Week 2

Friday, September 28

Finding the Focus

 

Will Dathan Ritzenhein realize his full talents as a marathoner on November 3?

On November 5, 2006, as he ran onto the Queensboro Bridge at the ING New York City Marathon’s 15-mile mark, first-time marathoner Dathan Ritzenhein was right where he wanted to be. The pace had been conservative through the first half—a modest 1:05—and on the heels of his excellent 1:01:23 half-marathon debut at the BUPA Great North Run in England just five weeks before, Ritzenhein and his coach, Brad Hudson, couldn’t have asked for a better setup for the final 11 miles in New York.

“I’ve never seen someone for whom marathon training is so right,” enthused Hudson during marathon week. “Until he runs, you don’t know, but I look at his first half-marathon against [men like] Ramaala, Baldini, and Gharib, and I’m pretty confident. That’s all I’ll say.”

As in any race, but especially an important one where crowds heighten the experience and faces attempt to deceive rather than enlighten, it’s difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen. Yes, Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa once again unraveled the pack, ripping up First Avenue like he’d done the previous two years. So his acceleration surprised no one as eight of the 15 men the lead pack gave chase. However, the American power trio of Meb Keflezighi, Ritzenhein, and Alan Culpepper seemed unable—or was it unwilling?—to respond.

The thing about racing in a place like New York City is that nothing can prepare you—not your training, or racing almost anywhere else in the world where you can lock into the rhythm of your footfalls and feel the pace rub across your fitness as you gauge the effort. They say to listen to your body, but in New York City it’s almost impossible. The sights and sounds overwhelm everything as the crowds and concrete fold the energy back and forth until it envelops you. You try to block it out, to concentrate, apprehend internal signals, but the intensity of the city disorients. At its height, such a race becomes almost an out-of-body experience, the pressure-wave so strong that perceptions alter. You can’t get a close reading on how your feet strike the ground. Your chest thumps like a kettledrum beating not to the rhythm of your heart, but to the echoing shouts of fevered New Yorkers. Sights blur, blocks pass one to the next in endless, unrecognizable numbers. It’s surreal unless you’ve been in it before.

As Brazilian upstart Marilson Gomes dos Santos broke free across the Willis Avenue Bridge toward a surprise victory last November, Ritzenhein held on just 30 seconds behind the chase pack, on 2:10:52 pace. Then, at 22 miles, he began to fall apart.

The final 10K was a major disappointment. Though only fellow American Peter Gilmore passed him, he lost three minutes over that span, averaging 5:30 per mile. The final mile lasted an agonizing six plus minutes.

Now, like all second-time marathoners, Ritzenhein knows he can prepare better next time.

“A couple of things went wrong,” admitted Hudson. “First thing we learned is we trained him too long. Not wrong, just too long. Dathan is a quick adaptor. So number one, a shorter time frame. Then, more and harder long runs. He will be a marathoner, definitely, but how soon is the question. I thought he could win New York City last year. Now, it may take a couple more years to run 2:06 or 2:07.”

Having been a top-level marathoner himself—he won the Columbus Marathon twice—Hudson is frank in his assessments and refreshingly willing to admit when changes are necessary. But expecting big things from Dathan Ritzenhein is hardly an error. Just about everyone—including Ritzenhein himself—has been doing that since his high school days in Rockford, Michigan.

“I’d be surprised if Dathan doesn’t have a great race,” said Meb Keflezighi’s long-time coach, Bob Larsen, three days before New York ’06. “Anyone who can run under 27:40 that young, and be coming off injury at the same time…and with that body type and high mileage since high school, it fits the profile of African development.”

One wonders what would have been the current design if Ritzenhein had popped his first marathon last year in New York. But since he didn’t, there is still the question of focus. Is it the 10K or the marathon? The U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Men’s Marathon will be staged earlier in the process than ever this time—in the fall of 2007. That scheduling will allow both full preparation and full recovery, and it allows the June 2008 Olympic track trials to be kept in play as well.

“It’s an opportunity to take a second shot at making the Olympic team,” was how Ritzenhein assessed the schedule. “It’s always easier to run if the pressure is off. To make the team in the marathon would definitely take the pressure off for the track. And no matter what happens, you gain a lot of strength from training for the marathon.”

Hudson stressed that a major goal for the second half of 2007 was the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in August, where Ritzenhein finished ninth in the 10,000 meters in 28:28, some 30 seconds behind teammate Abdi Abdirahman’s 27:58 seventh-place finish. “I think his heart is still in the 10,000,” Hudson said. “He’ll definitely be a marathoner, but the 8:11 [two-mile at the Prefontaine Classic in May] opened our eyes to his potential in the 5000 and 10,000 meters.”

Ritzenhein and Hudson both know that without sub-54-second final 400-meter speed, there’s no chance to compete for a medal on the oval. The marathon, by its nature, is wide open. And yet the track has an undeniable draw that the marathon hasn’t generated for collegiate-bred Americans. Ritz is another man under its influence.

“It’s a decision I’ve struggled with over the last year,” he admitted, “because I’m in the fortunate position of being good at multiple events. I would most like to run the 10,000 in Beijing, but if I didn’t qualify I’d want to run the marathon over the 5000, because I think I’m stronger in that event. You never know what will happen in the Trials; I might not make it at 10,000. So I feel I have to do the marathon if I really want to have more of a shot. I need to get back to the Olympics. That’s what it’s about at this stage.”

But is a second chance at the Olympic team a tight enough focus against seasoned marathoners like Keflezighi, Culpepper, Abdirahman, Brian Sell, and Peter Gilmore? Or against the impressive young Ryan Hall, whose debut in London produced an American debut record 2:08:24? Today, the American depth in distance running is greater than ever. Any of 10 men have a legitimate shot at making the Beijing team in the marathon. Even in the glory days of the 1970s and early 1980s, we couldn’t make that statement.

Talent and expectations aside, the one bugaboo that has followed Ritzenhein lately has been fuel management, which is what the marathon is all about. Not only in his one marathon, but also at the 2007 USATF National Championships in Indianapolis in June and at a 5000-meter race in Belgium in July, he faltered at crunch time.

“His biggest vulnerability is fuel and diet,” says coach Hudson. “My feeling is that the conditions in Beijing will be very tough. It will be hot, and you’ll need a little luck. We’d like the Trials to be a success. Medalling in the marathon this time is not realistic, nor in the 10K. But Beijing will be very unpredictable. My concern is how hard he pushes in the Beijing heat. It could have a damaging effect that lingers. You can see how hard he pushes himself. Does he have the energy to complete a marathon at world-class pace?”

Ritzenhein, too, is aware of this question. He will build his strategy in New York around the five-loop course in Central Park, rather than focus on the other competitors.

“One thing I learned in the New York City Marathon is that I wasted a lot of energy on the hills. It requires a constant energy rather than a constant pace. So a come-from-behind strategy might work [at the Trials]. It’s all about the final miles. If you run out of fuel at 23 it can be painful, as I found out. So don’t worry about those who break out at 18. You can reel someone in by minutes in the last miles in the marathon.”

The expectation for Dathan Ritzenhein is that eventually he will figure how to make the marathon distance work for him. But the question for November 3, 2007, is: Will eventually be now?