new PB.  So, training is more strength oriented with longer and more constant tempo runs and only one track workout a week, which was done this past tuesday (16 x 400m - avg. 66).  Hopefully things turn out for the best.