THX RunnersWorld!When were you as happy after a race as you were after this World Championships 10,000?
Dathan Ritzenhein: Definitely, this is the happiest I've been in awhile. I finally made a big step in the right direction I think. I think back to Osaka (the 10,000 at the 2007 World Championships), where I got lapped, and I thought I was so much more fit than I was. And with this, I'm so much happier with the performance. It's nice to be within sniffing distance of medals, at least.
Realistically, you were thinking sub-27:30, right?
DR: Yeah, I actually thought that I was probably within shape to threaten the Amer4ican record at least (a 27:13 by Meb Keflezighi). I think that if this race had been more of a fast flat-out race, I could have been more at that level. I definitely felt that going into it, I was in so much better shape than I was at the U.S. Championships. Things had just been clicking every day, and it's not often that you just have to effortless to do that stuff (the workouts).
Your opening 5k was 13:50. In order to get the time you were looking for, did you actually think you could go out at that pace and negative split like you did?
DR: No, and I just followed the race and didn't even think of the time. I just wanted to get competitive. And we were out relatively easy. We were just moving along. To tell the truth, it was a little warm, and I think they were a little apprehensive. We heard that a couple of the Kenyan guys were going to try 26:30 pace, but that never ended up materializing. If they did do that, we were going to try to run 13:35 through 5k. But luckily, we didn't have to do that, we could just get in and be competitive. My middle 5k was really, really fast, probably, because we didn't start really ratcheting it up until about 4k, and it was pretty intense for awhile.
When it came time to really get running, were you surprised at how good it felt to be in a World Championships 10,000 and be going that fast?
DR: Yeah, I was surprised to be clocking off 63s and 64s (per lap) in the middle of a 10k there. That's really, really fast pace, especially on a little bit of a warm day and going out as little bit slow like that. All of the sudden (Eritrea's Zersenay) Tadese was running 61s and 62s for awhile, and I was just hanging on for dear life at that point. I could have gone with it, I think, but I kind of tried to stay off it a little bit because if I had maybe gone a couple more laps at 62, then I would have been done for.
And the other experience that's probably new for you is that you were picking off world class runners in a 10,000, one after another.
DR: There were ten or 11 guys in there who'd run under 27:00, and to be going past them - and I was gaining on fourth of fifth position, but I wasn't able to push hard enough to close that gap. And there's still a difference to the top three, and I still feel like (Kenenisa) Bekele and Tadese are on a different level than guys like Micah Kogo.
We noticed at the USATF Championships that in both 5000s and 10,000s, athletes coached by Alberto Salazar had this ability to really ratchet it up before the last lap, usually with 600 or even 700 meters left. Is that something you had been working on and were able to develop in time for the World Championships?
DR: I didn't quite develop it. He thinks that I have so much untapped potential. He says that over the next couple of years, it's going to be incredibly different. And I can notice just in the two months that I've gained so much. Without a doubt, I was able to close pretty decently, but it was a fast enough race that there wasn't going to be any blazing fast last k (kilometer) or anything like that. we were already running so fast at that point that we weren't going to all of the sudden throw down this huge new gear. But that's stuff that we're going to work on for sure, and he definitely has had his people figure that out.
You said you felt like so much better of a runner than seven weeks ago. You can identify in which "areas" you feel better?
DR: One of the biggest differences is just that I feel comfortable running fast, whereas before I felt like I was forcing it. We had intervals that I hadn't done since I was with Mark (Wetmore) at CU (University of Colorado), just really fast quarters (400s) and 600s. Things like that, being up at St. Moritz and working out with Galen (Rupp). Galen's got a great kick, and he's developed a lot of speed - just hanging in there with him and workouts like that, and still having the strength that I naturally have, it gave me a lot of confidence going in.
How much time were you up at St. Moritz before the Championships?
DR: About three weeks, and then we were at Portland for two weeks at the Nike House.
What's the scene like up at St, Moritz? We read that Yusuf Kamel was up there and did a couple of sessions that made his coach think he was ready to win gold in the 1500 (which Kamel did). It sounds like at any time that you work out on the track there, there must be an amazing cast of characters that you see.
DR: Oh yeah, it's crazy. There's this tiny little four-lane track up in the mountains. You'll probably get 100 people out there in the morning. They have these clubs come in. We saw (Marilson Gomes) dos Santos working out there, and Viktor Rothlin, and Kamel. Every day, there were good people working out the same time as you were on the track.
Even during this brief period since the USATF Championships, you've had a team situation, which you'd indicated you were sorely missing.
DR: It's just a whole different atmosphere. When I came over for a European stint two years ago - I didn't do it last year because of the marathon in Beijing - I was just depressed. I was on my own. I felt kind of solo. Now we've got this group. We've got Alberto. We're got training partners, and Jerry's guys (Matt Tegenkamp, Chris Solinsky, and Evan Jager, among others, coached by Jerry Schumacher in Portland). We have massage therapists. My family came (to Europe). A lot of us brought our families. It's more like a cycling team in that aspect. We try to bring all these people together and it creates an environment where you're comfortable and you're having fun, and that was the biggest thing that was different from past years for me, coming over here and spending all this time away from home.
How much of a relationship or crossover is there between Salazar's people and Schumacher's people (both are Nike groups)?
DR: There's definitely a separation of coaching. It's kind of like a men's and women's team in college. They would go to the Nike house and they'd be there. we'd all be out on the track together or in the weight room, but we're all still doing our own workouts and they're written separately for each person's needs. But you definitely have familiar people there and friends there that are doing the same thing - and you can cheer for them. That's another cool thing, too. I would just go out to the track sometimes and watch Jerry's guys work out just because they were in town and it was fun.
Along with some of his other runners, you've alluded to Alberto's not only believing in you but also his managing to make you believe in yourself. Is there anything you can tell us about how that happens and how that confidence-building approach is different from what else you've seen?
DR: I think Alberto spends more time than anyone else on the mental side of the game. We have a sports psychologist who's with us here in Berlin, so that's part of it. But also having someone who's done all the things that he (Salazar) has done. He's telling you stuff like "oh, you do way better workouts than I ever did, you're so fit." Having someone with what outlook and that positivity and that experience telling you that you're ready to go, that's what makes you believe in yourself.
There aren't going to be any world class 10000s for the rest of the European season, but it sounded like you thought and hoped that you'd be ready for a good 5000 time. Are you looking to do a 5000 before you come back to the States?
DR: Yeah, I'm really excited. It looks like I'll be in Zurich (next Friday) and maybe Brussels as well. The next shot is to go to Zurich and really try to put myself in there and risk it to do a fast time. I know I'm in great shape. I just have to make sure that I rest well off the 10k, because 10ks can just beat you up. I have to make sure I'm smart with my recovery. It's not often that everything clicks like that and you're really ready for a good time. But I feel like I am for the 5k, too.
Are there 5000s in both Zurich and Brussels?
DR: Yeah, but from what I understand, Brussels could be turned into a 3000 if (Kenenisa) Bekele wishes it.
Do you think you're ready to go under 13:10?
DR: That's the goal. I ran 13:16 in less than ideal ways, closing really hard once, and then I ran it again dying really hard, going out real fast and being tired. I don't think they have pacemakers anymore. I don't think they have pacemakers any more, but who knows, there are so many good guys who'll try to run it out. If it's fast, I'll get it and hold on and hope for the best.
After Brussels, will you be done with the track season?
DR: Yeah. I'll come back (to the U.S. and do a long roadrace, probably. I'll decide whether I'm going to do something in late September or early October, if all goes well. I can't really say yet, because we have something in the works. But I have thoughts of doing the World Half (Marathon in Birmingham, England), too, but I'm not sure. I'm kind of up in the air. We have a couple of different options and we're just trying to decide which will be best, depending on how things go in Zurich, too.
Is there a possibility of a fall marathon for you?
DR: No, that's not going to happen this year. We want to do something long without doing the hard training for it. We want to be able to recover fast because I want to be able to do learn all the strength and coordination type stuff that the rest of the team does. I started doing it but I haven't really gotten full bore because we didn't want to hurt me before Berlin. I would love to so something like New York (City Marathon), but I have to stick to my guns and sit it out for one more year if I want to think in the long term. Alberto says "you'll come back next year as a 27:00 guy and 13:00 guy and then you'll run really fast in the marathon.
mzungo.org says: Ritz currently profits from Brad Hudson's training and for the better of it, he will also next year. It will be fun to watch what happens in 2011 when his efforts should mostely be credited to Salazar's program. But isn't running just running and life not fair anyway?
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