Ritz: "I really believed I was going to win the race..."

if not moscow brussells on september 5th is always fast.

correction september 6th.

The way he said it made me think it wasn't totally serious or literal. I imagine it was more like he was at the point where he could visualize getting to that point of beating Rupp.

I remember in 09' after his 12:56 he said something to the effect that he thought maybe he could chase down Bekele. Again, obviously that wasn't realistic. But of course he was reeling Bekele in so there was some basis in reality. And weeks back at Pre Ritz was seeing the finish line 50M away with Rupp behind him.

Ritz ran a gusty race last night. He's fit and always seems to do well in big meets. I also appreciate his confidence, but I have to believe that there is a little bit of marketing hype in those statements as well!

ryan foreman wrote:

The way he said it made me think it wasn't totally serious or literal. I imagine it was more like he was at the point where he could visualize getting to that point of beating Rupp.

I remember in 09' after his 12:56 he said something to the effect that he thought maybe he could chase down Bekele. Again, obviously that wasn't realistic. But of course he was reeling Bekele in so there was some basis in reality. And weeks back at Pre Ritz was seeing the finish line 50M away with Rupp behind him.

Wrong. If you saw his other statements, he said when he took the lead he was trying to break the guys behind him, even Rupp.

Ritz is tough.

I don't know that he will be Rupp, and he also needs to be careful that his ability to beat the other guys at the long stuff does not mean he's leaving too much on the training track, so to speak.

Ritz has always been one of my favorites. I called for an upset last night on the 10k thread and almost was proven right. Ritz, by Moscow, may in fact be better than Rupp. Remember, in 2009, he was better at Worlds after being further behind Rupp at the 2009 USATF meet than he was this year.

Gob wrote:

Ritz has always been one of my favorites. I called for an upset last night on the 10k thread and almost was proven right. Ritz, by Moscow, may in fact be better than Rupp. Remember, in 2009, he was better at Worlds after being further behind Rupp at the 2009 USATF meet than he was this year.

You were almost proven right? Sorry for sounding rude, but what race did you watch? Galen dropped Ritz like it was nothing in that final lap, which is exactly what most expected. I'll admit that when Ritz took over and put the hammer down, I thought Rupp looked tired and wondered if Ritz could drop him. But then at the bell....NOPE. Not even close.

Don't get me wrong, I like Ritz and I'm glad he went for it like that. But he didn't almost win. And it's highly unlikely that he'll be better than Rupp in Moscow. This isn't 2009. Rupp's in another league, and the fact that Ritz is beating Rupp in workouts just makes me think he's pushing too hard, too soon in an attempt to beat his teammate.

I love Ritz, but his historical issue is that he will find a way to get injured by August.

His only issue is that he's topped out. He's too old to improve his speed and kick with the medalists, and the marathon doesn't seem to be his thing.

douglas burke wrote:

correction september 6th.

I think he'll wanna be preparing for Chicago by that date.

I'm also a big fan of Ritz. The guy gets after it, runs hard, races smart. He's had a brilliant career and deserves all the respect and admiration that comes his way. That said, there was zero chance he or anyone else was beating Rupp last night. Not off any pace or with any race strategy. Rupp just geared down and absolutely blazed that last lap until throttling down on the home stretch. It was marvelous to watch. There are but a handful of guys on the planet with wheels like that. Ritz has room to improve in the marathon, even with his stellar performance last fall, and I hope that his new training group can get him to that level in the marathon distance.

pert wrote:

Ritz ran a gusty race last night.

I think they all ran gusty races. It was windy out there!

LetsRun.com wrote:

When the talk turned to Moscow, Ritz said, "Best case scenario in Moscow I think I can medal" and he even talked about one of his "bucket-list" achievements being going sub-27.

Ritz indicated the faster race the better his medal chances and there is possibility he gets good weather and a fast race in Moscow.

"They might take it out fast this year. They haven't been able to beat Mo and Galen in a kick. That might be beneficial for me," Ritz said.

I agree with this.

Rupp hopes the pace will be slow.

A fast pace all the way will be beneficial for Ritz.

Does anyone have video link of 10k races last night?

I wish all of our runners had the guts and determination of Ritz. Good for him for putting in the work and believing he can pull off big wins.

Every morning, along with your Wheatties:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKMZfYn6e80

Ritz will never give up! He will win something one of these days, where he hammers home like the old kenenisa with a sub 4 last mile!!!! GO RITZ!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is so weird, these elite runners go into races thinking they can win!! It's like they don't read letsrun.com at all! LOL

trance dance turn in shawowski wrote:

Every morning, along with your Wheatties:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKMZfYn6e80

Every high school kid who goes out in 61 to run 4:35 needs to watch that video until he gets it.