Farah & Ritz in London 5K - American AR in jeopardy?

Would be a shock.

Depends on race...

I think a sub 13:10 would be great for him.

I think the race could go that fast but I don't think ritz is in sub 12:53 shape at the moment. Thats cool he's running it though will be rooting for him to get a fast one in.

Humidxc wrote:

Would be a shock.

Depends on race...

I think a sub 13:10 would be great for him.

Well if he thought he was in 12:56 shape based on his workouts a few weeks back based on his workouts with Mo and Galen, I wouldn't be completely surprised. But I doubt this race will go that fast. Unless we hear something about a rabbit going for 12:50 I'd be surprised to see this go under 12:52-12:54 for the win.

I'm actually really curious to see how Ritz competes in this, regardless of the times.

Yeah, I know, I only needed "based on his workouts" once...

[quote]ronaldino wrote:

That list was probably put together a couple of weeks ago, a couple of those guys will not make it to the starting line. Also, several of those guys are probably more interested in testing their finishing speed right now than running a fast time, but a few of those guys have nothing to lose so you never know.

Either way, I would be surprised if Ritz's main foucs would setting the AR in 5k so close to the Olympics.

Ritz needs another sub-13:00 for his confidence as per his blog, but I doubt he'll go much faster, if that fast, as he probably isn't doing a full taper just yet. I would like to see Rupp in the field. That would be interesting. If Ritz somehow manages to be around or under 12:55, that would be amazing and set him up well going into the games.

TrackCoach wrote:

[quote]ronaldino wrote:

That list was probably put together a couple of weeks ago, a couple of those guys will not make it to the starting line. Also, several of those guys are probably more interested in testing their finishing speed right now than running a fast time, but a few of those guys have nothing to lose so you never know.

Either way, I would be surprised if Ritz's main foucs would setting the AR in 5k so close to the Olympics.

Who knows, that may be just the confidence boost he needs before the games.

when is this meet and is it live stream?

With the Olympics three weeks away it is extremely unlikely he is doing anything more than cutting back a little on his training. Of course, he ran 13:14 at Oxy with no taper, and then 13:19 in Portland with little or no taper. The field is comparatively weak, so if he can run anything under 13:10 (assuming the pace is set up for 13 flat), that would bode well for the 10000.

Sagarin wrote:

Ritz needs another sub-13:00 for his confidence as per his blog, but I doubt he'll go much faster, if that fast, as he probably isn't doing a full taper just yet. I would like to see Rupp in the field. That would be interesting. If Ritz somehow manages to be around or under 12:55, that would be amazing and set him up well going into the games.

People saying Ritz will break the AR are ridiculous. At the trials he ran 27:36, 11 seconds behind Rupp (who was clearly cruising) and being passed by Teg in the final laps (who ran 13:24 at Pre, though obviously not the best race for him).

Considering Ritz has been doing marathon training for the past 5 years, I would say his 10,000 would be significantly better than his 5,000. I'm not saying 27:36 is his optimal time (he could probably get down to low 27s in Brussels if he runs it) but 13:05-10 would honestly be terrific for him at this point.

Montesquieu wrote:

With the Olympics three weeks away it is extremely unlikely he is doing anything more than cutting back a little on his training. Of course, he ran 13:14 at Oxy with no taper, and then 13:19 in Portland with little or no taper. The field is comparatively weak, so if he can run anything under 13:10 (assuming the pace is set up for 13 flat), that would bode well for the 10000.[quote]

I would tend to agree, but he might be able to get away with dropping his mileage at this point. He said it himself:

Now, he may KNOW he is in sub-13:00 shape without having to actually run it in the middle of a full training block, but I'm sure he'd feel good having it in his arsenal. However, one would think he would've run Paris if he was really gunning for a fast time. I think Salazar is going to peak these guys almost perfectly.

Açaí wrote:

People saying Ritz will break the AR are ridiculous. At the trials he ran 27:36, 11 seconds behind Rupp (who was clearly cruising) and being passed by Teg in the final laps (who ran 13:24 at Pre, though obviously not the best race for him).

Considering Ritz has been doing marathon training for the past 5 years, I would say his 10,000 would be significantly better than his 5,000. I'm not saying 27:36 is his optimal time (he could probably get down to low 27s in Brussels if he runs it) but 13:05-10 would honestly be terrific for him at this point.

The trials is a poor indication of Ritz's fitness given the conditions and circumstances of his race. Teg sat the entire race, Ritz led a lot, in less than ideal conditions.

I'd bet that this will be a summer more like 2010 where he got dropped by Rupp hard at USA's but then really peakdd at or after worlds and set the 12:56 AR.

I doubt this race will go fast enough for him to be setting the AR, but wouldn't be suprised if he's fit enough for it right now.

It will be surprising if this race is particularly fast. The big horses were in Paris and Americans missed out on what might turn out to be the fastest of the year. The next chance for a fast one might be post-Olympics. But it would be great if Ritz broke 13. I'm thinking low 13. He can certainly get back under 12:56 this year (his pr from 2009?) after the Olympics, but I haven't seen anything from him yet this year to suggest he is better than he was in September 2009.

Ritz got into London today. It takes more than three days to get one's legs back. He's there to compete, run hard, get his legs back under him, and maybe run a good but certainly not world class time. Again, anything under 13:10 would be great, and between 13:10 and 13:15 would be very good.

jjjjjjj wrote:

It will be surprising if this race is particularly fast. The big horses were in Paris and Americans missed out on what might turn out to be the fastest of the year. The next chance for a fast one might be post-Olympics. But it would be great if Ritz broke 13. I'm thinking low 13. He can certainly get back under 12:56 this year (his pr from 2009?) after the Olympics, but I haven't seen anything from him yet this year to suggest he is better than he was in September 2009.

The thing about Ritz is that the 5000m is his true race. He was doing marathon training for quite a while when he randomly raced the 5000m and set the American record. The 5000m is his home.

I believe this race will be set up for a 12:55ish finish. I think Farah will want to put on a show for his home crowd, and feel like he's making more progress as the Olympics approach. If that's the case, Ritz might be planning on trying to get just under 13. He's made a few comments about it, so I have to assume that's what he's hoping for.

Whether or not he executes is another question. I see him coming in around 13:07, with Farah winning in around 12:57

Knowing how 10K training usually goes, Ritz most likely started a rebuild immediately after the trials and is just finishing a hard training block or starting sharpening. Ritz is either just finishing hard 10K specific 10K training or just starting short tempo speed endurance work and neither which is optimal for a fast 5k. Ritz needs the stimulas of a fast race, but he does not need a payday or 5K PR right now. If he runs in the 13 single digits, he will most likey be content.

Btw, I don't think he will ever run faster than he already has in the 5k; however, I can see him getting into the the low 26:50s in the 10K. At this stage in his career I would like to see Ritz figure out why he underperforms in the marathon.

Wasn't Cam Levins meant to be running this? Hope he's not injured

Indeed, this may just be targeted at some aspect of the Olympic 10000m, a fast sustained finish or even a very consistent low 13 5000m to simulate one distinct possibility for the 10000m final, the slow 5000m start, followed by the 12:59 close. He's already experimented with such a race with the 5000m double at around 13:19/13:58.