'09 Zürich m5000 (Ritz AR 12:56.27!)

[Brian]

For a second it seemed like Ritzenhein could even get all the way to the front before Soi soared past him again. Great race to watch for those two reasons, Bekele's attempt at a fast time and the surprise factor with Ritzenheim breaking the American Record.

The best thing for me was seeing the look in Rutz's eyes with 500m. to go--he was staring down Bekele from behind!

Seemed like right after he (briefly) passed Kenyan Soi he was mentally going after the Ethiopian next.


That's how you run fast: You have a good coach who conditions you well using whatever techniques--no matter how seemingly superfluous to trolls--to make you as fit as possible combined with a training environment and teammates who encourage you to excel and then, armed with the confidence you have done everything possible to be at your best, you simply go out and RACE! and fast times will come from the COMPETITIVE (not time trial) effort you put forth.

For another example, Begley-Yoder did the same at the USATF meet this year.


Not to be an old fogey here, but that's what athletes used to do before money came into the sport and taught them to "invest" their energies wisely (i.e., conservatively)...simply differing philosophies really: nothing to lose, everything to gain vs. if I try for that, I may lose what I know I can safely acquire.

Of course, nothing is possible without being well-trained and fit. Good job, Coach Al.

Let's hope Ritz's day spreads the fire to all the rest!

[Cyril]

It is great to see Ritz have such a wonderful summer. His Oly performance was very solid (as was Rupp's). This 5k was long in the making for such a talented, resilent and hard working athlete.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that Salazar really is doing a wonderful job with these guys. His understanding of they psychological component required to train and compete at that level, is very likely helping as much as the physical conditioning. These guys trust and have confidence his his techniques and knowledge. Faith in a program is huge.

It would be fantastic if Webb could also benefit from the coaching, training partners, and environment. Next year should be very interesting.

[kuha]

By the way, by my count, this was the 75th sub-13 minute race in history.

kuha,
Agree with you on Ritz's race, and the post-championship comment. However, could I ask you to do a re-count on the # of sub-13:00 races -- mostly to check my work? I count 77. Thanks!

From All-time Athletics, I count 75 outdoor and it doesn't list Friday's race so it would be 76. But it also lists 4 indoor races under 13:00.0 so that makes 80.

I've just done a reasonably careful recount--with the aid of pela's invaluable site--and have come up with 82 in all, indoors and out. My original number was way off...