Time for an Honest Assessment of Ritz's Performance

Ritz reminds me of Craig Virgin with similar pr's. I think Virgin ran 27:29 but never broke 2:10. Considering Ritz hasn't trained for 12 months uninterrupted since high school I think he's done pretty well. The belief that he has some kind of natural gift for the marathon has proven to be a falcy...he actually has plenty of speed but lacks the endurance to last the whole 26.2. As far as pacing it looks like he had no choice since the whole second pack went out in 14:37. If he went out in 15:00 he would have been all alone.

TorontoObserver wrote:

If Ritz is in 2:06-2:07 shape, he should have no problem handing 14:37 first 5k.

Couldn't disagree more. And what other runners are capable of has no bearing on Ritz.

at the Olympics, it's fair to say that the only places that matter are the top three, whereas at races like London, time is the main thing, at least for Americans. But I don't think that Ritz was killed for his Olympic performance. Hall was probably criticized because he was on paper a legitimate medal contender, but Ritz was praised for placing well, considering that 2:11 was his pr. Those splits do indicate a very unwise opening pace for Ritz.

Wilford Brimley wrote:

Kara Goucher is the queen of this, in my opinion, and that's why I've taken a disliking to her. She just. Can't. Shut. Her mouth. She's a good national runner, and no better.

Whatever else you said in your tirade is killed by this idiotic statement about the woman who won World Championship bronze in 2007.

I for one am glad our runners are talking themselves up in any way. Too many runners are of the... "oh...well...um, I guess I'll just try my best." I love it when football players on so-so teams say they want to win a Super Bowl, because at least they're aiming high. You never hear a footballer say their goal is to maybe squeak into the wild card with a 6th place finish.

Sagarin wrote:

Exactly correct. If you had told me before hand that he would go out in 14:37 for his first 5k, I would've guessed that he wouldn't even break 2:11. Marathoning is all about fuel management. That some elites can hang on to a fast pace is irrelevant. Ritz needs to take baby steps. He CAN run a 2:07, but not until he adopts better racing strategy. He committed suicide with that opening pace, and he needs to have a real heart-to-heart with his coach. Because that was stupid. And disappointing.

Very well put.

timekeeper wrote:

on a side note regarding 2:09:59 or 2:10:00 -

Looking through the London press kit it looks like the difference between 2:09:59 and 2:10:00 is a payout of $3000.

if you look at Ritz's races, ones where he ran extremely well and won, he always worked up front but never went out too fast when guys went out too fast, today he went out too fast.

he is not used to going out too fast and running well, he is used to gradually hammering faster and faster and faster, and then making people suffer. its not yet a 2 minute PR, but nevertheless, running straight 15:00 flat or close to it splits would have put him in a position to run about a minute or 2 faster, I really believe that.

going out too fast in a marathon allows for NO recovery

Snowball wrote:

Ritz is still slower than Benji Durden. And, Benji's pr was at Boston, arguably a much harder course..

And Benji had a strong tailwind that day.

Ritz certainly isn't doing himself any favours still claiming he is in 2.06-2.07 shape post race. He ran 2.10, thats it. That was his form on the day. So that is his "shape". If he felt he ran bad or had cramps etc he needs to suck it up and come back better and stronger.

You are in the shape you run, nothing better. Just because you run workout x, in x time does not mean you are in 2.06 shape.

Unless that workout was 26.2 miles in 2hrs06mins

dunno wrote:

TO put things in perspective. Ritz's first 5k was essentially the same (14:35 to 14:37) as Geb's when he set the World Record...

you got to go for it sometime

hung on for rock solid time and PR

he's pissed but it was movement forward

I picked him for 2:08:53. Thoughts of much faster was a bit too optimistic I thought. Too bad he didn't get a few seconds faster to get below 2:10.

Going for it and being stupid are two different things. He was stupid.

fgfg wrote:

you got to go for it sometime

hung on for rock solid time and PR

he's pissed but it was movement forward

Monetary incentives surely play a role in Ritz's pursuit of the marathon. But my guess is that, in the long run (no pun intended) his decision will seem a poor one.

Hall has shown that he can compete at the top level with the Africans. Ritz, a natural at 5k/10k/cross racing, might have done likewise - but not in the marathon.

You might say he'd never get rich running 5ks. Well, he'll never get rich running in the chase pack of big marathons. But he could win some serious fame and trinkets on the track.

I think DR is a great runner, and as a Colorado grad, I always like to see the Buffs run well, but there are a couple of things that bother me.

One, he seems to say things like "I'm the fastest 2:11 marathoner in the world" (or something like that) way too often. It makes me think he thinks he's some kind of super-talented freak who has just been under-performing for some reason that has nothing to do with him. He may have the best 10k time of the 2:11 marathoners he knows, but I think he's exactly as fast as every other 2:11 guy in the marathon.

Second, it's one thing to run a great workout, and something else entirely to put together an entire marathon. So far, I haven't seen Ritz run well all the way to the line. That tells me that he's going out too fast and falling apart before he's finished. I admire the ambition, but you've got to show me that you can run a solid-paced race start to finish before you can realistically expect me to believe you can go out there and survive the pace changes that guys like Wanjiru are laying down. Ritz should go to Chicago and run an even-paced (even if he has to do it solo) 2:08-2:09, and then I'll listen when he starts to talk about 2:07 or faster.

jonesy. wrote:

at the Olympics, it's fair to say that the only places that matter are the top three, whereas at races like London, time is the main thing, at least for Americans. But I don't think that Ritz was killed for his Olympic performance. Hall was probably criticized because he was on paper a legitimate medal contender, but Ritz was praised for placing well, considering that 2:11 was his pr. Those splits do indicate a very unwise opening pace for Ritz.

The Olympics are an artificially weak field, given that only three runners from each country are allowed. You don't have 15 2:07-2:08 Kenyans in the field. I agree that top three are the only places that matter.

Conditions in the first twelve miles were very fast, hence the super fast splits. Everyone who went out fast slowed down.

could you have found something more original to say?

WELL PUT AND VERY INSIGHTFUL.

The marathon is not simply a fitness/speed test. More variables have to be accounted for. He hasn't figured everything out yet, but big deal, that's part of the game. I think he still has faster times in future. Way to early to give up.