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NEW YORK ROAD RUNNERS MEDIA CONFERENCEMarch 17, 2011Ryan HallMeb KeflezighiGalen RuppRICHARD FINN: This is Richard Finn with New York Road Runners. Why don't I ask the three gentlemen here to make an opening comment about Sunday's race, what they're looking for, then we can open it up to questions. We'll start with Galen. GALEN RUPP: I just say I couldn't be more excited to be running here, to have my first Half Marathon be in New York is something I'm really looking forward to. I think it's going to be really cool. Just doing stuff today and being in the city yesterday. We're in Times Square right now. My eyes are all wide open. It's going to be a lot different and a lot more exciting than running a bunch of laps around a track. RICHARD FINN: The city is pretty busy today with the St. Patrick's Day parade and celebrations. Beautiful day in New York. Ryan? RYAN HALL: Galen sets a good pace for us in New York, bringing out all the best guys. Incredible opportunity for all of us Americans to get to show how far America distance running has come, and to compete with these guys. It's fun to know we're all here together, we're going to take a good swing at it on Sunday. Feeling good. Looking forward to the race, to the Boston buildup. RICHARD FINN: Meb. MEB KEFLEZIGHI: I'm definitely excited to be here. The New York Road Runners have been very committed to us distance runners. I'm delighted to see my fellow Americans here, be able to compete against the best in the world. That was a vision of mine. I'm definitely excited to be here and see what happens on Sunday. RICHARD FINN: We'll open it up for questions. Q. Galen, I wonder if you can comment about how you've prepared for this race the last couple of weeks because it's a little bit different than what you're used to, obviously. GALEN RUPP: Yeah, all of our work has been geared towards the longer distance since I got back home the last couple weeks in my training. It's gone really well. It's a little bit of an adjustment at first. Getting used to running that 12, going to the track, you get to do something like a 60-second pace. Everybody is laughing because I was running that slow. But I'm used to going out, a lot of my workouts I run 60-second pace or faster for most of the intervals. Now if I go run 2:10, 2:15 for an 800, that's plenty fast. It's faster than the race pace is going to be. Relax and learn to start getting in that rhythm and running that pace. I think especially here the more you're able to conserve energy in the beginning, not be pressing, it's going to make a big difference at the end. Q. With veterans like Ryan and Meb there, do you intend to sort of gauge a little bit off of those guys to know you're in the right spot, the right pace, especially early in the race? GALEN RUPP: Yeah, definitely. Having other Americans in the race, guys that I've competed against before, is going to help a lot in terms of giving me confidence. They definitely know the ropes here. I'll be keying off of them. Mo Farah is another guy. I know this is his first Half Marathon here. But we've trained together. Just having a familiar face up there is something that's a little comforting and gives you confidence. Q. In the race in Birmingham, you and Mo I think helped each other a little bit to make sure the pace stayed where you wanted it so you could both break national records. Will you and Mo work together almost as teammates in this race as well? GALEN RUPP: Well, fortunately here I think with the field they've assembled, we're not really going to have to. There's going to be plenty of people to draft off of. If there comes a point in the race where we're together and there's a gap, I'm sure we will work together. But we're pretty lucky here in that there's so many great other athletes, it's going to be easy to sit behind them and relax. Q. For Ryan and Galen, I'm intrigued, Meb will be running his 50th race on Sunday. What are your impressions of their interwoven careers? Galen, from the younger perspective, what impresses you about matchup No. 50? RICHARD FINN: You would like Ryan's observations about the fact that Meb and Abdi have will be running their 50th time against each other, correct? Q. Yes. Same question for Galen, too. RYAN HALL: I'm excited to go in their 50th meeting. I remember watching them in high school and as a child in track compete against each other. They've been going at it a long time. Good they can have I guess you could call it a rivalry, but it's just good fun for them, and fun for us to get to watch it take place here. It will be a good time to watch their anniversary race. GALEN RUPP: Same as what Ryan says. Great for the sport I think when you have rivalries that have such a history. Guys that compete against each other over and over again creates great story lines. They have created rivalries over the years, great competitions against each other. I think it's just going to be another great race this coming Sunday. Q. Either Ryan or Galen, do you have any personal contact with Abdi and Meb, funny stories about how they have endured together? RICHARD FINN: Meb asked whether he should leave the room. Ryan or Galen, any thoughts? RYAN HALL: I heard stories about Abdi coming up to train with Meb and (indiscernible) they've had some contentious runs. Maybe this won't be their 50th anniversary after all. They enjoy being around each other. It's just fun, like I was saying, yeah. GALEN RUPP: I don't really have any personal stories about it. I just remember watching them both in high school, thinking how cool it was seeing them go to battle. Now to be in the same race with them, it's kind of weird when I look back. I remember vividly, those are two of the first guys I ever watched and looked up to when I was in high school. Q. Galen, does this race on Sunday constitute the end of sort of a season for you where you take a break after it for a while before you get ready for track? Can you describe a little bit about the next couple of months. GALEN RUPP: I'll definitely take a break after this race. Probably somewhere around a week off completely, not doing any running or training at all. Then after that just build up really slow and get ready for U.S. Nationals. That will be the next big race. I'm sure I'll do a field before that, kind of tune-ups. Definitely this summer is all about the national meet and World Championships hopefully. Q. Road running is totally different. You have water stations that you have to deal with, managing your fuel and things like that. How has that sort of training gone for you? GALEN RUPP: I don't know how much water you need in a Half Marathon. In talking about Jason and Kara, they said you could probably go the whole way without having any. I'll probably take a few water bottles, maybe one or two in the middle. But I don't think it's as important as it is in a marathon. We practiced it a little bit in workouts, just running and drinking because there's a little difference. Normally on a run, probably just stop and take a drink. Here you can't do that. We've done that a little bit in practice. It won't be completely foreign to me. RICHARD FINN: The weather for Sunday is supposed to be I don't know if it's ideal but very nice, very good for the race, sunny and 50 degree temperature range at the start of the race, maybe even a little bit chillier at the start of the race. Q. Ryan, clearly over the last year you've made some pretty big changes with how you do things as far as coaching. Can you gauge a little bit about what your fitness is like heading into this weekend, a little bit more about what your spring plans and summer might be. RYAN HALL: Yeah, I don't really know fitness-wise to be honest with you. I know I'm fitter than before the Houston half. Training in different altitudes, different roads, I have nothing to compare it to, which is kind of nice to be honest. Some of the times that Meb and I are putting down on Green Church Road, we're getting pretty tough to beat. Have a new road now with new records. I'm happy with where I'm at. Definitely progressing. Each week is getting better and better. Training has been going well. But we'll see how this Half Marathon goes. Obviously, the emphasis is on Boston. With that said, I'll do my best out there on Sunday, pour everything out that I have inside me. I'll try to find out with everyone else where I'm at in terms of Half Marathon fitness. Q. Do all three of you have times you'd like to hit and be satisfying for you in this race? MEB KEFLEZIGHI: I think when you come to New York, you just come to compete. Such a great field assembled, not like the ING Marathon, you just compete and see when you get to the finish line and also see if you can improve on your personal time. For me, tracking close to where I ran three years ago, I'd be happy with that. RICHARD FINN: Ryan or Galen? GALEN RUPP: I'd say the same thing. I'm just looking to compete here. Every year the results take care of themselves if you do a good job of competing. Definitely a fast race. Definitely guys in this field, if you're up there with the leaders at the finish, you're going to have a fast time. RYAN HALL: I think for myself it's trying not to go into the race with any preconceived notion of the time because, like, when I ran my best Half Marathon, I was feeling really good, running faster than I thought I should be running. But because I didn't really have a huge expectation, I just kept running right at effort level. That's ultimately what you have to do in any race, find that line of what you can do, what you can't, stick right at it. I try not to go into any race with any time expectation. Q. Galen, with being your first big road race, I wonder, does it feel like a milestone moment in your career, a bit of new chapter where roads are now part of your schedule, part of your future? GALEN RUPP: Yeah, I mean, I'm sure I'll start doing a few more road races every year. But the emphasis for me anyway is going to be on the track for another couple years. But, you know, anything can happen. Start talking about months and years, lots of changes in that time. We're just kind of taking things as they come, really just focusing in on this race right here. Again, I'm really excited to be here. A little nervous just because it's twice as far as I've ever raced before. But I'm fortunate enough to have a lot of good people around me that can give me some great advice like Kara and Jason and Alberta. Hopefully it will be a good time. Q. Does this feel almost like an experiment? GALEN RUPP: A little bit. It's going to be a great challenge and test for me both mentally and physically, just doing something that I've never done before. Obviously going to be lots of doubts that go through my head during the race because I've never done it and I haven't gone through it and I don't know what to expect. From that perspective, I think it's going to be great for this summer and on the track. 10K is going to seem pretty short after running 13 miles. For a lot of different reasons, it's just going to be great for me as I move forward in my career. RICHARD FINN: We thank the three gentlemen here. Thank you all for joining the call. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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