There has been a lot of talk about Rupp's newfound speed lately, his big finishing kick, and about how amazing it is that a longer distance guy has such wheels. I feel that this overlooks some important things about Rupp's history and progression of both racing and training and I want to make the case that Rupp has always been a speed guy, who is just now developing real strength.
- Rupp was discovered by Salazar in HS doing repeat 200s for soccer at ~30 second pace. Salazar liked how smooth and athletic he looked at that pace. Though skinny, Rupp was and continues to be an EXPLOSIVE athlete.
- Salazar and the guy who plans Rupp's gym work have said on multiple occasions how Rupp is more athletic than a lot of the other athletes out there. Not just distance guys, but sprinters, basketball players, football players. Rupp is an athletic person who has become good at running, not a runner who has added some athleticism. That's an important distinction.
- Rupp ran 13:37 in high school, but he also ran 4:01, and while that 5k mark is more impressive to most, I would argue that when he ran that 13:37 he had much better conditions, with a race that played out perfectly for him to run fast. I believe that all along his better events were 3k an 5k, but relative to the fields he was racing against he was better at 5k and 10k.
- Salazar gave Rupp modest mileage early on, then built up from there slowly. Rupp has always been fast, and he's gotten faster, but his slow steady consistent progress is the result of increased strength. Watching him in big races, it seems clear that he has not had a big kick up until recently. I would argue that this isn't because he lacked the wheels to drop a fast quarter. Anyone who runs 4:01 for the full mile in high school has wheels. But he wasn't strong enough to tap into that speed late in the races.
My point is, people talk about Rupp's success in the mile and the 3k like it's a big surprise, like it's so strange for a stronger distance guy to develop speed and drop down. I would argue that he's always raced up in distance from his natural predilection and that while he is most competitive in the 5k and 10k, his natural characteristics are more suited to the middle distances. What we are seeing is a born middle distance specialist who hangs onto his speed while doing more strength based training. As Rupp continues to put in more mileage and develop his strength more and more, the ceiling is still a ways off... just the way that I suspect Salazar planned long term.