A Smiling Galen Rupp Says He’s Been Pain-Free Since the Prague Half Marathon — “It’s Just Been Such a Weight Lifted Off My Shoulders”
By Jonathan Gault
April 14, 2017
BOSTON — Galen Rupp has not had an ideal buildup for his first Boston Marathon. A case of plantar fasciitis in his left foot caused him to scratch from the Houston Half Marathon in January, and it flared up again two weeks ago when he ran 61:59 at the Prague Half Marathon.
“It’s been pretty up and down for a while training-wise, but I’ve been able to get through all the important stuff,” Rupp said today at the elite press conference for the 2017 Boston Marathon.
But Rupp received a cortisone shot in two different locations in his foot the day after the race and said everything has gone great for him since then. He tried a 22-mile long run and 10 miles of intervals to test out the foot, and both workouts went well.
“It just has worked wonders as far as getting [the pain] knocked out. I’ve been pain-free for a couple weeks…It’s just been such a weight lifted off my shoulders. I don’t have to think about it, I’m not feeling it every step.”
Rupp certainly looked like a man who had a huge weight lifted off his shoulders today as he was positively glowing during his media availability session. Rupp is not always the most telegenic athlete, but he answered every question with a big smile and was clearly in a very good mood.
Rupp was very upbeat at the press conference today
As compared to his first two marathons last year, this has been a different buildup for Rupp, not only because he’s been nursing an injury, but also because he hasn’t been doing any short intervals to maintain speed for the track. Rupp said that those workouts were his favorite and that he misses them, but after talking to coach Alberto Salazar, they determined they just weren’t necessary.
“He’s like, ‘You’ve gotta trust me on this. The marathon is a pure endurance race. You don’t need to be able to run 25 for 200 or 50 seconds for a 400. You need to be able to run hard for 26 miles and not die at the end to be able to thrive in those last six miles. When you look at what speed you need to be able to run fast for a marathon, it’s so much slower than it is for the track.”
As of Friday morning, Rupp still hadn’t actually run on the course yet (he said he planned to do so this weekend before the race) but he feels prepared for whatever comes his way on race day.
“I feel very comfortable if it’s a fast pace or a slow pace,” Rupp said. “I think you have to be ready for any situation.”