Ritz's record splits 30.9, 61.8, 61.8, 61.3, 62.7, 62.2, 62.8, 63.9, 62.9, 62.9, 62.5, 60.4, 60.1

Jeez, shockingly even, his times resemble a pyramid WO.

Get his rest about mid race with the 64 lap, and went to work with his endurance. Its what I would expect...believable.

More believable than someone who doubles in sub 27, WC 5k, then a sub 12:55 a week later, after months of hard track running, and being injured several times in the last year and not looking even a bit winded.

I don't know about that last part. he was looking pretty winded on the last lap!

He had a couple of 63's in the beginning because he was at the back of the pack. But he closed real hard.

infamous wrote:

He had a couple of 63's in the beginning because he was at the back of the pack. But he closed real hard.

Are you and idiot? He had 1 63 on the 7th lap.

He ran pretty close to even halves. At the half, he was a little under 6:28. Last half was a little over 6:28.

This is a great lesson of pacing for the youngsters. Dead last and the announcers already had him off the back. He didn't even run the last half faster but picked off all who went too fast at the beginning. At 7:30, he was 6 seconds back and ran faster than everyone else in the race from that point to the finish.

power to the people wrote:

infamous wrote:

He had a couple of 63's in the beginning because he was at the back of the pack. But he closed real hard.

Are you and idiot? He had 1 63 on the 7th lap.

No I'm not an idiot kid. He had around a 63 flat for the first lap and a 63 for the seventh lap which is a couple. Did I not make myself clear? Great race regardless.

Infamous wrote:

No I'm not an idiot kid. He had around a 63 flat for the first lap and a 63 for the seventh lap which is a couple. Did I not make myself clear? Great race regardless.

30.9,

61.8,

61.8,

61.3,

62.7,

62.2,

62.8,

63.9,

62.9,

62.9,

62.5,

60.4,

60.1

Mr Mountain wrote:

He ran pretty close to even halves. At the half, he was a little under 6:28. Last half was a little over 6:28.

This is a great lesson of pacing for the youngsters. Dead last and the announcers already had him off the back. He didn't even run the last half faster but picked off all who went too fast at the beginning. At 7:30, he was 6 seconds back and ran faster than everyone else in the race from that point to the finish.

POD

I'm shocked everyone is so shocked about this performance. I actually just started following Ritz this year. But looking at his bio its clear he could run a great 5000M going back a few years ago when he was still pretty young. He then took a detour and focused on the Marathon up until this spring. But that only served to complement him with a strong base as he went back into focusing on the shorter races on the track. Since then he has been doing a lot of speed work along with the altitude training under Salazar.

In Eugene at the UST&F he ran a slow time because of the initial slow pace, then got outkicked by Rupp. But in the latter part of that race he was pretty amazing as he was knocking off 64 second laps one after the other for a fair distance.

The point being is that on the surface maybe this seems shocking. But anyone willing to look just a little bit underneath the surface to get the full picture could see that a lot of things were pointing towards Ritz putting in a performance like this.

I suppose he needs to improve his mile time to go sub 12.50??

sub 27 is a lock. I am looking forward to that day and see

the facial expression of the guy who claimed you will never a white dude running 26.50.

This race will be extremely important mentally for american runners. They will inspired to work hard and intelligently and Ritz has now paved the way. Together with the 1500m ladies

it looks good.

Stunning run. Unbelievable.

Ryan Foreman wrote:

I'm shocked everyone is so shocked about this performance.

You're shocked that a marathoner took 20 seconds off his 5k PR and ran American Record after 8 weeks moderate speed training. Don't be a jackass. Yes, there were a few signs, but it's still a shocking performance that NO ONE expected.

High and Mighty wrote:

Ryan Foreman wrote:

I'm shocked everyone is so shocked about this performance.

You're shocked that a marathoner took 20 seconds off his 5k PR and ran American Record after 8 weeks moderate speed training. Don't be a jackass. Yes, there were a few signs, but it's still a shocking performance that NO ONE expected.

Maybe no one "expected" it or would have bet on it. But that doesn't mean nobody thought it wasn't in the range of realistic possibilities. Moreover, get your facts right. He ran the London Marathon way back at the end of April. Took a brief rest, then joined Salazar in May and has been training for a good 4 months at these distances to peak for just this time of year. People are getting way too hung up on the technicality that he ran a competitive race during his base training phase when any runner training training to peak for the 10 and 5K at the end of the summer would be running very long distances anyway. The bottom line is that Ritz followed the same tried and true training routine that any runner has ever done who has turned in a great performance.

Also, running conditions play a big factor in time. I don't know what the temperature was for this race, but the conditions looked good and Zurich has a good history of recording good times.

Furthermore, if there is anything unusual it was the fact that he focused on the Marathon at a relatively young age when he was running great times in the 5K before that. Therefore you are comparing him to a bunch of older people who only took up the Marathon after they were past their prime at the shorter distances.

I don't blame people for raising their eyebrows a little bit at Ritz's time and asking themselves if it makes sense he could do that. But I do blame people for not then taking a closer look at the facts and concluding that 'yes, it does make a lot of sense'.

"This idea that you must maintain contact with the leaders has slit more throats than it has saved." From Running The Lydiard Way, 1978.

I absolutely did not wake up Friday morning thinking, "I'll go cheer on Ritz in his American Record attempt today." One of the most refreshing things about this is that he was a late entry into the race and there was no big talk or bragging beforehand about trying to run a fast time.

I'll remember this one for quite a while.

VERY smart race. First couple laps in LAST place, had plenty of patience, still had gas in the tank with 2 to go. Pretty even splits the whole way. Ritz da man.

Infamous wrote:

power to the people wrote:

Are you and idiot? He had 1 63 on the 7th lap.

No I'm not an idiot kid. He had around a 63 flat for the first lap and a 63 for the seventh lap which is a couple. Did I not make myself clear? Great race regardless.

Since when is 61.8 around 63?

High and Mighty wrote:

You're shocked that a marathoner took 20 seconds off his 5k PR and ran American Record after 8 weeks moderate speed training. Don't be a jackass. Yes, there were a few signs, but it's still a shocking performance that NO ONE expected.

I'm with Ryan Foreman.

Rit'z 5k PR was set at Nationals in Indianapolis on a warm night -- not a place to run fast -- years ago. He was a 13:05 guy back then (as his 2 mile PR shows) who just never ran in the right race.

Now he's a better runner. And after trying to force himself into a distance that his body isn't suited for, comes back down to his best distance, with all of that aerobic base how could you not expect this?

He finished 6th at the World Champs, beating many 27:00 10k runners, then he runs Zurich at what is his best distance. I'd bet that he himself expected 13:00 to 13:05.

High and Mighty wrote:

Ryan Foreman wrote:

I'm shocked everyone is so shocked about this performance.

You're shocked that a marathoner took 20 seconds off his 5k PR and ran American Record after 8 weeks moderate speed training. Don't be a jackass. Yes, there were a few signs, but it's still a shocking performance that NO ONE expected.

Doing High Mileage ( Marathon Training ) followed by Smart Speedwork is Textbook Lydiard Training. Maybe Americans are finally figuring out this 60 miles a week Jack Daniels crap does not work/