RITZ! ENOUGH WITH THE MARATHON!

I can't disagree. It's 2011 now- and his best PROVEN distance is the 5K. Very logical to put his eggs in the 10K basket.

I'm not sure if he's simply stubborn or just ignorant of the facts in his past performances. Ritz should focus on winning big track races and xc races, when he decides to try the marathon again, I'm sure he would be paid much more in appearance fees if he had a WC or Oly medal to his resume.

Obviously the guy has good marathon potential if he can run a 60:00 half and get a world championship medal. In addition, he also ran a legit 20 mile tempo at ~4:53 pace prior to NYC. For some reason, it didn't come together for him on race day. Maybe it's the last 10k that he struggles with, who knows. I was actually expecting him to bust a Hall-esque time this spring in London but it is unfortunate to see him withdraw due to injury.

I do agree that he has had more success in shorter distances, and I think that he should eye the 10k for the 2012 Olympics. Then he should focus on the marathon in 2016 once he can figure out how to stay healthy.

It is odd, that tempo would be worth a 2:11:31 effort just about (using running-times calculator, seems about right I guess) If he could just keep it together that last 10k, and hold that tempo pace, he could run 2:08:02 at that same pace. I do agree with you though, he needs to be consistently healthy and do well at shorter distances before focusing on the marathon again.

You all understand Ritz stands to make far more money (at least for now) from the marathon than he does on the track, right? He's not just doing this because he refuses to accept that his best distances may be 5K or 10K. Running is his job and he makes the most money at his job (for now at least) by running marathons.

good point. marathon = dollars, but if he could rip a 26:45 or so in the 10k, he'd likely make a good grab as well as Solinsky has this year with likely bonuses, new endorsements, and increased appearance fees.

If not the track, go for road races at least. I know marathon equals cash but doesn't he want fulfillment in his career besides money?

Let's Be Logical wrote:

You all understand Ritz stands to make far more money (at least for now) from the marathon than he does on the track, right?

The same could be said of Rupp or Solinsky. Thankfully those guys want to run the event where they are the most competitive.

wwwwwp wrote:

Let's Be Logical wrote:

You all understand Ritz stands to make far more money (at least for now) from the marathon than he does on the track, right?

The same could be said of Rupp or Solinsky. Thankfully those guys want to run the event where they are the most competitive.

Those guys aren't supporting chilren.

"children" my bad

Bernard Lagat has two kids...I understand each family situation is much different, and given Lagat's success he has a lot of money as well, but Ritz could be in that same position someday. He obviously could improve at the 5k/10k. Isn't being a distance runner about taking risks? He did so with the marathon, hasn't worked very well so well, try your best on the track for a while.

The bottom line is that he is way too fragile to train for the Marathon. With his ability over 5000 & 10000 meters he should have run in the 2:07-2:08 range so far.

He may be better suited for keeping his actual running mileage low at around 80 mpw and concentrating on the track.

His legs look like a 6th graders.

The marathon is already Rupp's best distance.

Put him in an 800, 1500, 3000, 5000, 10000 or 13.1 mile race -- where the pace is set exactly to world record level-- and Rupp will hang in there until just a bit over half way, about -54% the race distance, whatever the distance. Put him in a marathon, however, and he'll hold that 2:04 pace for something closer to 60% the race distance. Relatively speaking, those 80 mile weeks have best prepared Rupp for his best very best distance,the marathon.

If he can only hold 2:04 pace for 16 miles (25km or so) he would slow down so much in the last 17km. He would prob finish in 2:07:35 after slowing down.

Ritz is a professional athlete and it should come down to the Benjamins. How much does he make running 2:11 3 or 4 more times in his career, and how much does he make running maybe 12:56 2 or 3 times a year for a couple of years.

Let your accountant make the choice.

enoughalready wrote:

If he can only hold 2:04 pace for 16 miles (25km or so) he would slow down so much in the last 17km. He would prob finish in 2:07:35 after slowing down.

Yeah, a 2:07:35 from an American would really suck.

Not being able to run faster than guys 30 to 40 years ago is a sign it's just not your event (despite having a vastly superior 5K PR).

But AlSal has his group drinking the KoolAid of time extrapolation and "potential". It seems like has them train for these shorter races to nail down a great time and then use that time to try to justify their potential in a longer race. It's gotten to the point where his group seems to under-perform in the marathon and over-perform in everything else.

Whereas marathoners in the 70's and 80's would train specifically for the marathon and run in (road) races 10K and above only. They didn't care about trying to PR in the 5k the same year they were planning a marathon.

Yeah, Ritz. Since you haven't yet reached your potential in the distance you love most, maybe you should give up on it and forget your dream. Makes a lot of sense. Uh huh.