Ritz to run Philly Half on Sunday--hopes for PR

Excellent course, excellent weather predicted for this weekend. Cloudy and 63 at the start!

Would love to see him get the AR!

Why would he expect to PR in an HM tune-up race after doing a block of marathon training? Sounds like pr bs to me, just like all the talk of being in sub 27 shape for London.

bubbadeeboo wrote:

Why would he expect to PR in an HM tune-up race after doing a block of marathon training? Sounds like pr bs to me, just like all the talk of being in sub 27 shape for London.

To his defense, he was asked by the interviewer if he can go under 60 min there and he answered something along the lines of "I would like to" ... and ... "give it a hard effort".

"hard effort" sounds like MP tempo'ing that thing = 1:04 and change and is exactly what he SHOULD do.

Remember, this is RnR (=competitor), they pay (white) elite athletes to do tempo runs.

bubbadeeboo wrote:

Why would he expect to PR in an HM tune-up race after doing a block of marathon training? Sounds like pr bs to me, just like all the talk of being in sub 27 shape for London.

Because his name isn't Ryan Hall.

bubbadeeboo wrote:

Why would he expect to PR in an HM tune-up race after doing a block of marathon training? Sounds like pr bs to me, just like all the talk of being in sub 27 shape for London.

Not all that far off. He ran the last 8K at 27:15 pace.

Exactly! Ritz may not break 60 but he will run hard..no worse than 1:01 - 1:02.

DNF. get's titty slapped at mile 6, never returns to top form.

Just the usual R&R pre-race hype. Are you guys going to fall for it again? No PR, and I think he's happy with sub-63.

Prediction for Ritz: 60:38

Question:

Is the Philly half-marathon course faster than the Houston half-marathon course?

63.xx.

salazar is his coach. there's a plan in place. he'll run better at the marathon than in philly. guaranteed

rok wrote:

salazar is his coach. there's a plan in place. he'll run better at the marathon than in philly. guaranteed

That doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

Still in good shape wrote:

bubbadeeboo wrote:

Why would he expect to PR in an HM tune-up race after doing a block of marathon training? Sounds like pr bs to me, just like all the talk of being in sub 27 shape for London.

Not all that far off. He ran the last 8K at 27:15 pace.

What. That's almost the equivalent of saying "not all that far off from a sub 4 mile. He ran the last 3 laps in 3:05"

Does DR even believe in God?

Don't expect a great performance.

It will be interesting to see how the Ritz vs. Baughs battle plays out for top American. Yes, Ritz has said he'll "go for it" but Chicago is obviously his focus. Baughs will probably be going all out without a secondary goal at this point.

Should be perfect weather so I'll say Ritz in 60:47 and Baughs about 61:23 3rd and 4th overall.

Still in good shape wrote:

Not all that far off. He ran the last 8K at 27:15 pace.

buh wrote:

What. That's almost the equivalent of saying "not all that far off from a sub 4 mile. He ran the last 3 laps in 3:05"

+10

-10 for being an idiot.

Ritz ran 27:45 for his 10k at the Olympics which is 2.77 % slower than what he thought he was capable of running. Which would equate to 4:06.66 or a 1200 meter split of 3:04.99 which is what you stated as his closing pace but that isn't what happened.

He closed that last 8k in 27:15 pace which is .9259% slower then goal pace which would equate to a 3:01.66 for the last 1200 of a mile if the goal was 4:00.

If someone came up to you and said I think I am getting ready to run sub 4 but was thrown into a tactical championship race and the first lap was 65.32 then went through the 800 in 2:05.43 (60.1) then proceeds to run the 1200 in 3:06.02 (60.59)and finishes with a 4:06.66 (60.64) then obviously they could have gone much faster if it wouldn't have been for the first 400. I have seen guys that have run 3:42-44 run races like this and the first lap just throws everything off. Even more true with guys that don't have blazing leg speed like Ritz. He may be able to run 60's all day but he doesn't have the leg speed to run a 56 last lap to compensate for the first lap that was slow. So he depends on a fast early pace so that his strength endurance comes through at the end and even though he is still running the same pace everybody comes back to him.

That said your 3:05 last 1200 is quite far off.

That being said I have big hopes for him at Chicago so I hope he doesn't PR at the Phili Half because historically it doesn't bode well for the marathon. A great time IMHO would be 61:00 to 61:30 which would show he is fit and healthy but obviously he is getting his endurance in check instead of his speed.

Actually, his analogy was perfect, and your hair-splitting about percentage differences is silly. Ritz ran slower than 27:00 pace for the last 8k, and he lost to a guy who very clearly is not in 27:00 shape in Levins.