While Galen Rupp and Mo Farah are now into the marathon distance, their years training together shaped them. Mo Farah was originally brought over to Portland to be the training parter of Galen Rupp. I recall several months into the program, Alberto Salazar telling me how amazing Mo Farah really was and is. In this visit, April 2013, it was obvious that Mo Farah was beginning to develop the confidence that we saw from 2011-2017 in his track racing. His ability to race, to manage the stress of the final race steps, was key to Mo Farah’s amazing wins. Galen Rupp’s win in Chicago, a race where Galen truly showed his talent and marathon prowess.
On April 13, 2013, the Shoe Addicts filmed six hours of workouts with Mo Farah, Galen Rupp, Cam Levins, Matthew Centrowitz, under the watchful eyes of Alberto Salazar and Peter Julian, the coaching staff for the Nike Oregon project. A Day in the Life is an IAAF media project, supported by USA Track & Field, where a group of international sports writers, and Doug Pensinger, Getty images photogapher, were given access to not only a track session, but, perhaps even more amazing to this observer, a very intricate, thoughtful core and overall strength and conditioning program for NIKE Oregon Track Project.
Here is the video, courtesy of the IAAF and produced by the Shoe Addicts, on Mo Farah and Galen Rupp, for the A Day in the Life program. We hope you like it. Oh, this past weekend, Galen Rupp won the 10,000 meters and was second in the 5,000 meters at the US champs. Across the pond, Mo Farah used a 50.8 last lap to win a very tactical 5,000m at the European Athletics Team Championships, where Great Britain placed third.
At the end of the sessions, and after watching Ashton Eaton, Galen Rupp and Aries Merritt at this past weekends’ USA championships, it becomes clear that there are no secrets. Hard work, attention to detail, the willingness to look at each day with new awareness, and a brutal honesty are key, along with great coaching, abilty and huge desire to excel if one wants to succeed in the global sport that is track & field. A Day in the Life gives you, the fan, a view inside the training lives of Aries Merritt, Ashton Eaton, Galen Rupp and Mo Farah.
Special thanks to Laura Arcoleo of the IAAF, who managed and organized the media team, coordinated the events, and gave us access to three amazing venues and training lives. Great photography by Doug Pensinger of Getty Images and exciting video by the Shoe Addicts. The team of writers that joined us were fun as well as amazing.
Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys.
Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys.
Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."
by Larry Eder
