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

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 31.75 Month: 142.00 Year: 396.22
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.500.000.000.008.50

7.5 treadmill miles at about 7:25 pace. 1 mile on the quad masher.

Nice, short tribute to Roger Bannister by Malcolm Gladwell at newyorker.com. David Epstein also wrote a more lengthy piece for Sports Illustrated. I reccomend both.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
Comments
From Bret on Thu, Mar 08, 2018 at 13:06:19 from 216.234.133.229

My favorite part of the short Gladwell piece was the reference to the DFW NYT article on Federer. I had actually just sent that to someone a few months ago to show what an outstanding writer he was.

Not sure I completely agree with Gladwell's take though. He seems to diminish Bannister's accomplishment in a way. As a runner himself, it surprised me - because a 4 min mile especially at the time was obviously remarkable and still to me is not nothing - even today.

From Rob Murphy on Thu, Mar 08, 2018 at 13:15:35 from 163.248.33.220

I know exactly what you mean and I had a similar thought. I think what Gladwell was going for with the "ordinary greatness" idea was that we can all come close to knowing what it feels like to train for and run a 4 minute mile without being able to actually do it. It's a more approachable achievement than some others.

Right?

From Bret on Thu, Mar 08, 2018 at 13:27:20 from 216.234.133.229

Yeah - I agree - I did not mean to omit that his effort was to say we can all "know" what it feels like to run as fast as Bannister ran, even for a small fraction of the distance - and that distance running is a sport that is much more "inclusive" because of that aspect of it.

From Rob Murphy on Thu, Mar 08, 2018 at 14:12:15 from 163.248.33.220

Are you a fan of DFW's fiction?

From Bret on Thu, Mar 08, 2018 at 14:23:37 from 216.234.133.229

Huge fan. He only really wrote 2 novels and then took his own life before finishing the last one - which was posthumously published - and I have read a bunch of his shorter works. Brilliant. Quirky writing to say the least. If you want an adventure - pick up the rather lengthy Infinite Jest.

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