Rob Murphy

March 29, 2024

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Location:

Salt Lake City,

Member Since:

Feb 11, 2010

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

I had some success in high school and college. Winner 1985 Rod Dixon Run 

Had a fair amount of success as a Masters runner for most of my 40s. 

Short-Term Running Goals:

Have fun with running, explore more trails, stay healthy.

Long-Term Running Goals:

Keep running and racing consistently for as long as I can. Find what is sustainable for me over the long run.

Personal:

I teach AP European History and other courses at Alta High School. I coached the track and cross country teams at Alta for 16 years.

Married, two kids - Abby and Andy

My Twitter  @murphy_rob

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to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 31.75 Month: 142.00 Year: 396.22
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.500.000.000.007.50

I've been thinking a lot over the weekend about how I can continue improving as a runner as I approach my late 40s. In your 20s and 30s, the formula is pretty simple - train harder. At my age you will, of course, improve with more consistent training. However, the need to balance hard training with rest and recovery becomes more crucial and finding that balance can be troublesome.

For me, the issue comes down to weight. In 2009 I ran a 2:52 marathon and a 1:18 half marathon with a typical race day weight of 153 pounds. In 2010 I ran a 2:43 and a 1:15 and I weighed 145 on race day. For 2011, I have set a goal of 1:13 for the half marathon (either in Austin or Salt Lake) and sub 2:40 for the marathon (at Ogden hopefully). I think I'll have to weigh around 138 to 140 to accomplish that.

 I've made quite a few positive changes to my diet in the past few years which have helped me improve as a runner. However, as I think about my diet, I can still see plenty of room for improvement. So I've decided to use this blog to record what I eat every day as well as my training activities. I'm going to be completely honest and I think writing it down will help me get rid of some embarrassing  habits.

So, here we go.



 

Breakfast - at 6 am I had two pieces of peanut butter toast on honey whole wheat bread, a glass of OJ, multi-vitamin, 2 fish oil tablets. Two cups of coffee.

Mid morning: One big banana

Lunch - A pile of pasta-noodle stuff with cauliflower, carrots and Swedish meatballs from IKEA. They sell more than furniture!  Lots of water.

Afternoon snack: Cliff Bar and a few handfuls of peanuts!

 Dinner: Stuffed Chicken and Rice with a sourdough roll. Water

Today's Run: 7.5 miles on the treadmill generally between 8 and 9 mph.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
Comments
From jtshad on Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 11:29:21 from 204.134.132.225

Don't forget to have a life as well...chocolate and other distractions have to be in balance in the life equation. Plus, changes in your training may help as well. Let's talk more about some training improvements we can both make in our routines.

From Bret on Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 11:35:02 from 64.128.133.66

2 fish oil tablets? Piggy :)

Seriously though - How have you reconciled that too much weight loss may be counterproductive - how much will be too much I guess is my question?

By the way having just read the latest Runner's World article on Eddy Hellebuyck - glad you opted NOT to use EPO to address your potentially declining performance with age.

From Rob Murphy on Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 12:13:11 from 205.127.70.66

Jeff - I'm not planning on being a diet Nazi or anything. Just trying to avoid consuming massive amounts of empty calories - like 6 or 7 large handfuls of chocolate chips at 9 pm.I think dropping a few pounds will enable me to tolerate more volume as well.

Bret - I'm not trying to get down to 120 or anything. But I do think 140ish is probably my ideal weight. The fish oil leads to some really pleasant fishy burps for the next couple hours after you take it. I've read tons about the positive health benefits of the stuff and unlike most supplements, it's super cheap.

From dugco on Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 17:19:04 from 199.44.94.134

Afternoon snack: 6 Budweisers at my desk.

Embarrassing habits indeed, my man. I think you can end your experiment right now buddy - we have a winner!

From Rob Murphy on Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 18:12:03 from 24.10.248.6

Thanks Doug. I should probably change that to a Cliff Bar and a few handfuls of peanuts. I'll do that now.

Bret - come to think of it, they don't do any EPO or drug testing at our local races. Hmmmm....

From baldnspicy on Tue, Nov 16, 2010 at 07:32:24 from 72.77.120.222

Great job, Rob. I need to make some modifications to my eating as well that I think will have a positive effect. I'll have to look into the fish oil. That might be a good thing for me to add. I'll be anxious to see how this works for you!

From allie on Tue, Nov 16, 2010 at 14:35:14 from 174.23.238.75

sounds like a good plan, and great goals for 2011.

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