Ritz has few regrets and now will turn to coaching which he describes as a "passion." He'll still run and was headed out for a 12-mile trail run.
Check out these impressive workouts by Molly Huddle, Dathan Ritzenhein, Kim Conley and more.
He said the cramping began about the nine-mile mark in his left calf, moved to his right and then his hamstrings.
Desiree Linden, Shalane Flanagan and Amy Cragg are their women top 3 and they have Galen Rupp winning over Dathan Ritzenhein and Meb Keflezighi.
Ritz talks about the struggle of finishing 4th in 2012 and having to come back and make it in the 10k: "That was probably the hardest thing I've had to do. It was like the odds were against me the whole time and all the way up to the start of the race, when it was pouring rain and 50 degrees and I didn't have the standard. That day was about overcoming my own demons of missing the team, having surgeries, feeling like I was maybe at the end of my career in running. To be able to come back and make that team in the 10K was really the biggest thing for me."
“You know, before Chicago—and even now—there are guys that I just don't feel like I’m in their league. Dathan, Meb, Abdi. They are solid, they have experience, they’ve done it before. They have wisdom.”
Ritz says he actually hasn't been to see the LA course, but has been studying it from afar.
Ritz sounds very confident and says he's in better shape than when he ran Boston. He really seems done with track and doesn't want to have to try and make it in the 10K again like he did in 2012.
*MB: Ritz--long video interview with Carrie Tollefson now up
He does a lot of running on Grand Valley State's indoor track and says to get acclimated to the LA heat he'll eventually start spending time in the sauna and running on the indoor track in a bunch of layers.
Some very heartwarming stuff in here. Quotes from Dathan Ritzenhein, Alan Webb, Alicia Shay, Bill Rodgers and more.
"The marathon can be a cruel mistress, as they say. You can't prepare for it if you've never done it. Sometimes that's a good thing because you know what you're getting into and have experience just getting there (to the starting line). ... The last four, five weeks I've had great training. I've pretty much done everything I've wanted to do. I would say before the volume was a little behind, but the quality is as good as any I've done before. ... Even quantity wise, I feel like I'm training as much as ever before, but I really do try to focus on the quality of work. The body of work is there from years and years of training so I don't feel like I necessarily have to do the crazy amount of volume. I can focus on the workouts and the quality long runs."
The elite relay race will have a man and woman each run 13.1. Others racing include Abdi Abdirahman, Annie Bersagel, Sam Chelanga, Molly Huddle, Desi Linden, Luke Puskedra, Becky Wade, Jared Ward, Meb Keflezighi and Deena Kastor.
He has bursitis in his hip and is doing about half his mileage on the Alter-G. "I don't feel like my fitness is bad. It's just something I want 100 percent gone so I can focus on the really hard, long runs that I need to do over the next two months."
Men will hand off to women with each runner doing 13.1. Field also includes Deena Kastor, Abdi Abdirahman, Annie Bersagel, Luke Puskedra, Becky Wade and Jared Ward.
Parents and other supporters are putting a lot of pressure on MHSAA to change its mind.
*DyeStat Article *Milesplit *Tweets From Dathan Ritzenhein And Hansons Brooks
New contenders, interesting debuts and what have the favorites been up to?
On both sides it looks like there are two favorites to make the team (Ritz, Meb, Shalane and Desi) with the third spots being wide open.
"I don’t like it when I hear anyone talk about Ryan or Alan having gone “downhill”.