I’ll be honest… I don’t have much of any input on this, but wanted to share what I saw yesterday at the Michael Johnson Track on the Nike Campus while Galen Rupp was working out under the watchful eye of Alberto Salazar.
The workout was 24 miles with the last mile fast, and it was run on both the roads and the track.
When we arrived at the track, Galen was cruising along right at around 5:30/mile pace. The ease that he ran those 5:30/miles was impressive. At one point Alberto handed Galen a water bottle, asked what he had been averaging, and then said, “Let’s do a 6-minute mile and then let’s go 4:30.”
Now, as he’s saying this, Galen is still running.
The first lap of his 6-minute mile was “84 seconds… relax Galen.”
The next lap was “84 seconds… relax Galen.”
You know how this goes. He lapped the track a few more times in 84 seconds and then Alberto yelled, “Go, let’s get it Galen!”
The next mile was something I’ve never witnessed in person. Galen eased into a 67 second lap. Followed by a 67 second lap. Then another 67 second lap, and finally another 67 second lap.
Exhausted, Galen fell to the track. He had just run over 24 miles, with the last mile being recorded in a 4:28. In 9-days he’ll toe the line in Prague to run a full marathon. This was one of the most impressive workouts I have ever witnessed.
Afterwards, like within 2-minutes post-workout, Alberto says, “You guys want to take a picture?” Typical Alberto. Typical Galen. Amazing all the way around.
Phillips Running 