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Oregon's lack of indoor tracks hasn't slowed Rupp's winter success

Published by
DyeStat.com   Jan 18th 2014, 11:08pm
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Rupp: 'I've always like running indoors' 

 

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

 
Galen Rupp didn't grow up running on indoor tracks the way so many high school kids in the East do, but the Nike Oregon Project pro has found a lot of success on them.


Of the six occasions when he has broken an American record, five of them have been indoors. On Thursday at Boston University, Rupp broke the indoor 5,000 meter record for the third time in his career, this time trimming nearly six seconds from the previous best as he clocked 13:01.26. The Olympic silver medalist is also the current American record holder in the indoor 3,000 and outdoor 10,000.


It was a great way to come out of the gate in 2014.


"I've had problems sometimes with opening races of the season, where I haven't run as well as I was capable of," Rupp said Saturday from Beaverton, Ore.


But with a few key workouts under his belt, Rupp felt better prepared to perform at his best on a specific day to start the new season.


He'll try to do it two more times in Boston over the next few weeks. On Jan. 25 he will run in the two-mile and try to take back the American record he once owned (and then lost, to Bernard Lagat). And later, he will try to lower his PR in the mile.


There are no operable indoor tracks in Oregon, so Rupp's first experience with it came in Seattle at the oversized (307-meter) Dempsey Indoor when he was a junior at Central Catholic High School. His first race on a banked track was at Landover, Md., when he placed third in the two-mile at the National Indoor Scholastic Championships in 2003.


It wasn't until he got to college, at the University of Oregon, that Rupp got familiar with indoor racing.


"I've always liked running indoors," he said. "The first time I broke an American record was at Arkansas (indoors)."


In 2009, Rupp ran 13:18.22 for 5,000 at the Tyson Invitational in Fayettevile, Ark. to break a 27-year-old U.S. record.


Five years later, he almost broke the 13-minute barrier.


"I didn't realize how fast I was going until the last 50 meters," Rupp said.


Instead, he fed off an enthusiastic crowd. It's the atmosphere that Rupp enjoys the most about indoor track.


"It's awesome when it gets loud in there," Rupp said. "It's fun. I enjoy watching indoor meets on TV. We had so much fun at Boston last year that I was happy to go back."


Without a banked track to practice on in Oregon, Rupp honed his craft by making numerous short flights to Boise. Back in 2008, he took a semester off from college to concentrate on making his first Olympic team. Quick trips to Boise, and the track in Nampa, Idaho, were a regular part of his week.


"A big part of it was the coaches (at Boise State) accomodating me, and also at Washington," Rupp said. "I got to where I was really comfortable running there."


In hindsight it seems like time well spent.



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