After telephoning my wife Gemma for a chat, I watch a bit of television, | Forum

EUGENE, Ore. Cheap Nike Shox For Sale . -- Allyson Felix had the star power to change the Olympic schedule.Now, its her schedule that needs adjusting.Felixs run at the 200-400 Olympic double, made possible after Olympics officials honored her request for a chance to run both races, came to an earlier-than-expected end Sunday. She finished fourth in the 200-meter final, one spot away from Rio, in a .01-second loss to a sprawling Jenna Prandini at U.S. Track and Field Trials.Honestly, disappointed, said Felix, who will not get a chance to defend her Olympic title in her signature event. The whole year, that has been what I was working for. When I look back and see everything that happened, I still think its quite amazing I was able to make the team.She did make the 400-meter lineup, and that is, indeed, quite an accomplishment considering the injury she suffered this spring. After landing awkwardly on an exercise ball while doing core work, she rolled her right ankle.The injury was so severe she avoided running around the track in the correct, counterclockwise direction until just before trials, for fear she would put too much outside pressure on her injured ankle.In track parlance, a sprinter doesnt necessarily have to be fast to succeed in the 400 -- a full lap around the track in which technique is more important than pure speed. But in the 200, it takes a more aggressive lean into the curve at the opening of the race -- just the sort of speed work Felix didnt get enough of during her slow comeback.I could only do what I could with the ankle, she said.And so, she started slow, never made up ground against winner Tori Bowie or second-place Deajah Stevens and could not hold off Prandini, the former University of Oregon star who had to wait about 30 seconds to see the result for third place go up on the board. Afterward, she was scraped-up but smiling.I dont know what happened, said Prandini, who finished in 22.53 seconds. But it got the job done.One of Felixs biggest fans made news earlier in the day: According to USA Track and Field, 16-year-old Sydney McLaughlin will be the youngest member to compete for the U.S. Olympic track team since 1972 after finishing third in the 400-meter hurdles.Not bad for the junior out of Union Catholic High School in New Jersey, who turned on the Beijing Olympics eight years ago, saw Felix winning the 4x400 relay and thought, Id like to be like her, someday.Asked what she liked most about Felix, McLaughlin said: She wasnt afraid to lose.Sometimes, I get so caught up in the fact that I hadnt lost a hurdles race, and I come here, and these girls are faster than me, said McLaughlin, who admitted to being so nervous earlier in the week she considered pulling out of the meet. Its realizing that sometimes you have to lose to get better.It happened to Felix plenty over the years, none more heartbreakingly than in Athens and Beijing, where she settled for back-to-back silvers in an event she had dominated.But she won gold in 2012.And with track and field -- and possibly NBC, as well -- desperate for some star power in a sport now headlined by Usain Bolt and a worldwide doping crisis, a scheduling change that would double the track time for one of Americas most popular runners was a no-brainer.But U.S. trials dont guarantee anything, and on Sunday, a few more potential medal contenders -- including 400-meter hurdlers Johnny Dutch and Bershawn Jackson -- also saw some dreams end early.Felix is still going to Rio de Janeiro. But with more free time on her hands than originally planned.Im pretty sure everyone expected to see her on the (200) team, Bowie said. Im pretty sure it wont be the same without her.Other happenings on the final day of track trials:DIVING FOR RIO: Prandini wasnt the only one who left her feet trying to get that last spot. Last weekend, Brenda Martinez was devastated when she got tripped in the 800-meter final and left behind at the finish. On Sunday, she wasnt going to miss her chance. She leaned, and then barreled over the finish line of the 1,500-meter final to take the third and final spot. Ricky Babineaux had a dive that didnt work out as well; he still came up .06 short of third in the 400 hurdles. I think it was worth the dive, if I wouldve made it, he said.THE SUHR THING: Jenn Suhr is about as close to a sure thing as there is in track and field. Still, the defending Olympic pole vault champion was in tears after she won to make her third Olympics. It doesnt get any easier when you get older, she said in an on-track interview. Im just happy that all the work was worth it.IF THE SHOE FITS: Kim Conley saw her first attempt at making the Olympics spoiled when her shoe came off in the 10,000 meters. No wardrobe malfunction this time. She finished third in the 5,000. I had my heart set on the 10 this year. That was disappointing. I feel like I turned the page really well, she said.OTHER WINNERS: Matt Centrowitz won, as expected, in the mens 1,500. Hell be joined by Robby Andrews and Ben Blankenship. Barbara Nwaba took the heptathlon title. Kerron Clement won 400-meter hurdles to make his third Olympics. He won silver in Beijing and finished eighth in London. Erik Kynard was the mens high jump champion, with a leap of 7 feet, 6 inches.QUOTABLE: When I give all I have and run 22.5, its just not there. -Felix, on her time (22.54 seconds) that landed her fourth in the 200. Nike Shox Outlet Cheap . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. Cheap Nike Shox Online . "Hes going to have hip surgery on Jan. 7, and hell be expected to rehabilitate for four to six months beyond that," Canucks general manager Mike Gillis said Friday in an interview. http://www.cheapnikeshox.us/ . Belfort (24-10) needed just 77 seconds to down Henderson in the headlining bout of Saturdays "UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson" event at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. The fight served as a rematch of the pairs 2006 meeting, which Henderson won by decision. Throughout the Tour de France, Australian professional cyclist Richie Porte will be checking in. Here is his latest entry, as told to ESPN contributor Rupert Guinness:Saturday: Stage 8, Pau to Bagnères-de-LuchonRacing a Grand Tour is so hard, but it ramps up when you get into racing a block of mountain stages like what we are in right now with Stages 7, 8, and 9 in the Pyrénées.We are now two of three days down, and the hardest of them is Sunday. Ive said it before, and now I really believe it: the 184.5km stage from Vielha DAran in Spain to Andorra Arcalis should be one of the hardest of this years Tour. On paper it certainly is.Saying that, Saturdays eighth stage, also over 184.5km but from Pau to Bagnéres-de-Luchon, was really tough. It was interesting to hear that Chris Froome (Sky) said it was one of the hardest hes raced in a while -- and he won it, not to mention took the yellow jersey.It was a stinker when it came to the heat. There is no other way to describe it. But at BMC, we were happy with how it panned out. Sure, it would have been nice to win the stage, but I felt good and so did Tejay van Garderen. It was also great to see Damiano Caruso riding so strongly. He is really crucial for us in these stages and he is really making a difference.But one challenge that no one else can really make easier for us is how we look after ourselves during a days racing and in between, and that is not as easy as you may think.We have a great staff on the team who help us be as ready as we can be for another stage. But there is a quick turnaround for a rider between one stage and another, and there is a responsibility to make sure you eat well - and enough - and also continue to rehydrate. That responsibility becomes greater when you are racing back-to-back mountain stages.What makes everything so much harder in the Tour is the size of the event: from the number of people to the logistics of fitting so many people into one region and more. Cheap Nike Shox Free Shipping. It all makes for delays that can make your day as a rider in the race so much longer. In this years Tour, the transfers have not been the easiest; we do get stuck in traffic quite a lot.As a rider every hour of recovery helps. You eat on the bus. You are eating as much as you can in a day ... and from as soon as you get off the bike. Trust me, its not that easy. Like today, for Stage 8 ... I began by eating my usual breakfast: an omelette with prosciutto and avocado and a couple of coffees. Then, during the stage, I drank at least eight bidons [plastic bottles] of about 600 millilitres each, and ate 10 rice bars and four energy gels ... thats a lot of calories. But I burnt 4,600 calories.Then, when I was up for the anti-doping control, our team doctor who was with me said I needed to rehydrate when I thought all I had been doing all day was eating and drinking. But I certainly took his advice: by the time settled in to the hotel I had drank two litres.Im grateful I get to go back to the hotel in a car, but when you arrive at the hotel the day does not end there. Again, it is about recovery: you get on the table to be treated by the physiotherapist and then you have a massage. By the time you have dinner, which often includes more rice (I prefer pasta, but rice seems to more effective for me), its 8:30-9 p.m.After telephoning my wife Gemma for a chat, I watch a bit of television, or maybe I just sort of look at the screen in a kind of daze, Im so tired. Then it lights out at 10:30 p.m.Then, we do it all again the next day. At the Tour, thats times 21, or 23, if you include two rest days. The first rest day this year falls on Monday, and Im sure many will welcome it. ' ' '