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
6.250.000.000.006.25

6.25 miles at 5:30 AM.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
Comments
From Laputka on Sun, Jul 15, 2012 at 12:49:56 from 98.202.142.68

Hey coach, I have a question for you and need some of your expertise. I'd like to know how well 18 year olds hold up in a marathon. I'm thinking they hold up pretty well compared to when I ran my fist one at age 36, which was pretty much a death march. My nephew approached me a while back and asked me to help him run a marathon. He's a High School cross country runner, graduated this year from Juan Diego. At best, he was average. His 5K time is around 19:30 to 20:15. Oh, we're running DesNews. I know he's strong enough to finish this race to come in under 4 hours easy, this was our original goal. He ran the Utah Valley half in 1:36. He's only done one 20 mile run, it was flat at about 9 minute pace, last mile 7:45. He's also done an 18 and two 15's. We ran the first 15 miles of the course two weeks ago and he held up fine, our ave pace was 8:48. So, today we ran the last 11 miles of the course and we got to thinking that maybe he has a shot to place in his age group. I looked back over several years of the DesNews results, he only has to beat a 3:41 to probably place. There was only one other year that a 3:11 took 3rd (2009) but going back to 2004, 3:41 was the fastest third place (2011). I know a 20 minute 5K'er can easily go 3:30 - 3:20 with proper training. How hard can I push this kid? He has no fear for the last 6 miles. My gut tells me, because he's young and has a good base of short distance running, the last 6 won't crush him like it did me for many years. I'll be with him every step on the way and plan on keeping him under control coming down the canyons and keeping him focused and thinking strong positive thoughts the last 6. So ... just how tough are these 18 year olds with a little less than Ideal training for this DesNews beast?

From Rob Murphy on Tue, Jul 17, 2012 at 22:01:55 from 12.155.14.2

Hey Michael, sorry to take so long...

I'm seeing more and more high school kids interested in running marathons. Nobody's afraid of the race any more! I was a 15:20 5k guy in high school and I never would have considered running a marathon.

That being said, I would encourage him. A typical 1:36 half guy should be able to easily go sub four hours but that might not be the case for an 18 year old without a consistent high mileage base. Here's what I would advise.

1. Of course, run the race.

2.Be very conservative to the top of Little Mountain and probably even further until he gets down into Emigration Canyon.

3. Expect to suffer the last few miles. If he can deal with it and avoid walking I think he has a good shot at a 3:40ish.

It's good that he's done one 20 miler at least. He should be fine if he's not reckless on the early downhills. Easier said than done.

What is your nephew's height and weight?

From Laputka on Wed, Jul 18, 2012 at 22:32:14 from 98.202.142.68

Thank you Rob, I sincerely appreciate your advise. He's about 5'9" 145lbs.

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