Ritz Goes 1:00:56 in Philly

Very encouraging. Rounding into form

sc runner wrote:

Awesome run especially considering how his season has been up to this point.

Ritz is fine. Don't know conditions in Philly.

To answer the other guy inquiring about Mrr82's expertise..No, actually he's never been a competitive runner or anything close to an expert. You are correct about that guy. He just follows tables and apparently keeps a massive database of times and articles about people. He was a mediocre spear chucker who found Dyestat one day.

hugely disappointing performance of Ritz. with his track credentials, sub-60 and sub 2:06 should be doable.

it is probably due to poor fat metabolism coming from low mileage.

Overall, it seems his Philly race was a success and sets him up well for the Chicago Marathon.

A prediction: If Ritz can run with a group who targets 2:07-08, he'll run well at the Chicago Marathon and probably hit 2:07:30 (if the weather is not hot again). However, if he runs too far with athlete capable of achieving 2:05, Ritz will race sub-par and run a couple minutes below his potential.

Something doesn't add up here. It's too fast considering he is in Marathon prep mode, it's too slow for what he should be capable of.

I would be more confident in him if he ran 1:02:xx.

Hey Troll, do you touch yourself when you write crap like this?

Did he run this alone or was he in a group until some critical moment?

Also for those people saying Ritz is a 5k/10k runner track season is over.

it seems to have helped him to do marathon training and marathons (and get paid) . It sounds like he's gonna be doing track come spring so no reason to shun the roads.

the 2:05 guys can run sub-60 any day during their build-up,

so 61 is actually disappointing. see my post above.

A 61 half is equal to a 13:11 5k amd 27:22 10k which is right around the shape he was in this summer ( I know he didn't run those times but the 13:14 was earlier in his season and none of his 10k's had optimal pacing or conditions. A 61 also equals a 2:08:23 marathon...if he runs that in Chicago he will be elated...I still say low 2:09 since he has shown a lack of endurnance in all of his past marathons.

Good conditions in Philly (I ran it). 57F at the start. Slight headwind between 6 and 9, otherwise calm or a slight tailwind; very fast course--extremely insignificant inclines a few places.

Sidelight: Rod Dixon, Steve Jones, and Khalid Khannouchi were on a raised platform at the start; Dixon gave the (mostly unintelligible) start commands.

Ritz needs to go back to the system that made him. As does Webb. And Fernandez.

Look at what happens when an athlete stays with the program that made them for the long term. Rupp.

Look at what happens when athletes flip flop to other systems. They see quick improvements for 1-3 months due to the new stimulus then go stale. Ritz. Fernandez. Webb. Verzbicas. Hall.

after the 12:56 5k year....you have.

injury injury

bit of training

injury

training half a year

marathon: 2.09:5x

5000m 13:1x

10000m in a downpour in 27:3x

olympics decent result

training a six weeks

half 60.56

given the nasty problems ritz has had these past few years could he have expected a better year than this???

this is a fantastic year for ritz.

no doubt the next step for ritz is.

27 flat 10k

sub 60 minute half

decent marathon. say 2:07.

if that happens, dream on young man.

personally i'd like to see marathoners post a decent half marathon result before committing to any marathon.

i suggest that guys train 8 weeks, taper a bit for a week, run the half. if you can run a two minutes quicker than your target pace, then run your choice marathon sometime in the next six weeks or so.

if you can't run the half fast enough, take a couple of easy weeks, then switch to lower mileage and shorter races until the legs feel bouncy, fast, and fresh.

then go back into marathon mileage and get that good half result..

A European wrote:

the 2:05 guys can run sub-60 any day during their build-up,

so 61 is actually disappointing. see my post above.

Yeah, and Ritz has repeatedly shown he is around a 2:05 guy.

MORON!

Considering that he is in the heart of marathon training this should be considered a good run from Ritz. Sure it is not as fast as his best half marathon, but it shows that he is in solid shape leading up to the full marathon. As we have seeen many times, a fast half marathon can be a complete misnomer for full marathon performance.

oh dear! me, a moron?

his speed decay is quite bad given his track credentials.

read my post on fat metabolism.

A lot of you guys might not realize it it, but in American history, only six men have gone under 2:09, and only two have gone under 2:08:47.

Considering a 61 HM is worth about 2:08:30, if Ritz executes on race day, a mid 2:08 would make hime the third fastest marathoner in American hostory.

Yeah, its going to take a lot to be able to compete with Kenyans who make 2:05 look like old news these days, but give credit where its due. Ritz isn't a 2:05 guy yet (or likely ever) but with a good race he'd be helping to push American marathoning to a place few have been to.

And speaking of speed decay...this season Ritz ran 13:14 and 27:36. A 61 half is worth 13:10 and 27:20, so this has been his best race of the year.

If you're talking about PRs, his 12:56 and 60 HM are pretty close to being in line with each other, but that was a few seasons, and a few injuries ago. He's improving, and as I posted above, a mid 2:08, which he's capable of right now, puts him way up on the all time list of American marathoners.

Road Warrior wrote:

A lot of you guys might not realize it it, but in American history, only six men have gone under 2:09, and only two have gone under 2:08:47.

Thank you. If Ritz breaks 2:08 I will eat my deodorant stick.