Nike coach Alberto Salazar said on Tuesday that Galen Rupp’s preparation for the USATF Indoor Championships has been going well.

Salazar, Rupp and Oregon Track Club Elite/Portland teammates Amy Yoder Begley and Dathan Ritzenhein are being housed at 6,100 feet for altitude training. Only Rupp, among the three, is competing this weekend in Albuquerque.

Salazar said the group has been vigilant about preventing the spread of a flu bug that swept through members of the group, but that Rupp hasn’t been affected. He is expected to go head-to-head with Bernard Lagat in a 3,000 meters final on Saturday.

“This time Galen didn’t get (the bug),” Alberto said. “He’s training really well right now.”

It is a rematch of their 5,000 meters race at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games on Feb. 7, when both runners ran under American record time. Lagat won that meeting, establishing a new record after kicking away from Rupp in the final 300 meters.

For Rupp, Saturday’s race brings another chance to take on one of the world’s top performers and try to win. Salazar said it marks an important step in Rupp’s development.

“We’ve got to continue to work on Galen’s ability to either go (early) versus kick (late),” Salazar said. “The important thing is that he has taken off against the big guys, like he did at Boston. He was not ready to do that before. He’s used to being in there and trying to hang on as long as possible.”

By the time he races, Rupp will have been living at an altitude about 1,000 feet above Albuquerque for three weeks. He has been able to run on the 200-meter banked oval at the Albuquerque Convention Center for workouts and also has 24-hour access to a Snap Fitness gym near the condos where he is staying.

It is not a glamorous existence. The camp is designed to be free from distraction, to gain the physiological effects of altitude, and to be focused on training, nutrition and sleep.

Yoder Begley posted to her Twitter account recently that the days in Albuquerque go like this:

“Run, bike, stretch, eat, lift, nap, snack, run, bike, eat, stretch, bed time.”

Ritzenhein is using the time to prepare for the World Cross Country Championships in Poland. Yoder Begley, who has recently recovered from an injury, is putting in time to prepare for the outdoor track season.

Rupp had allergy problems at the end of a January race in Albuquerque but has not had them during workout sessions in the track, Salazar said.

Rupp is also entered in Sunday’s 1,500 meters but Salazar said they haven’t decided whether he would attempt to run the second event.