RITZ! ENOUGH WITH THE MARATHON!

To all those that think he should stay with the marathon: Have you ever considered that for some people the marathon just isn't the right event.

I used to knowa guy I did some long runs with, who just did not do well at it.

Thee guy runs 1.15 HMs but just cannot bring that performance to the full distance. around 30-32 he bonks. Every time. Now he sticks to HM and shorter distances. He does it all right: trains well, eats well and has tried like 3 or 4 different pre-marathon training approaches. Nothing works. He is on pace until 30k and then just loses 10-15 minutes (!!) in the last 10k. Seems there's nothing he can do. And believe me, he is mentally tough enough!

I suspect some similar phenomenon with ritz. Not to that extent of course, but some people are just not made for the full distance.

I hope he focuses on the shorter stuff. I'd love so see a battle between him and Solinsky for a new AR / White Guy Record (can we call this a WGR from now on, please???).

classof89 wrote:

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.

Wise words.

Ritzenhein doesn't need to give up on the marathon. If he wants to pursue it (and not the track 5000)seriously, though, he needs to give up on Al Sal's program, which is getting him and everyone else there nowhere in the distance.

I think there is a good point to your post, but you have a lot of nerve criticizing a runner of his caliber in the manner you are doing so. Maybe his 5k PR is much better than his marathon PR, but to be a legit marathoner, it can take years of gradual, progressive training and adaptations. You cannot just expect to switch over from the 5k/10k to marathon in a 24-48 month period and expect to be just as competitive at an elite level like this. Granted there will always be that runner who manages to make this transition and perform well, but that doesn't work well for everyone. 2:11 is phenomenal. Is it a world record? No. But it doesn't mean he's not capable of much better. I don't think anyone should sit here and pretend to know his training or Salazar's well enough to predict why he's constantly injured or where he's going wrong. We occasionally here of a workout or two but are not given much more detail other than basic terrain, milage, and pace. We don't know how consistently he runs "workouts" like this and we don't know what he was doing 2-3 weeks prior to this. We aren't aware of how consistent his training is overall or what his diet is like or how many hours of sleep he gets a night.

Maybe it's not about hammering away at the even that he is the most talented at. Maybe Ritz truly loves the idea of something as challenging as 26.2 and is determined to better himself at the distance one way or another. Who are YOU to criticize someone you don't know much about other than Runners World interviews and random online interviews/articles?