I was supposed to be lining up in the morning to run the Rock ‘n’ Roll Denver Half Marathon, but as often happens, plans change.  Shortly after the Great North Run, Alberto said I needed another race.  To quote him: “You looked like crap.”  The tough part was that the next seven weeks were really the most important part of my training for the ING New York City Marathon.  We wanted to find something that was the least invasive to the training as possible. Ultimately, Alberto decided that training was going well; we got a great benefit out the last long tempo we did, so the best thing to do was go back to Nike and do another one.  I think this was a good move.  I feel good and I really needed one more long race pace workout to refine everything.  This is really the last chance to do that now that I am only three weeks out from the race and I begin my taper Tuesday after the workout.  The taper will be gradual and there will still be some longer, hard workouts, because it is important for the marathon to keep those in.  I know they will be hard because Alberto told me a few weeks ago, “I am going to run you until you are dead in every workout from now on.  If we’re going to try and beat Geb we need to do some good shit!” However the volume will start coming down slowly and I am really looking forward to freshening up.  Of course, not every workout can be that hard but I have done some brutal ones!  After this long tempo I will come back to altitude for 10 more days to put the finishing touches on everything.  I never like having to change plans and pull out of races but for once it is nice to make that choice because things are going better than expected!

So the Great North Run did not go as well as I had hoped. (continue reading…)

It is always hard to watch from the sidelines. This past weekend was the World Cross Country Championships and waking up to the results on Sunday was a tough pill to swallow. As I was looking through the results all I could think was “I could have won this race”! Looking through the top guys in the field I know knew that I had beaten all of them in my previous races, and I am a great XC runner to go along with it. But it is always easy to say “I could have” or “I would have”. Running is not theory and that is the beauty of competition. You find out who is the best on that day. I wanted to be there and it was difficult to put that behind me, but Joesph Ebuya was the best man on the day. (continue reading…)

I regret to announce that I am withdrawing from the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.  I am very disappointed not to be able to lead the team that will be going to Poland to compete for Team USA.  I have had a series of setbacks this winter that have held me back from training at 100%.  A nagging injury as well as a stomach virus have caused me to miss training over the past couple weeks and I have not been able get to the level of training that is required for me to be at my best.  (continue reading…)

Sorry for the delay in posting.  So I had a successful weekend at the USA XC Championship.  I was very happy to get my third XC title and to continue the success I have had over the past six months.  You never really know how fit you are until you actually get out there and race.  Workouts can be going great, but until you lace up the spikes you never really know. (continue reading…)

Winning a bronze medal at the World Half Marathon Championships wasn’t too bad of a way to end an amazing year. Going into the race I told myself that I did not want my 12:56 AR in the 5000m to be the highlight of my year. I feel like I accomplished that with my race this past weekend. The time and the place, however, were not the reasons why I think it was my best performance of the year. (continue reading…)

Wow, I am still a little in shock. I did not want to talk myself up too much before the race but I knew I was ready to go. But I even surprised myself. I though I was capable of getting close to the 13-minute barrier, but everything just finally came together. (continue reading…)

The race is done. 6th place and a new PR of 27:22. It was tough, but I felt very good and was able to hang in there and run very well. I feel like it was sort of a breakthrough race for me. It was not so much the new PR, because I feel like I could have run quite a bit faster in a different type of race. What got me so excited is that I closed the gap and made the thought of winning medals at the Olympics and World Championships seem a real possibility. (continue reading…)

It has been a full two years now since I have been on the summer track circuit and I am really looking forward to getting back to it. I didn’t intentionally take two years off but with the Olympics last year, I was doing strictly marathon training and I had to focus my energy on long marathon specific racing and training. I have to admit it has taken me a little while to get my legs and form back under me but I feel like I am getting very strong and fast, and I think I will be able to have a great season and hopefully some big prs. (continue reading…)

So this is my first post on my new blog.  Thanks for checking it out.  I will try to keep it updated a few times a week.  If you want to check out what I’m doing you can also look me up on Twitter @ djritzenhein.

It has been a busy and crazy last couple of months. (continue reading…)