RunningAHEAD - Topic: Good Luck to USA 3 in the Olympic Men's Marathon

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Good Luck to USA 3 in the Olympic Men's Marathon (Read 469 times)

Jim24315 view log	posted: 8/24/2008 at 6:33 PM
	In my opinion Wanjiru ran the best marathon in history--hands down! I'm a huge fan of Haile G, but his world record wasn't as impressive as what we saw in Beijing. Wanjiru's race might have been the best race ever at any distance. He was in a race by himself against the very best in the world.
	Masters PR's: 40's - 5k 16:39; 10k 33:48, 10m 56:25, HM 1:15:27, Marathon 2:43:12 50's - couch potato 60's - 5k 19:00, 10k 38:35, 10m 1:05:30, HM 1:24:09, 30k 2:04:33

tuf_aint_enough

view log

posted: 8/24/2008 at 8:10 PM

Just a hell of a race. I was out last night, but PVR'ed it. When we got home from the movies (Batman: The Dark Knight is friggin' awesome by the way) I intended to watch the start and get up this morning and watch the rest. I was glued to the set. Unbelieveable. I felt bad for Murka. Must be hard to be caught with a little over 200m to go. At least it was his countryman. And regardless, 4th in a race like that is nothing to sneeze at.

I thought Ritz and Hall did fantastic. It was an incredibly fast marathon in unbelieveably hot and humid conditions. Special congratulations to Ritz. Wanjiru ran an incredible marathon considering the conditions. Inspiring.

The announcers on CBC mentioned that there are 500 Kenyans that have ran a marathon in 2:20 or better. Not sure if that is accurate or not, but if so, wow. Just wow.

Boomer101	posted: 8/24/2008 at 8:46 PM
	Quote from Boomer101 on 8/23/2008 at 8:06 PM: Ryan will move swiftly by Martin Lel late in the race to take the lead. Lel will end up getting the bronze as another runner (yet to be named) moves by him at the finish line. Ryan will take his legs out when he passes. The power of positive thinking will hopefully emerge. Man I missed that one didn't I!LOL Ryan will win us one next time maybe. Him and Dathan both looked awesome.
	"26.2 miles of bald-headed sexy"

norrin_radd view log	posted: 8/24/2008 at 9:13 PM
	Just amazing. Did you see the quote from Wanjiru afterwards: "I had to push the pace because my body gets tired when I slow down." Well that's my problem right there, I get tired when I speed up. I've been doing it all backwards......
	PR's 1 mile 4:58 (downhill!), 5k - 18:20, 10k - 39:39, 15k - 1:01:38, 1/2m 1:25:41 Goals sub-18 5k, sub-60 15k, sub- 1:25 1/2m, sub-3 marathon

wayfool view log	posted: 8/25/2008 at 6:49 PM
	Just to throw something out there.... you see a lot of the African countries (Kenya, Eritrea, Ethiopia) running together as a team. Since Hall and Ritzenhein were so close, how come they didn't try to work together? Do you think they would have done better with that strategy?

backstretch view log	posted: 8/25/2008 at 7:08 PM
	Watched the whole race, didn't see one guy take a gel or gu..........just sayin

srlopez Guy running in pink	posted: 8/25/2008 at 7:11 PM
	Quote from backstretch on 8/25/2008 at 7:08 PM: Watched the whole race, didn't see one guy take a gel or gu..........just sayin Yes, but they each have their own specialized fluids. And in some cases, this is essentially pre-mixed gel-like calories and fluid. So you didn't see exactly what you thought you saw. But we did NOT see anyone crack open a popper (or smelling salt, if you like that discussion thread on the RW boards) as we did in the women's race.
	With realistic Pants-on-Fire action!

backstretch view log	posted: 8/25/2008 at 7:15 PM
	Quote from srlopez on 8/25/2008 at 7:11 PM: Yes, but they each have their own specialized fluids. And in some cases, this is essentially pre-mixed gel-like calories and fluid You may be correct but the announcers uo here made it sound like, the drinks were just their electrolyte replacement. I took it to mean their brand and strength of "Gatorade"

spaniel view log	posted: 8/25/2008 at 7:23 PM
	Often they had things taped to the outside of their bottles. Standard practice for elites. In general, these guys are out for just over 2 hrs. They are running a very different rance than the bulk of marathoners finishing in the 3:30-5 hr range. They don't have time to metabolize much and greater likelihood of it causing cramping issues. Under 3 hrs the need for gels, and also attitude towards them, decreases significantly. Running sub-2:30 I'd carry 2-3 of them but taking nearly a half hour off that time maybe I'd only want one....
	"Talent" is a cop-out for not wanting to try harder. marathon - 2:28 HM - 1:09:53 10K - 30:57 5K - 15:18 (2nd half of above 10K)

BenBuck6 view log	posted: 8/25/2008 at 7:28 PM
	I did see one guy that stayed with the lead pack for while take a gel pack. I beleive it was the guy from Spain. BTW, both Hall and Ritz are young...Ritz talked about wanting to climb the ladder and Hall asked his coach what he had to do get to the level of the winner's and mentioned his desire to work in Africa doing missions (maybe hinting at training in Africa while fullfilling another dream). I think both these guys were upset things didn't work out better, but both realized they are close enough to getting to the same level as the Kenyans. Only like the 3rd marathon for both of them...and I think both will be 28 or 29 in 2012.
	2008 GOALS GET BELOW 175 (at 175 now) RUN 6:00 MILE (at 6:29) RUN BELOW 25:30 5K RUN BELOW 55:00 10K RUN A MARATHON (DEC. 6TH - MEMPHIS - ST JUDE)

JakeKnight view log	posted: 8/25/2008 at 7:39 PM modified: 8/25/2008 at 7:40 PM
	Quote from backstretch on 8/25/2008 at 7:08 PM: Watched the whole race, didn't see one guy take a gel or gu..........just sayin Then you sure weren't watching very closely. They showed several of the runners taking gels of one kind or another, a couple times in close-up. Looked like old fashioned Gu to me. Tore it off with their teeth and swallowed in one gulp, followed by a big swig of water. Just like regular folks. And I think Spaniel's right - I think they had it taped to their bottles. Quote from BenBuck6 on 8/25/2008 at 7:28 PM: I did see one guy that stayed with the lead pack for while take a gel pack. I beleive it was the guy from Spain. I saw that and I think you're right. Either him or the Moroccan. Or both. They also showed Ritz take at least one gel. Which makes sense. After all, he talked about it quite a bit before the Olympic trials: The biggest issue in Ritzenhein's previous marathon was fuel maintenance. He ran well through 22 miles, on track for a 2 hour, 10-minute finish, and still within striking distance of the lead pack. But it all came undone quickly. Over the last 2,000 meters, his pace fell off to 6:30 per mile despite an all-out effort. His stores of carbohydrate energy were depleted, and he began to burn fat, which is a far less efficient fuel. "It's like throwing wet wood on a fire," Ritzenhein said. "I was dying bad, and it was a struggle to keep going." This time, he vows to be better prepared. His training remains on an upswing - recently rolling through a 24-mile run at a 5:09 mile pace on the hilly terrain of Lorane Highway, which roughly translates to a 2:15 marathon - and he has practiced hydrating and consuming gels during hard workouts. He didn't take any of the 100-calorie gel packets available throughout the course the last time he ran 26.2 miles in New York City. "In the marathon," Ritzenhein said, "you have to build up your tank as much as you can, and take in as much fuel as you can during the race, because the human body really can't store the optimal amount of energy for that distance at that effort. "It's not easy taking in drinks and gels when you're running hard and breathing hard. It's almost an art in itself, and I've been practicing that during every long run." Eh. What does he know?
	E-mail: JakeKnight2002@aol.com -----------------------------

Ed4 view log Barefoot and happy	posted: 8/25/2008 at 7:43 PM
	Quote from BenBuck6 on 8/25/2008 at 7:28 PM: Only like the 3rd marathon for both of them...and I think both will be 28 or 29 in 2012. It was only Wanjiru's third marathon too, and he's only 21. He ran his first marathon less than a year ago.
	Curious about running barefoot? Visit the new barefoot running group.

Jeff view log	posted: 8/25/2008 at 7:43 PM
	Has Ritz been reading Trent screeds?
	a vagabond,..highway-beater; a rolling stone, one that does nought but runne here and there. ~Cotgrave, Randle A dictionarie of the French and English tongues, 1611

Minderbender view log	posted: 8/25/2008 at 7:43 PM
	From Runners World: Ritz "At my last couple of fluid stops, I had energy gels taped to my bottles, and they had a lot of sodium in them. I might not have finished without that. My energy management was great, not bad at all. But the cramping was crazy.

srlopez Guy running in pink	posted: 8/25/2008 at 7:46 PM
	Quote from backstretch on 8/25/2008 at 7:15 PM: You may be correct but the announcers uo here made it sound like, the drinks were just their electrolyte replacement. I took it to mean their brand and strength of "Gatorade" You saw what you wanted to see and I bet that you heard what you wanted to hear. Did the announcers specifically point out that the runners were drinking no-calorie drinks and taking in no calories during the race? Probably not. Just because your announcers may have said "electrolyte replacement drink" does not mean that the drinks ONLY contained that. And as pointed out, did you not notice the other little bottles taped to the sides of some of the bigger ones? This definitely showed up prominently in the women's race. And it would seem that some folks did get shown, at least on the US feed, squeezing some gel goodness.
	With realistic Pants-on-Fire action!

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