Jennifer Kahn has written a well-informed and provocative profile of Alberto Salazar and Dathan Ritzenheim in the latest issue of the New Yorker, as Ritz prepares for the New York Marathon, Sunday (The Perfect Stride).
The article does a great job of capturing the obsessive lengths to which Salazar will go, to which he has always gone, to maximize performance. It describes his spectacular career but brief career as a marathoner, and his transition to working for the Oregon Project and coaching some of the best American distance runners in the country. The main focus of the article is Salazar's attempt to re-engineer Ritzenheim's stride to make him a more efficient, less injury-prone runner -- and a champion on the world stage.
One of the things that sets Salazar apart is that he is willing to take gigantic risks to maximize the success of his athletes. It's frightening when he makes mistakes, as he does. But it's exhilarating when he succeeds. Who wasn't thrilled to see Alan Webb return to something like his racing form this summer and early fall under Salazar's patient guidance?
But as the article points out, it's hugely risky to tinker with an athlete's stride. Few coaches would have the confidence and single-minded focus to commit to the project.
Because he is willing to take such risks, Salazar will always be in the spotlight, always be evaluated based on the performance of the latest top-level athlete in his care. When Ritz gets underway in the NYC Marathon on Sunday, it might well be his coach feeling all the pressure.
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5 comments:
alberto has always pushed the boundries of training always doing experimental things that push what is legal and what is not im excited to read this article to see what he is doing with ritz
legal? never heard that anything he has done would be considered illegal on the perfromance enhancing end. The main focus of the article - more efficient stride pattern for distance runners is hardly revolutionary.
I believe this first post would be what logicians call a "straw man". Claiming he pushes what is legal indicates he has done something illegal, when nobody here thinks he has.
1. I agree alberto does not cheat
2. he uses foremost technology that is ahead of the times that in the future could be deemed illegal
3. article does focus on stride but there is a lot more to his training techniques
4. Unless you have personally talked to alberto or his athletes i wouldnt be so quick as to claim you have any idea what alberto does
Great article, Jon. I'm slightly unnerved by some of the revelations, as I've been a "thumbs-up" runner my whole life I think. I think Salazar is for the most part very good, but with such good resources nearby there shouldn't be as many duct-tape type solutions/quick fixes as there are.
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