Galen Rupp On Tight Turn Arounds, Consistency And Training
Article by Tait Hearps.
Galen needs no introduction. The Portland-born two-time Olympic medallist graciously set aside some time in the days leading into Chicago marathon to delve into a variety of topics with Sweat Elite founder, Matt Fox. He went on to run 2:06:35, coming in second place behind Ethiopia’s Seifu Tura, and finishing just 28 seconds off his personal best, a welcome return to form after battling through a few difficult years marred by injury, surgery and the pandemic.
Some may see Chicago as an interesting choice given Rupp competed in the Olympic marathon a mere nine weeks prior. However, Chicago holds a special place in Galen’s heart – he grew up visiting family there often, and in 2017 he was the first American to win Chicago marathon since Khalid Kannouchi in 2002. Despite the tight turnaround from Sapporo to Chicago Galen says that the training leading up to this race was some of the best of his life – much better than leading into the Olympics where he was disappointed with an eighth place finish.
He described such a rapid transition as “riding a fine line” – a delicate dance balancing recovery, taking advantage of fitness from the previous training block and also building into the next race. “You don’t want to overcook yourself by coming back too soon.” After the race in Sapporo Rupp’s coach Mike Smith advised a week of only easy running – “imagine you’re running with your grandma” – in order to shake the legs out but also take a mental break from the demands of hard training.
Galen places a big focus on recovery and said this period was a nice reprieve. Taking his mind off everything by spending time relaxing with his family and using time for things that he normally can’t do during hard training periods was an important step before transitioning into another block.
After this week of only easy jogging, the next week included some very light sessions to get the legs turning over at speed again. Mike called these bridge workouts. Galen said he was still sore but having these 2/3 workouts during this week was a good way to transition back into some harder work. By the third week out from Sapporo he was back into high volume sessions and logged over 100 miles for the week – “we were back to hitting it hard.”
Leading into the Olympics Galen said he had some bad luck with a few physical issues getting in the way of hitting some of the key long runs and workouts as they were prescribed by Smith. Fortunately, there was no such setbacks coming into Chicago. His final long run two weeks out from race day was 25 miles – of which 21/22 were very hard – consistently hitting these hard long runs is a staple for his marathon blocks.
Mike has introduced more fartlek sessions into Galen’s training since they started working together, and Galen says that the rest for interval sessions tends to be longer now. This however means that the intensity of the reps has also increased. “If you take more rest you better hitting those intervals pretty darn hard so that you need every second of it.” Galen says that when trying to self-coach it’s very difficult not to be making decisions driven by emotion and that Mike’s objectivity has been something that has really benefited him in training for the marathon.
His favourite sessions are the fast ones focussing on 200/400 reps, as well as the long runs which he says have always come naturally to him. He says the sessions he dreads the most are 1km reps – for some reason he finds that they’re that bit tougher than 800s and less satisfying than mile repeats. A session of eight, ten, twelve or fifteen by 1km is “a grind” but something that has to be done he says – they’re never easy.
Cross training is something that has played a key part of Galen’s training for a long time, including work on the alter G treadmill and aqua jogging. He says it’s a recovery tool but also a way to incorporate extra aerobic fitness into the training regime without increasing the pounding on the body that running so many miles can inflict. Risk mitigation in order to minimise injury and maximise consistency over a long period of time is hugely important for long term gains. In Galen’s view it’s all building cardiovascular fitness and at a certain point your body can’t tell the difference.
Now thirty-five years old, Galen says that as he ages focussing on explosive power, strength and speed is taking up more and more of his training time. After so many years developing the aerobic engine this is well-established, but power is something that starts to decline with age and ensuring the maintenance of speed and efficiency becomes increasingly important. He also uses plyometric work to work on overall athleticism and moving the body in different planes with different muscles.
The weather on race day in both Chicago and Sapporo was very hot and humid – far from ideal marathon conditions. Layering up in training and trying to run during the hot parts of the day (or in a heat chamber) were part of his training for both events. Galen says he’s a big believer in putting the body into a state that is similar or worse than he should expect on race day, and heat specific preparation plays part in this.
This conversation with Galen was such a treat because he tends to be a bit reclusive online. Given his lack of social media presence, little can be gleaned from the usual suspects of Strava, Instagram and YouTube about his life and training. He said that apart from a brief foray into the Twittersphere back in college he has always avoided social media and sharing publicly about his life as he isn’t doing it for publicity and wants to avoid the distracting influence of these outlets to which he sees other people (especially some athletes) succumb.
One final thing he shared with Matt was the crucial role that visualisation plays in his preparation for a race like Chicago. Galen makes sure to differentiate between visualisation and daydreaming – visualisation means running through every possible scenario that could unfold and meticulously considering how to handle it.
It’s something that he tries to constantly work on, and before, during and after each workout he tries to relate things to how the race will unfold. “You have to put every workout you do into the context of a race.” This can come in the form of practicing closing hard, or even ‘mental workouts’ where you are exhausted and hitting the times for the workout is a huge effort – these are important for being able to perform on the big stage even when you aren’t feeling perfect come race day. Visualisation in this form – focusing on things that might go wrong and how to adapt when they do – is something that is important and beneficial to everyone!
Another interesting thing that Galen brought up before the race (in conversation with Tempo) was that despite running the Chicago course several times now he actually doesn’t feel that familiar with it as when he races he is often quite “out of it.” “I clear my mind.. I pray a lot when I run. It’s a good way to pass the time.” He says the cross around his neck bouncing up and down is not an annoyance, but a constant reminder of his faith, his family and why he is running. He says that having a mantra, whether a word or a phrase, to go back to and focus on when things get tough can be so important to avoid self-defeating negative internal dialogue. “It really is one step at a time. As long as you can just find a reason not to quit and to keep going – that’s one of the most powerful things that can get you through the tough times.”
We are so grateful that Galen set aside so much time to give us an insight into how he has prepared for Chicago, as well as his life and philosophy. This conversation is full of gems of wisdom that can apply to runners of all levels. Thank you Galen, we look forward to following your journey in the future.
