Ritzenhein not in London field - targeting World XC instead?

in a article in track focus (salazar thinks team race is a good idea) it says ritzenhiem thoroughly likes xc and will run a few xc races before a spring marathon.

Ritz just changed his form, and his comeback marathon went slightly worse than expected. He'll do better when he finally does some consistent heavy training.

atlas_ran wrote:

Ritz in New York gave Rupp an object lesson in why he should focus his talents between the mile and 10k/XC and not grind his talents away pounding out marathons. Lets hope that when the gun goes off for the 10k in London 2012

both are on the starting line along with that big guy with the knee socks.

but we can only have 3 runners and lagat and teg and probably a couple more by then, have got a shot to make the 10k team as well

Teg doesn't run the 10k

My take on it wrote:

If he doesn't go for the World XC title at least once in his prime he will always regret it.

This.

Guys whose best events are the 10,000 and up can gain a few things running World Cross, even if they're not particularly successful at it. Yes, I get the injury factors and possible other considerations (including money) but I still think running World Cross helps make these guys better runners.

Guys like Terget and Bekele leap to mind, but so do guys like Virgin, Salazar and Rodgers (people forget he was third at World Cross just a few weeks before his 2:09:55 AR breakout race at Boston), all of whom ran World Cross with varying degrees of success but all of whom set ARs at 10,000 or the marathon, were considered legitimate medal threats, and were highly world-ranked on the track or in the marathon. And let's not forget Lynn Jennings as well (Oly 10,000 bronze, 10,000 AR and a mind-boggling three straight World Cross titles; cross was always her bailiwick).

World Cross comes at the perfect time for the 10,000 and up guys and even a lot of the 5,000/10,000 guys. 12K cross is all about aerobic power and most of these guys are at or just coming off their peak mileages when World Cross is held in March. They're as strong as mules aerobically at that point. It's the one time the 5,000, 10,000 and marathon guys are all on the line together. It's harder to win a World Cross title than any other title in the sport. First, there's no three-athlete limit per country so you are automatically facing more Kenyans and Ethiopians than you would even in an Oly or WC final. Second, there's more diversity as you are facing guys who will focus on several different events on the track all in the same race. Third, tactics play much less of a role than they do on the track; 12K cross is simply about who's the strongest.

I don't think there is any hotter crucible for a distance runner than World Cross. I think guys like Rupp, Hall, Solinsky, Ritz, and even Teg could all benefit from dipping themselves into that crucible once in a while. Frankly, I think many of our best guys have been avoiding World Cross in recent years (used to be all of our top guys ran World Cross at least once in a while) simply for the reason that it is so deep and so competitive. Nobody likes to get their clock cleaned that badly.

But, call me naive or unrealistic or whatever, I think if you're a guy on the cusp and you believe you have at least a long shot at medaling then you have go in to that crucible if you want to get better. As malmo is fond of saying, this is a competitive endeavor, and you have to love and thrive on competition. I think that to reach your full potential in any business, sport or endeavor, there are some things you have to do simply because they make you better, even if you're not very good or successful at them. You do them because they make you better. Period.

And I think for the 10,000 and up guys, and even a lot of the 5,000/10,000 guys, running World Cross is one of those things. Not necessarily every year, but at least once in a while. An Oly final field will look positively tepid by comparison.