Part II of Amby's interview with Alberto came out today:http://news.runnersworld.com/2012/04/08/brief-chat-alberto-salazar-part-2-of-2/All I can say is it is amazing and everything running journalism should be. Legitimate questions, legitimate answers - not a fluff interview that acts as a glorified press release.Amby asks tons of interesting questions and Alberto doesn't dodge any of them - from Ritz's struggles in the marathon, to Ritz's form change, to Alberto's competitive relationship with Jerry Schumacher, to Galen Rupp's marathon future, to Alberto's biggest regrets, etc.Seriously, you need to read it.A few highlights. Salazar on Ritz's struggles in the marathon:
Salazar says:
He’s had good marathon coaches—both Brad Hudson and me. He’s figured out the fueling. He’s got this incredible aerobic engine. But something’s still wrong. I ran my first marathon in 2:09:41 on just five weeks of preparation. Dathan’s run 12:56 for 5K; with his engine, he should be a better marathoner than I ever was. But he’s stuck at 2:10.
Something doesn’t add up.
Salazar on why Rupp's immediate future will not include a fall marathon in 2012 even though he was originally planning on that being the case.
Salazar says:
Galen just keeps getting faster and faster. What’s to say that he can’t improve another 10 seconds this year, and then 10 more seconds the next year? That would take him down to the 26:20s for 10,000 meters. That’s a place where you don’t have to worry much about people outkicking you, because there’s almost no one still there to kick with you. Why should we put a marathon in the way of an improvement curve like this? It begins to seem like a total risk.....
He’s going to work on getting to 12:45.
Take 5 minutes and read the whole thing here:
http://news.runnersworld.com/2012/04/08/brief-chat-alberto-salazar-part-2-of-2/