Following yesterday's American Record 2 mile race (8:07.41), Galen Rupp rested for a bit and then proceeded to accomplish the following workout which is detailed below by Craig Virgin (if you don't know who Craig Virgin is, Google him) on his facebook account. Also check out the tweets by Anthony Famiglietti below. I would like to think that the achievements by the Nike Oregon Project athletes are a result of talent and hard work but there are definitely many people who question the means that they are taking to get those results. Thoughts?
Craig Virgin
Well, American Distance Superstar Galen Rupp was at it again last night. For the 2nd weekend in a row.... he set a US Nat'l record... running an indoor 2-miles in 8:07.41 in Boston! In and of itself... amazing... but he then rested for only 15 minutes (signing autographs?!?) and then commenced a track workout...5 x 1 mile intervals...in 4:21, 4:20, 4:20, 4:16, and then finishing up with an unbelievable 4:01! All documented by FloTrack website. Congrats are due but I'm not sure what to think... both Galen and his coach, Alberto Salazar, are definitely making a statement here! Why do this kind of workout after such a hard race...and risk injury or illness? What is Galen taking or doing... that is giving him such amazing recuperative/restorative powers? I have never seen anything like this...but he did it after his AR 13:01 5K last weekend and after his 3:50.9 mile indoors last January. I am sorry to sound so jaded... but after reading so much about Lance Armstrong and Alex Rodriguez's sophisticated and undetected doping schemes this past year .... I just don't know what to believe anymore. I wish USATF would release what Therapeutic Use Exemption medical treatments that Galen is on that may give us one hint of what is really going on here. I am tired of rumors about TUE's and we need some transparency in this area to maintain the integrity in our sport.
Craig Virgin
Well, American Distance Superstar Galen Rupp was at it again last night. For the 2nd weekend in a row.... he set a US Nat'l record... running an indoor 2-miles in 8:07.41 in Boston! In and of itself... amazing... but he then rested for only 15 minutes (signing autographs?!?) and then commenced a track workout...5 x 1 mile intervals...in 4:21, 4:20, 4:20, 4:16, and then finishing up with an unbelievable 4:01! All documented by FloTrack website. Congrats are due but I'm not sure what to think... both Galen and his coach, Alberto Salazar, are definitely making a statement here! Why do this kind of workout after such a hard race...and risk injury or illness? What is Galen taking or doing... that is giving him such amazing recuperative/restorative powers? I have never seen anything like this...but he did it after his AR 13:01 5K last weekend and after his 3:50.9 mile indoors last January. I am sorry to sound so jaded... but after reading so much about Lance Armstrong and Alex Rodriguez's sophisticated and undetected doping schemes this past year .... I just don't know what to believe anymore. I wish USATF would release what Therapeutic Use Exemption medical treatments that Galen is on that may give us one hint of what is really going on here. I am tired of rumors about TUE's and we need some transparency in this area to maintain the integrity in our sport.
A magic show can be impressive, but we go home largely unaffected as we understand the misdirection & deception that took place.
Miraculous performances that are divinely inspired & rooted in truth are rare, but affect change in us forever. Aim for these when you run.
8 comments:
Fam is a NUT!
Never had respect for Craig Virgin's opinions. He always seemed to espouse jealousy for his lack of success on the track. As previous post, Fam is a nut, and I love his tweets.
Both are saying (and attaching their real name to such comments) of what we are all thinking anonymously.
Doug,
No question about everything you brought up. Galen has been in an ideal training situation since his freshman year in high school and has remained healthy allowing for a fairly steady progression.
Unfortunately in this day and age, any outstanding performances by elite athletes bring drug suspicions along with them.
Alberto has had a history of pushing the limits of what is allowable in the past so the doubting crowd will always be there.
Here's the problem. Alberto was a drug user. His athletes visit a doctor suspected of such things. They all come down with mysterious thyroid problems. Usually where there's smoke, there's fire.
I don't think they are dirty in the sense they are over the illegal values, whatever that definition may mean, but I do believe they "suplement" with drugs to bring deficiencies to the upper limit of normal. The drugs aid recovery, they don't make you superhuman on race day, so that is something to remember.
Yeah, I don't doubt hard work at all and it's what brings great things... but there's frankly things that the body shouldnt be able to do. lets not even look at it from a record standpoint, but just as a regular human being. I mean PRing as much as Galen is within ONE week of each other blatantly doesnt make sense. These are all-out, PRing performances to PR at the professional level isnt a matter of 5 seconds from one season to another because of some base miles. I really do want to believe in Rupp. I really do, but between that and Salazar's shady past its not easy.
*disclaimer* yes, PR is a verb
The dopers are working hard too - they just recover faster :-)
When money and glory are involved, people will look for every advantage - legal or illegal. I'm not saying NOP, Cain and/or Rupp are dirty but it wouldn't surprise me if they were. The same goes for Bolt, Farah, Felix, etc.
BTW, check out this study of non-elite triathletes at Ironman events in Germany. When 1 in 7 admit to doping when there is nothing on the line other than a faster time, you really have to wonder what pros, collegiates, high schoolers will do to take their performance to the next level...
http://www.irishtriathlon.com/index.php/2014/01/ironman-triathlon-doping-epo-steroids/
Fam thinks anyone faster than him is on drugs lol
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