Rob Murphy

Hobbler Half Marathon

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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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Miles:This week: 6.50 Month: 86.25 Year: 340.47
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
172.5026.2013.105.25217.05
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.000.000.000.2517.25

AM: 8.5 miles in 60 minutes. 6 x 100 meter striders I signed up for the Hobbler Half Marathon next Saturday even though I don't really want to run it. Want to know why I decided to run it? Because I envisioned myself reading the race reports of all the smokin' fast times on that downhill course and being really cranky at myself for not doing it. So Spongebob, Patrick, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs are locked inside the Krusty Krab... Mr. Krabs: I've been working in this place for 20 years, and I know there's only one way outta here. Patrick: A high school diploma? I love Summer! Ann's sleeping right now after working a 13 hour shift last night. I'm getting ready to take the kids to the park.

Why, when I went to edit this post, did the thing insist on consolidating my previous entry into one paragraph?

PM: 8.5 miles on the treadmill at Steiner watching Sports Center.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
20.000.000.000.0020.00

I left the house at 6:15 this morning because I planned to run a lot of the D News marathon course in Emigration Canyon and I knew the canyon would be clogged with bikers if I started too late. Also planned to finish my run at Ruth's Diner and meet Ann and the kids for breakfast and if you get there too late you have to wait forever for an outside table.

Ran 20 miles. From my house to the top of Little Mountain (14 miles uphill), then back down the Canyon to Ruth's. Took a shower in the bathroom sink at Ruth's, changed clothes, and had a big plate of banana walnut french toast.

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Comments(9)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

Three hours of lawn mowing and yard work.

Four mile walk.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

AM: Two miles on the treadmill followed by weights. Probably the hardest I've lifted in two or three months.

Enjoyed breakfast at our local LDS Ward after and now we are off to the neighborhood 4th of July parade. Living in Utah is a little bit like living in Mayberry. But I love it.

PM: Eight mile loop up to Foothill Blvd. in 58 minutes.

I'm feeling like a slacker today being the only person on this blog who didn't race today. But I raced the last three weeks and I'm racing next week and just felt like I needed a week off.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.500.000.000.009.50

Hard trail run in the gully which was made even harder by the fact that I lifted too much yesterday and was really paying the price today. Ran at noon in the heat to try to get more acclimated.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.000.000.000.009.00

Nine very hilly miles at Alta/Snowbird. I classified these as easy miles based on the 8 minute pace I averaged, but the hills and altitude made it seem much harder.

Soaked my legs in Little Cottonwood Creek after. Brrrrrr.....

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
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Complete day off.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.000.000.001.005.00

Five miles in 37 minures. Included 4 X 1/4 mile in 1:15 just to shake things up a bit.

Driving Abby home from swim practice tonight I saw a bumper sticker on the back of an extreme sport, rock climbing, snowboarding dude's car...

"Be Ye Not Half-Assed"

I got to get me one of those. Good advice in all realms of life.

 

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Comments(2)
Race: Hobbler Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:16:06, Place overall: 7, Place in age division: 2
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.000.0013.100.0016.10

Grrrrr.....

This course, for me at least, was not as fast as I expected. Yes, there was quite a net downhill but there were plenty of uphills at altitude mixed in. Definitely a course you have to muscle through more than a rhythm course.So here's the story...

Mile 1 - 5:17

Mile 2 - 5:38

Mile 3 - 5:39

Mile 4 - 5:46

Mile 5 - 5:36

Mile 6 - 5:47

Mile 7 - 5:45

Mile 8 - 5:47

Mile 9 - 5:46

Mile 10 - 5:39

Mile 11 - 5:58 (trouble on the horizon)

Mile 12 - 5:53 ( A for effort, keeping it together sort of)

Mile 13 (prepare to laugh) - 6:40 (total crash and burn)

What to say about this last mile? It was hot. I was tired. No one ahead of me I could hope to catch. No one behind me who was going to catch me. So I gave in to the pain and let a wave of wimpiness roll over me.

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Comments(12)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
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Cross training day - or, in coach speak, "ancillary training".

Walked to the gym.

One mile warm-up on the eliptical

Iron pumping

One mile cool down

Walked home

Tomorrow morning I head to New York for a week long course through the USTFCCCA (extra credit for anyone who guesses what that means) to get my 'endurance specialist" certification. Classes run from 8 am to 9 pm daily at St. John's University. Could be a challenge to get many miles in.

 

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Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

Eight easy miles in Sugarhouse very early. Kind of sore and achy.

Off to New York untill next Sunday night. Sporadic blogging probably.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
Comments(6)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.000.000.000.007.00

Seven miles around the residential neighborhoods of Queens surrounding St. Johns with Roger Busch - head Cross Country coach at Wabash College in Indiana.I showed him this blog and he got pretty fired up to se that Paul Peterson is on it.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.500.000.001.006.50

Four mile warm-up around St. Johns.

8 x 200 on the track starting at 35 down to 31

Cool Down

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.000.000.000.007.00

Went to Central Park today and ran seven miles. Lost my credit card and driver's liscense. Not sure how I'm going to be able to fly home Sunday

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.000.000.000.009.00

Nine miles across the Brooklyn Bridge and around Manhattan.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.000.000.000.009.00

I was up early this morning for a sight seeing run around the city. From my hotel (3bbrooklyn.com) I ran down to the East River and then along the waterfront to the Brooklyn Bridge. Crossed the bridge into Manhattan and then basically wandered around. Went to Ground Zero, which I haven't seen since 9/11. I think 6:30 on a Sunday morning may be the best time. Probably the best time for this run as there was no traffic and I was able to run easily through the streets.

Can't wait to get home to Utah and see Ann and the kids. They adopted a dog while I've been here in New York, so we have an addition to the family that I haven't met yet. He's a year old lab named "Summit". Not a fan of the name at all and will do my best to get it changed.

I'll be heading the the airport several hours before my flight to try to deal with my lack of ID with the TSA. Should be fun. 

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Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.000.000.000.007.00

Seven miles in the gully with my girls cross country team. Two of my girls, who are new to the team, were able to run with me the whole way. I have a 9th grader who could possibly win the 5A state championship and a Senior who left the soccer team to run for the first time who won't be far behind. Should be a fun year.

Went to the gym after and lifted.

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Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.000.000.003.007.00

3 X 1 mile in 5:21, 5:18, 5:15. Five minute jog interval.

Four miles of warming up and cooling down.

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Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.000.000.000.0011.00

Eleven miles of fairly hard trails up at Alta. Still quite a bit of snow.

Interesting bit of info I picked up at my class last week. We humans are among the most inefficient animals when it comes to utilyzing oxygen. For example, a fly has a VO2 Max of close to a million!

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
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Aside from cross country practice, I spent the day glued to my computer working on this beast of a project for my class last week. No running. Probably as good a day as any for a rest day before the marathon on Monday.

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Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.250.000.000.008.25

8.25 mile trail run in the Gully with Tyler Ross, one of my top cross country guys. Went to the gym and lifted - about 50% of my normal volume.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.000.000.000.004.00

Ann drove Bret and I up to the D News starting line and we ran the first four miles. Generally easy and taking some walking breaks.

Then breakfast at Ruth's on the way down.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.500.000.000.002.50

Easy jog this morning with some fast striders. Saw that the humidity is up at 50%. Not so good for the race tomorrow.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
Comments(4)
Race: Deseret News Marathon (26.2 Miles) 02:50:14, Place overall: 6, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
1.0026.200.000.0027.20

Very interesting day today at the Deseret News Marathon. The plan was to pace my friend Bret to a sub 3 hour time. Started out pretty well with Bret and I clicking off close to 6 minute miles on the very steep downhills early in the race. When we got to mile five, Bret began to fall back. Ann and the kids were meeting us at the six mile point just before the 1.5 mile climb up Little Mountain. When I saw Ann and Abby on the side of the road (Andy was sleeping in the car), I stopped, collected our Gatorade and Gu and waited for Bret. Ran with Bret a ways up Little Mountain but then he began to fall back again even though I was running about 8 minute pace.

So I had to make a decision. I have to admit that Bret really did not look good at this point - a bad sign this early into a marathon. Turns out I sorely misjudged his condition as he really was able to put it back together coming down the canyon. But I thought he was toast at this point. So I had to decide what to do. My first thought was to keep holding up my end of the deal and run about 2:59 pace and hope he could catch up. I got together with Jeff L from the blog, who was also hoping for a sub 3 for the first time and I thought that maybe I could help him out. See, I really couldn't decide whether or not I should shift into race mode in a marathon that I hadn't intended to race. So Jeff and I began cranking out a bunch of 6:10 to 6:20 miles going down the canyon. I think it was around mile 14 that Jeff wished me luck and told me to take off. I was a little bummed because it was nice having someone to run with and, judging by his breathing, Jeff was doing really well.

As I came out of the canyon by the zoo, Ann and the kids met me again. Ann told me that I was in about 15th place and there were "a bunch of old guys" in front of me. I was really feeling good even though the sun was up and it was now in the 70s in the valley. Going up foothill I was able to catch Bill Cobler and he gave me the scoop on the other Masters runners ahead. I was at about 21 miles and couldn't really see anyone up ahead so I wasn't to optimistic. But I decided to just keep plugging along and see what happens. So, when I crossed the line in 2:50 ( I would have cracked 2:50 if I hadn't had to argue with a cop about the proper direction for me to go around mile 25 - two cops pointing different directions - cost me about 30 seconds) and they anounced that I was 6th and the first Master, I was pretty thrilled.

Splits: 6:02, 6:03, 6:07, 6:16, 6:56, 7:27, 7:56, 7:14, 6:11, 6:09, 6:20, 6:20, 6:14, 6:20, 5:56, 6:18, 6:13, 6:24, 6:12, 6:14, 6:43, 5:58, 6:34,6:25, 6:36, 6:35 for the last 1.2

After the finish, I walked back out on the course to look for Bret, Saw Jeff L cruising in in about 3:03(?). Bret ran high 3:08 after missing the turn where I argued with the cop. Cost him about a half mile. So, he probably would have ran 3:05. Not bad at all for a Floridian running through the Wasatch. He also has a hellacious blister on his foot now. I honestly expected he was going to run 3:20 to 3:30. He ran a really gutsy race and I know he will break 3 at New York in November.

Also, one of my former runners at Alta High School, Jon Kotter, was able to edge out Fritz for the win in around 2:24. That was pretty cool too. I knew that the two of them would have a great battle.

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Comments(16)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

Wow! Just woke up and I'm more sore than I ever have been after a marathon. Not sure how long it will take this to go away.

No running today.

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Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
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Another day without running. A day without sunshine :(

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Another day off

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.000.000.000.002.00

Walked 2.5 miles around the neighborhood this morning. I may squeeze in a few treadmill miles or some cross training this evening.

Planned to run six miles in the evening - but settled for two. Proof that feeling good walking around is not the same thing as being ready to run.

200 push-ups and 200 sit-ups.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.500.000.000.004.50

Three laps around Liberty Park.

I slept wrong last night and I have this horrible pain in my neck and shoulders that is keeping me from turning my head from right to left. Major discomfort!

PM: Four miles of ancillary training at the gym. Sat in the whirlpool for a while hoping it would help my neck. Nope.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.250.000.000.0010.25

Easy five miles in Sugargouse Park. Will do a second workout later.

PM: 5.25 miles on the treadmill. I think I might have detected some ever so slight signs of life in my legs. I actually got up to 8.4 mph for a while.

We were going to go to the Bee's game tonight but it's thunderstorming now. Maybe tomorrow? We should do a FRB night at the Bees.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
172.5026.2013.105.25217.05
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
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