The Track Hack: Some spicy food (and a track meet)

Track season has begun with a bang....and a habanero.

Indoor National Championships in Albuquerque, same as last year. A nice track set up in the Convention Center, the hotel connected via underground walkway, and the best Mexican food I've had in a long time!

A nice Mediterranean lunch in the airport courtesy of Priority Pass...

I used PP to also pick up dinner from the Capers Marketplace; basically, a lox/bagel package without the bagel. I'll eat it in the Oakland airport on my layover. Priority Pass = $0 out of pocket.

Two words: Sa-WEET!!

Flying Southwest Air for the first time in awhile, so I have to drive to Portland. I pay the $15 for Early Bird boarding, and it's worth it to find an aisle seat.

But that lunch is so filling that I skip eating in Oakland in favor of a little nosh on the final flight.

Amazing what reduced ambient pressure does to a sealed container, like a bag of potato chips or a pigskin. While I have no football favorites, the whole DeflateGate mess makes me shake my head. Inflate a football to the minimum allowable pressure while in a warm, dry environment, then take said football outside into a cold, wet environment. Pressure goes DOWN. It's like gravity or taxes or death; an inevitability. Those with pre-standing Patriots animus scream the loudest about 'cheating' while ignoring a physical principle that has been in existing since.....forever.

There is (was?) a blogger called The Food Babe who likens herself a champion of purity while decrying bad things...like 'pressurized air in a plane that 'forces' gases into our bodies, making us feel sluggish after a flight.' OMG....okay, airplane cabins are indeed 'pressurized'....to a level equal to around 8,000 feet. In other words, the air inside a plane is higher pressure than the air outside of it (thank goodness!), but much lower pressure than at sea level.

If you're going to quote science, at least know what the heck you're talking about.

In a magazine, my buddy Zendaya...

Looking a little like my other buddy (and daughter) Zoe...

Quality...Sophistication...Style....for a moment, I think this is the title of my upcoming autobiography.

Credential pickup.

Time to figure out the city bus system. An elderly woman exits while pushing a two-wheeled cart; the wheels stick in the gap between bus and curb, causing her to lurch forward into a pending face-plant.

I couldn't save the day, because the two men in front of me do. One grabs her cart, the other grabs her arm in time to keep her noggin from impacting cement. Nice job, guys.

Getting my kicks on Route 66 (aka Central Avenue). Heading west on the 766 Red Line to...

Nice, clean, EMPTY pool.

Afterward, on the walk back to the bus stop: Lori, some minor swim googles (aka goggles).

Do you see Phoenix in the distance? It's only about 400 miles.

Breakfast the next morning included a walk to..

Buddy Dave recommends this place for breakfast.

I NEVER refuse chicken tortilla soup, time of day be damned.

Pre-meet briefing:

Before the meet starts, I become painfully aware of a toe blister. Young guy at Medical takes a full 10 minutes to find me one band-aid. Didn't mean to put you out, guy.

And now, the main event...

(That's USA Track and Field, not US Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms)

Someone must be lost...this ain't NYC and Madison Square Garden (or The Armory)

Back to the Frontier...did I mention the posole...and more chicken tortilla soup?

Indescribably good!!

I'm in the elevator with 800m runner Donovan Brazier. He broke the 50 year old collegiate record back in 2016.

I tell him I wrote him up for a line violation at Sacramento's Outdoor Nationals last year. Overruled by the referees, to my amazement, because it was clearly a foul coming out of the blocks.

He says, "I was DQ'd in Eugene (NCAAs) last year for stepping on the line."

NBC: "That was me, too."

DB: "You must not like me."

NBC: "Just stay off the line!"

The next day, he wins the national title at Indoors.

In Birmingham, England at World Championships, he is once again DQ'd for a line violation.

Kids today just don't listen.

Vashti Cunningham wins another high jump title, and receives her medal from dad (and former Eagles QB) Randall. I'm guessing he enjoyed watching this year's Super Bowl.

Shelby Houlihan completes her second consecutive double at Indoors, winning the 1500 and 3000. The longer race is Saturday: World steeple champ Emma Coburn takes control with a half mile left, but Shelby destroys her at the bell. Next day in the 1500, Shelby is near the back with 1.5 laps to go: i figure she has heavy legs from the day before. Maybe, but she kicks hard and somehow comes around the field on the final turn.

The women's pole vault has the 2012 Olympic Champion, Indoor world record holder, and last year's World Championship silver medalist. It also has an unknown named Katie Mageotte; all she does is clear her first 8 heights without a miss, including three personal bests in a row, and narrowly misses setting her own world record while beating the entire field. She is somewhat pleased with her performance.

Meanwhile, from across the pond: Buddy LJ is currently on a Parisian romp and posts one of the coolest pix I've ever seen.

Hurdler Sharika Nelvis breaks the American record and spends the next few minutes dancing on the track.

The final event is the men's 60m sprint. 21 year old Christian Coleman puts an exclamation mark on the meet with a tidy little world record.

i imagine I'm due some credit, so....

Our stalwart umpire team..

To celebrate the end of the meet, I reserve a table for eight at a Brazilian grill nearby. Lots of animal protein...and Rory does some carbo-loading as well. I believe he suffers a sugar coma shortly thereafter.