Back in Action!
by Dathan Ritzenhein | Aug 28, 2009 |
Sorry I have not put up a new blog since just after the race in Berlin. I have been traveling back and forth to St. Moritz to try and keep at altitude, so I have not had a lot of time to settle down. It is nice to have the post-World Championship chaos behind me. I really needed a few days of peaceful training to refocus after how busy and exciting the World Championships were.
My wife, Kalin, Addy and I went back up to St. Moritz for a week to refocus and recover. Big meets like that can be draining, both mentally and physically. I had great training before the WC, so it was natural that we headed back there to get ready to make a shot at a good 5k tonight in the Zurich Golden league. I feel like I am in great shape and this should be a great place for me to try and run a big PR. I have run 13:16 twice and 13:17 and I know that I am in better shape than I was when I did those. The biggest thing for me is just how the race plays out. I feel like I was in 13:10 shape a few times, because when I ran those times I died hard in one 5k, closed very fast in one, and ran solo in the other. Hopefully I am in good enough shape that I can stay in contact with the race and run just like I did in Berlin. I know I will have to be very strong and confident in the middle of the race and keep myself close if they decide to go out for a world record. I know I cannot do that yet, but I think if I run smart I will be able to add to the excitement of last week. You never know how you recover off a 10k either, but I feel like we did a great job and we now just need to be smart and stay tough in the race.
The field is another incredible group of runners but I feel like I belong there now. I look down the final startlist and see that I am the only athlete not from East Africa and so I think that gives me a misson in itself, to keep trying to break the stranglehold that they have on this race. I hope you all tune in to Universal Sports or universalsports.com at 3:35 PM Eastern time and cheer me on! I will update you with a post-race blog. Until next time…
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42195blog – Das Lauf-Blog » Golden League: Ritzenhein läuft US-Rekord in 12:56 min!
August 29th, 2009 on 5:05 am[...] über 10.000 m hatte Ritzenhein schon bei der WM in Berlin auf seine gute Form aufmerksam gemacht. In seinem Blog hatte er für Zürich eine gute Zeit angekündigt, doch dass er seine persönliche Bestzeit um 20 [...]
August 31st, 2009 on 1:48 pm
Great job Dathan! Watching the race (a few times) was very motivating!! I think I will go set a PR on my airdyne today!!
August 31st, 2009 on 2:09 pm
I watched the Zurich race with tears in my eyes. Your performance was awesome, and your tired face afterward glowed. I am so happy for you! You made it look easy, but I know it takes a lot of work and dedication to make it as far as you have. Best wishes in future races.
August 31st, 2009 on 2:33 pm
Dathan – I got home from work on Friday and immediately logged on to Letsrun.com and saw the 12:56 headline with the word ‘Shocking’ written beneath it. I couldn’t figure it out as Bekele has run so much quicker. I clicked on the link, saw the result and literally gasped! I’ve long been a fan of you and your running and am so happy with how things are turning out. Just know that while you are inspiring the younger generation, you are also inspiring those of us in our 50′s and older who have run almost twice as long as you’ve been alive! Best of luck to the future.