Galen Rupp Will Be 'Properly Rested' For Indoor Mile World Record Attempt On Feb. 15

What's with Galen Rupp and Boston University's indoor track? After all, it only got a 4/5 star review on Yelp. By February 15, the Olympic silver medalist will have run three straight races there, the first two of which were American records. For the third, the mile, he's hoping for a world record, Oregonlive.com reported.

Finally, he'll be rested, part of a long term taper for the U.S. Indoor Championships, a prelude to Rupp's ultimate goal, the Indoor World Championships in Poland. He trained though his last two runs -- a 13:01 5k on Jan. 16 and an 8:07 two mile on Jan. 25 -- according to his coach, Alberto Salazar. He also trained directly after them. Following the two mile, for instance, he reportedly ran a 5 x 1 mile workout, nearly breaking four minutes on his last rep (the splits, according to Runner's World: 4:21, 4:20, 4:20, 4:16, and 4:01).

"This will be the first race this year he has been properly rested for," Salazar told Oregon Live.

The current world record in the indoor mile is 3:48.45, set in 1997 by Hicham El Guerrouj, the same man who owns the outdoor world mile record and the 1,500 meter world record. The American record is 3:49.89, set by Bernard Lagat in 2005. Rupp will be going for the world mark, according to Salazar, even if it means costing him the American record.

"I can't predict Galen will break the world record, but we're not going to put all that work out there for 3:49," Salazar said. "He might as well go for it. He might die a little going for 3:48. But we would rather go for it and fail than not go for it and just try to break the American record."

Of some controversy is the record attempt's date, the same as the Millrose Games and its world famous Wanamaker Mile. Will Rupp's run take attention away from Millrose?

Even if Rupp breaks one or both of his targeted times, he won't be satisfied. That will come only with a top three showing at World's. After all, what's more impressive, Alan Webb's 3:46 mile (the American outdoor record), or Rupp's silver medal? The answer, I think, is obvious.