“I really haven’t been this excited heading into a race in a long time. And that’s all rooted in the training I’ve done.”

Kyle Merber’s second conversation with Galen Rupp ahead of the Chicago Marathon comes with bittersweet news: Kyle is scratching. A jagged rock on the exit of a river after a good run turned into a trauma-induced plantar situation that worsened until Chicago was no longer feasible. He takes full responsibility and exonerates Galen completely. The coaching experiment, which produced some of Kyle’s best training since retiring, just ran out of luck in the final stretch. Galen, meanwhile, is entering race week as the most excited he’s been before a race in a long time.

We discuss:

– The taper and why flat legs are normal
– Mike Smith’s observation heading into Chicago
– Race week food — what Galen actually does
– Antrim half marathon — the tune-up
– The coaching relationship with Mike Smith
– How Galen thinks about competition
– Training logs — handwritten vs. phone
– The 200s session — Galen takes responsibility
– Why the speed work unlocked the threshold session
– The 24-miler on time, not pace
– Gut training
– The green light workout
– Kyle’s injury — and why he’s scratching
– Galen on injury management and longevity
– The case for real time off
– Chicago race week schedule in detail
– Chicago course notes
– Galen’s mindset heading in

____________

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OLIPOP: Like sparkling apple juice and gummy apple rings blending into one, Olipop's Crisp Apple is so tantalizingly sweet and refreshing it makes every day feel like a celebration. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

SUUNTO: The Suunto Run 2 is their new flagship watch built specifically for road running and the marathon. You get around 10 days of battery with daily use and 24 hours in performance mode with dual frequency GPS. The watch also tracks your sleep, HRV, and training balance, so you know when to push and when to back off in your workouts. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠If you're in the market for a new watch, check out the Suunto Run 2⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

KAIZEN: kaizen is a training app that starts with your running history to set the baseline and then updates around the training you do. kaizen looks at the bigger picture of your training to know your current fitness. The app translates your last few months of training into an accurate view of how your current fitness, taking a big picture view that quiets the noise of individual workouts. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Download today in the App Store or Google Play and get two weeks free with code CITIUS within the app.⁠

“Toledo was a debut effort. This is my debut race of the marathon. Those are two different things.”

My guest for today’s episode is Vinny Mauri — and the last time we had him on, he had just run 2:05:53 in his marathon debut on a bike path in Toledo, Ohio, self-coached, without a pacer, without a shoe contract, and with no course clocks anywhere on the route. He looked up at the finishing clock expecting to see 2:09 and it said 2:05. He had no idea.

A lot has happened since then. He signed a professional contract with ASICS. He hired Hawi Keflezighi as his agent. He kept his hours at Second Sole running store in Niles, Ohio, where he fits customers for shoes and occasionally gets asked by someone how training is going. He has not raced once. And he has built one of the more unconventional marathon training blocks any American professional has put together ahead of a world major — seven consecutive weeks of 26-plus mile long runs, a 138-mile peak week, a September day that became 45 miles on the treadmill at Planet Fitness, and an 86-mile stretch across three consecutive days that included 36 miles at 4:56 pace.

The central question of the block was simple: how do you make 26.2 miles feel short?

This conversation was recorded one week before the Bank of America Chicago Marathon — his first world major, his first race since Toledo, and the first time in his career he can honestly say he arrived at a start line healthy and ready. He is joining a field that includes Clayton Young, who has publicly committed to going after Connor Mantz’s American record, and Charles Hicks, who ran 2:04 in Boston this spring. Vinny’s position on the American record conversation is: There is an extremely high probability it gets rewritten on Sunday.

In this conversation we get into:

– Why Chicago
– Why no races since Toledo
– How he handled the process of signing with Hawi Keflezighi and landing on Asics
– Why he’s chosen to keep his hours with Second Sole
– The architecture of this training block
– His work on fueling better
– Treadmill vs. the roads
– Why he doesn’t train much at goal marathon pace
– A guest question from Emma Grace Hurley
– Where he lands on the American record talk and hype
– The moment of the race that he’s visualized the most
– A Planet Fitness partnership?
– What he wants people to takeaway from his 2026

____________

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

OLIPOP: Like sparkling apple juice and gummy apple rings blending into one, Olipop's Crisp Apple is so tantalizingly sweet and refreshing it makes every day feel like a celebration. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

SUUNTO: The Suunto Run 2 is their new flagship watch built specifically for road running and the marathon. You get around 10 days of battery with daily use and 24 hours in performance mode with dual frequency GPS. The watch also tracks your sleep, HRV, and training balance, so you know when to push and when to back off in your workouts. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠If you're in the market for a new watch, check out the Suunto Run 2⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

KAIZEN: kaizen is a training app that starts with your running history to set the baseline and then updates around the training you do. kaizen looks at the bigger picture of your training to know your current fitness. The app translates your last few months of training into an accurate view of how your current fitness, taking a big picture view that quiets the noise of individual workouts. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Download today in the App Store or Google Play and get two weeks free with code CITIUS within the app.⁠

A lighter week of running action but a big performance out of Berlin needs some more context.

Discussed in this episode:

– Berlin Marathon — men’s race: Guy Adola wins in 2:02:51 in the absence of Sebastian Sawe (stress fracture to the right tibia ruled him out of all fall marathon options).

– Tigst Assefa, 2:11:04, and the Achilles that didn’t quite hold: Assefa won Berlin in 2:11:04 for the third fastest women’s marathon ever. She was on world record pace through 40K. The projection was 2:09:44. At 40K the wheels came off. Her management’s statement says she first felt pain at 31K and suffered a severe injury — described as a complete rupture of the right Achilles — at approximately 40K. She completed the final 2.2 kilometers. Surgery followed on Monday. Recovery timeline: potentially up to seven months.

We unpack:

– The science debate on an Achilles injury

– The medical opinion

– Her Achilles history

– The credibility question on if she would have broken Ruth Chepngetich’s world record

– The Adidas additional AIU testing question

– What’s next for the women’s marathon WR

Also briefly touched on:

– London Marathon’s two-day split — decided by rock, paper, scissors

– NYC Marathon’s cheer zone rules

– Boston Marathon cutoff time

– Clayton Young hamstring reaction

+ More

____________

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

OLIPOP: Like sparkling apple juice and gummy apple rings blending into one, Olipop's Crisp Apple is so tantalizingly sweet and refreshing it makes every day feel like a celebration. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

SUUNTO: The Suunto Run 2 is their new flagship watch built specifically for road running and the marathon. You get around 10 days of battery with daily use and 24 hours in performance mode with dual frequency GPS. The watch also tracks your sleep, HRV, and training balance, so you know when to push and when to back off in your workouts. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠If you're in the market for a new watch, check out the Suunto Run 2⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

KAIZEN: kaizen is a training app that starts with your running history to set the baseline and then updates around the training you do. kaizen looks at the bigger picture of your training to know your current fitness. The app translates your last few months of training into an accurate view of how your current fitness, taking a big picture view that quiets the noise of individual workouts. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Download today in the App Store or Google Play and get two weeks free with code CITIUS within the app.⁠