Ritz sets new 5,000 AR

I have to admit I was only vaguely aware that there was a big track meet going on in Zurich yesterday. I'd read a little bit about it and knew that Bekele would run in the 5,000, but that was about it. I didn't pay attention to which Americans were competing. Until I read a thread over at LetsRun which chronicled the men's 5,000. Apparently it started off at a blistering pace, and it was all Ritz could do to hang at the very pack. But the pace took its toll on everyone, including Bekele, and Ritz started reeling guys in. He was up in 2nd place on the final lap before dropping a spot, but he finished in a time of 12:56.27, almost two full seconds under Bob Kennedy's American record. I was stunned that Ritz was capable of something like this, even though he was impressive in the World Champs 10,000 last week. Breaking 13 is an entirely new ball game. I'm excited about what this means for American distance running and for guys like Teg and Solinsky who are right up there as well. Dathan Ritzenhein -- the new American record holder in the 5,000. Wow.

Federer victorious in Cincinnati

The last big hard-court tournament before the US Open finished up yesterday, and it was Roger Federer coming away with the crown. After a disappointing loss to Tsonga in Montreal, the Cincinnati title was a much needed confidence booster for the defending US Open champ. I was able to watch Federer's semi against Andy Murray, and Murray didn't play well in the first set. The second set was close and went to a tiebreak. Murray had a set point at least once, but he couldn't pull through. I missed the other semi between Nadal and Djokovic, but it was somewhat of a surprise to see Djokovic win that one. I caught a few bits and pieces of the final yesterday but did not pay really close attention. It looked to me like Federer was in control the whole way. Djokovic had some chances to win the second set, but Federer stepped up on the big points. So, the US Open is now only a week away. It will be quite an interesting tournament. I expect Federer, Roddick, and Murray all to play well. Nadal, Djokovic, and del Potro are wild cards.

Bekele wins the 10,000

The World Championships for track & field got underway this past weekend, and the men's 10,000 final was run yesterday. In possibly the least surprising result of the entire event, Kenenisa Bekele won. He ran an impressive 26:46, which is a lot faster than any American has ever run. Ritz posted a very impressive 27:22 to earn 6th place overall. He was the top American finisher. Galen Rupp was 8th in 27:37. The big news, of course, was not the 10,000 but the men's 100, where Usain Bolt tore up the competition and lowered the World Record to 9.58. That guy is amazing. Tyson Gay ran 9.71 to take the silver and break the American Record, but his fine race was overshadowed. Bolt is simply a world ahead of everyone else. Every time he steps on the track, he's a threat to break the WR. I'm interested in seeing whether or not he'll step up to the 400 to see what he can do. I'm not sure how many times he's run that event before, but based on his past 200m performances, it stands to reason he could dominate that as well.

Murray wins Montreal title

Since I was down in Baltimore this weekend visiting my grandma, I was able to watch some of the Montreal tennis tournament, which was televised on ESPN2. Surprisingly, both Federer and Nadal exited before the semis. Juan Martin del Potro beat Nadal, and Jo Wilfried Tsonga stunned Federer by coming back from a 5-1 deficit in the third set. Del Potro faced Roddick in the semis, and I saw almost all of the match. Roddick played well in the first set but completely fell apart in the second. He was stuggling just to win points on his serve. His game improved in the final set, but in a crucial game at 5-5, del Potro broke him and then held his own serve to win the match. Murray defeated Tsonga in the other semi, and the final was played this afternoon. I watched the first set before hitting the road and was impressed by del Potro. He looked tired but still held his serve and won the first-set tiebreak. I left after that and later found out that Murray won sets 2 and 3 to take the title.

Back from San Jose

I'm back home once again from my little excursion out west. Everything went well, although I never fully adjusted to the jet lag. I went to bed around 7:30 every night and was up at 3:30 in the morning. That's an ideal schedule for running before work, so on Monday morning I headed over to a branch of the San Francisco Bay Trail and put in about 4.5 miles. In retrospect, that was not the best place to run in the morning because it was dark and I had trouble seeing. I also had the misfortune of inhaling a bug, which got just far enough down my throat that I couldn't spit the little guy out. I stopped and gagged for quite a while because of that. So on Tuesday I just ran on the roads near my hotel which were lit well enough for me to see. I looked at a map before heading out and determined that there was no way I could get lost. I then proceeded to get lost. Every time I though I knew where I was, I'd run into an unfamiliar road. I finally gave up and backtracked. On Wednesday I figured I'd run a simple out-and-back route so I definitely wouldn't get lost, and that worked. I didn't get a chance to run at all on Thursday, because first thing in the morning I drove to the airport, and it was not until 8:45 that night that I returned to my apartment.

Going to California

This has been quite a busy summer, and I haven't had much time to post blog entries. I'd just gotten home from Iowa last week when I found out that I would be heading to California. So I'm going to fly out there tomorrow and return on Thursday. I enjoy business travel, so I'm looking forward to it.

The Bix

I've returned from Iowa and am now able to write a little recap of the Bix, which was one week ago today. At the packet pickup on Friday, I glanced at the list of participants and thought that it seemed kind of small compared to previous years. Well, I was wrong. There were over 15,000 people in the race, so the start was a madhouse. I parked up at Central High School and was dismayed to find out that it cost $5 to do so. Then, of course, down at the starting corral there weren't nearly enough port-a-pots. I saw a row of maybe 20 with a loooong line waiting for them. Fortunately, after wandering down an alley, I spotted a dumpster and was able to urinate behind it without being in plain view.

I got a pretty decent spot in my corral, and after the gun went off it only took about 10 seconds for me to cross the starting line. Brady Street hill was rough, but once it flattened out I felt a little better. I drank water at all the water stops. At the end of Kirkwood, right after turning on to Jersey Ridge Road, I saw Meb pass in the other direction. Fam came along in second place, but there was a big gap between the two. Right around this point is when I struggled a bit. I really exerted myself going up the hill on McClellan, and my stomach didn't like that. After cresting the hill, I gagged a couple of times and had to walk. But I was back on the road in less than a minute. I hit the turnaround and then the halfway point; my split was 25:58. I felt pretty good until I hit Kirkwood again. That gradual hill is a killer. But very few people passed me, and I actually passed quite a few. Just when I thought that I would never get to the end of Kirkwood, the hill flattened out and I passed the place where my parents were watching the race and cheering me on. I really made an effort to stride out going down Brady Street, but a handful of runners still left me in the dust. By looking at my watch, I saw that I had a shot at breaking 52 minutes, so I kicked hard down the home stretch and clocked myself right at 52:00. I later saw that my official time was 51:59. I can't complain about that!