Ricky Quintana: You didn't get to go to this year's Great American Cross Country Festival. Can you explain [your last-minute decision not to attend the race]?
Alberto Salazar: Five of our top seven runners came down with the flu, that's why we pulled out... That was really an early meet that I probably wouldn't have wanted Galen to run anyway — because he ran so late in the summer — but he was going to do it if the team needed him, if we were running there. Other than that, we've been pointing, definitely, for this race.

RQ: Are there some things that you and Galen have talked about that are strategic points in the race?
AS: Well, you know obviously, the big hill that you do twice is really the only challenging part of the course. I don't believe in necessarily attacking hills. It's what you do after the hills, that is most important thing.

RQ: On this course, what do you think it will take to win on this course?
AS: I think it's going to take under 14:40 to win.

RQ: Do you think it will be an even-paced race?
AS: Not really. I'm just trying to remember from last year. I think the second mile is considerably slower, when you hit the hill and I'm just guessing, but it's somewhere in the 10 second range slower. And then it seems like it picks up again in the last mile.

RQ: You've seen some of the West and national contenders. Who do you think are the favorites and why?
AS: I'd say Shadrack Kiptoo is obviously someone who has a very good change to win. I'd say the other guys that are going to be up there are (Matt) Withrow, (Christian) Wagner, (Ryan) Deak and (Garrett) Heath. I'm sure I'm probably missing someone in there. Those are probably the main guys.

RQ: That's a lot of people you just rattled off. Do you think that's going to be decided late in the race?
AS: That's too hard to tell. I can't say for other guys. You can never say that you are going to beat someone for sure. You don't have control over what other people do. All I know, that in Galen's case, he's very ready. I don't think anyone is going to pull away from him. I think he has a good a chance. He can kick with anyone. That doesn't mean he's going to win. I just think that he's going to be right there. The other guys who are all right there, I don't know.

RQ: Last year, he had issues with his foot and other things. What is his health this year and what does he feel about his race this year?
AS: He's great. He's 100% better than last year. We talked about that last night. He said it was great to be able to walk without his foot hurting the day before this race compared to last year. He was just getting over strep throat. Everything has gone perfect for him this year... Every race he's run, we've done a hard workout afterwards. He's very, very fit. It couldn't have gone better.

RQ: What is the purpose behind [the hard workout after the race]?
AS: If it is an all-out race that he runs, I'm not necessarily going to run him hard afterwards, but most of the races that he has run this year, he has not gone all out. I always feel that that is a day that we can't waste. Just running a 15:00 5k and not doing a workout afterwards is an easier day than a hard workout day. I just feel we need to do that afterwards. We can't waste a day on just a race.

RQ: What is the typical workout that [he'd] do afterwards?
AS: He'd run four times an 800, 300 set. That's a 800 and then a 300 and you repeat it three times. He'd average anywhere between a 2:11 to 2:12 for those, with a very short recovery on them. That would be the main thing.

RQ: I recall watching you do that workout in Gainesville when you were a pro. What is the role in training of that workout?
AS: Well, that workout is an old Oregon bread and butter workout. It's one that Bowerman and Dellinger concocted. It's a good mix of endurance and speed wrapped up in a workout. After you've run a race, it's hard to go out and do 1,200 or mile repeats, but you can do several 800 or 300 repeats and really get your volume up and get a little pace and endurance work with the 800s and work on your speed a little bit with the 300s.

RQ: Did Galen's 14:20 in Barbados give him a little more confidence coming into this season?
AS: Yeah, I think that both running the World Youth Championships and running an 8:10...really gave him a lot of confidence in terms of being able to run against the best athletes and being able to do OK. I think that for him now, running in big meets, psychologically, he got a lot of experience from that. I also think it opened up his eyes to how good athletes his age can be. I think his whole ability to work hard and push himself in workouts has been really enhanced because when you run a junior class record and you are 15 seconds away from the winner in a 3k, it makes you realize maybe you aren't that good after all. [You realize] you've got to train that much harder and that you can train that much harder.

RQ: When will he decide on his college?
AS: That's an option that he's keeping open. He's said that one option he may have is just to stay in Portland. His parents will send him to school there. He's a 4.2 student so he won't have any problem getting into any college. [He just wouldn't] run collegiately. That's something [where] he can obviously change his mind later, but right now, that's the direction he's leaning.