Ritz! Take a week off!

Are u kiddin me? He should keep this fire burning. NYCM here we go.

demkaps wrote:

Are u kiddin me? He should keep this fire burning. NYCM here we go.

And THAT'S how you get stress fractures!

you da' man Ritz - Keep it coming!

I think the end of his racing season would be coming to a close. He also seems to be more of a 5k-10k guy, and maybe up to 1/2 marathon. The marathon is probably not going to be his best event.

Looking at his times this past year, you're right, they would indicate his best times are on the track 5000-10000m and up to HM. 12:56 translates to 26:52 (which he WAS a good bit off of, but it was a champs race), 59:47 which he was pretty damn close to, and 2:06:05 Marathon, which he has not sniffed. Hudson swears up and down that his best distance will be the marathon, and he trained Dathan with that in mind. He gets to Salazar with years of Hudson training under his belt, does a little tweaking and he's popping these huge times (let's be honest, there's not a lot that Salazar did to Dathan's training leading up to worlds and the 5000 NR, but he DID get in his head and make him believe, which could be the biggest difference). Combine that with the 2M at Pre a couple years ago and we see where Ritz's wheelhouse is...it ain't the marathon.

I'll agree with that also. Next spring and summer, he should lower his PR's, if for no other reason than for posterity, in the 1500 (3:36?) and 3000 (7:30?). But his main focus should be on a sub-27:00 10K.

Think it is safe to say that there are no races between now and March that Ritz needs to peak for. He will have to run xc nationals in February, and may also run the Houston Half in January.

And based on his coaching of Rupp, it seems like Salazar does believe in down time whenever it is possible.

In the USA today article on the home page it says Ritz is taking 2 weeks off and then 2 weeks jogging before training for World XC. Sounds like a good idea - long season.

marathondude wrote:

I think the end of his racing season would be coming to a close. He also seems to be more of a 5k-10k guy, and maybe up to 1/2 marathon. The marathon is probably not going to be his best event.

A year ago people were saying exactly the opposite. "He can't kick so he should stick with the marathon" Now he drops a 12:56 and people say he should scrap the marathon because he hasn't had a really good one yet.

3200guy wrote:

marathondude wrote:

I think the end of his racing season would be coming to a close. He also seems to be more of a 5k-10k guy, and maybe up to 1/2 marathon. The marathon is probably not going to be his best event.

A year ago people were saying exactly the opposite. "He can't kick so he should stick with the marathon" Now he drops a 12:56 and people say he should scrap the marathon because he hasn't had a really good one yet.

Who said that? No one on this thread. However, the 12.56 is intrinsically much better than 2h10. So it is decision time - stay on the track and see if he can run faster (sub 27 10000m) or go back to the Marathon. Nothing to say that he can't run a better marathon in the future (he is still young), but he hasn't shown it yet. 2h10 these days is a joke at the world level. Hall too has to wonder after his Olympic run - stick with the Marathon - if his 2h06 wasn't a fluke, and win some major races (NY,Boston, Chicago) in the US and become an American star - even Joe Q.Public might know who he is, they don't now, only LetsRun geeks know of him. The only notoriety that is a big deal is in winning an American Major (NY/Boston preferably) or an Olympic title.

free willy wrote:

Hall too has to wonder after his Olympic run - stick with the Marathon - if his 2h06 wasn't a fluke, and win some major races (NY,Boston, Chicago) in the US and become an American star - even Joe Q.Public might know who he is, they don't now, only LetsRun geeks know of him.

Can you clarify?

I'm glad he's taking two weeks off. I'm sure the letsrun world would be heartbroken if he was broken.