Galen Rupp talks about his return to Europe, plus Andrew Wheating

Galen Rupp’s July 10 appearance at Gateshead brought a new personal record in the 5,000 meters.

But it also left him feeling he could do a lot better.

Rupp completed a tough 10 x 800 workout on Friday — with  short 1:45 recoveries — and was preparing to leave Saturday morning for Europe. He is scheduled to run the 5,000 meters in Stockholm on Aug. 6.

He aims to become the fifth American to break 13 minutes in the past year. Past that, he will also run a 3,000 in London on the 13th and a 5K in Zurich on he 19th.

Since his return from England, Rupp has spent three weeks working on closing races faster. He was unhappy with his final two laps at Gateshead.

“(The workouts) are going a lot better than they were before I went over to Gateshead,” Rupp said. “I’m excited to go back and get another crack at it.”

Rupp has also paid particular attention to his former Oregon teammate, Andrew Wheating.

“Obviously, he had a little bit of a rough patch indoors, not winning the 800, and then at Penn Relays,” Rupp said. “I was really happy to see that he pulled it out his senior year, especially at home. I had a feeling he was going to win. He always tends to step up on those big stages.”

Since Wheating left college behind, he has quickly asserted himself as perhaps the top middle distance runner in the U.S.

“It’s been unbelievable, real cool to watch,” Rupp said. “I was a little shocked when he ran 3:30. To make that big a drop was cool. But I think anyone who was around him could tell … it may have come a little faster .. but everybody figured he was capable of doing that.”

Rupp has not spoken to Wheating recently, and did not attend the NCAA Championships in Eugene. He did, however, watch the meet on TV.

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