Rob Murphy

Gary Bjorklund 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

Click to donate

to Ukraine's Armed Forces

Miles:	This week:	12.50	Month:	92.75	Year:	502.72

Sat, Jun 22, 2013

Race: Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:16:52, Place overall: 31, Place in age division: 2

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
3.00	0.00	13.10	0.00	16.10

I'm very happy about this race . Coming in I was a little concerned about my fitness and my disrupted routine and diet this week. I've also been a little concerned about my racing mindset lately and my willingness to compete with intensity in a longer race. In other words, I've been wimping out a lot lately.

But I ran a good, consistent race today - keeping every mile under six minutes and closing with a 5:45 and a 5:40. I also had a good group of guys to race with most of the way. Turns out several of them were masters runners from a Minnesota club. I also ran the last couple miles with a kid from Edina (a suburb of Minneapolis) with a NXN singlet which we chatted about for a bit. He seemed really happy that I recognized the significance of his shirt and I was really happy to be competing with a guy like that at my advanced decrepitude.

I got a big boost from Ann and the kids at around 10 miles. I wasn't expecting to see them along the course and it really helped at a tough point. I also appreciated Jake and Andrea screaming for me the last couple hundred meters. It's pretty nice to be 1500 miles from home and run into guys like Paul and Jake who seem genuinely interested in my efforts. I feel fortunate to still be able to compete in this great sport and I hope I can make it last a while longer. I don't really have any specific goals any more except to train hard and occasionally be rewarded with a race I feel good about.

So I ended up about 55 seconds slower than I ran in 2011 but I'm happy and I feel like I've made it back. I suppose I should make allowances for being two years older but I'm not totally ready to concede yet.

I just saw that my "age graded" finishing place was 9th. :-)

Night Sleep Time: 0.00	Nap Time: 0.00	Total Sleep Time: 0.00	Weight: 0.00	Calories: 0.00

Comments

From Bret on Sat, Jun 22, 2013 at 10:16:18 from 96.228.167.228

Really nicely done Rob. I was tracking you by text this morning. Very pleased with your consistency and a very good race report to go along with it. Congrats!

From allie on Sat, Jun 22, 2013 at 10:43:02 from 97.126.220.58

awesome race, rob. congrats. that's great that your family was there to cheer you on.

From Rob Murphy on Sat, Jun 22, 2013 at 10:51:07 from 75.134.145.181

Bret - Thanks. I don't know about you but runner tracking really helps me in a race. Knowing that knowledgeable people are tracking me is motivational.

Allie - you need to put this race on your schedule some year. It's really the only cool weather marathon you can find in the summer.

From Lulu Walls on Sat, Jun 22, 2013 at 11:22:46 from 198.228.228.175

Wow Rob that is absolutely awesome!

From Paul on Sat, Jun 22, 2013 at 11:25:15 from 64.134.160.157

Great job Rob. Will tell you again in person later.

From dugco on Sat, Jun 22, 2013 at 11:42:02 from 68.35.221.180

Congrats, Rob - very exciting news when an old guy does well and more importantly enjoys the effort. Love the NXN angle - ya just never know.

From jtshad on Sat, Jun 22, 2013 at 11:47:31 from 69.20.183.178

Awesome race, you ran very well and should be proud. Congrats on running strong!

From Bob on Sat, Jun 22, 2013 at 12:40:36 from 67.176.195.62

Good job Rob!

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Jun 22, 2013 at 12:46:56 from 72.250.218.114

Congratulations! For the next goal, how about sub-6:00 pace in the half after you turn 50?

From Kendall on Sat, Jun 22, 2013 at 12:54:38 from 70.196.197.156

Nice race Rob. Congrats on a great race on a big stage!

From Fritz on Sat, Jun 22, 2013 at 13:08:00 from 71.219.10.98

Great race Rob! Meb is 38 and he took 2nd. More PRs are to come.

From Rob Murphy on Sat, Jun 22, 2013 at 13:18:51 from 75.134.145.181

Meb is pretty amazing Fritz. I think that may have been a PR for him.

That's not a bad goal Sasha.

From Rob on Sat, Jun 22, 2013 at 13:57:34 from 204.15.86.95

Very nice Rob, You've had a pretty awesome come back. Gives me inspiration.

From Josh E on Sat, Jun 22, 2013 at 14:00:15 from 166.147.88.36

Great race Rob. With your current conditioning you definitely should have a few more good races this year.

From Steve on Sat, Jun 22, 2013 at 15:38:59 from 66.87.112.58

I didn't even want to look at this all day since I couldn't be there, but stoked to see you ran a good race. Awesome job, we missed you guys.

From Jake K on Sat, Jun 22, 2013 at 20:03:56 from 184.49.228.79

Good run today Rob. You looked strong coming in at the finish. You've still got some racing legs!

Enjoyed hanging out with you guys... Have a safe trip back to Utah. I decided I'm going to fly back instead of riding in the trunk :-)

From steve ash on Sat, Jun 22, 2013 at 21:37:53 from 174.52.100.252

Nice going Rob, even better than Utah Valley and with good closing splits at the end. What more could you ask for.. Enjoy the rest of your trip and congrats.

From scottkeate on Mon, Jun 24, 2013 at 09:46:49 from 192.150.9.200

Great race, Rob! I love your perspective. I ran with a couple of guys in their sixties who seemed to be frustrated with every run--always referring to faster days, or never quite hitting that sub 2:40 marathon. Their fixation on the past seemed to be getting in the way in the present. Truth is they are still participating in an amazing activity and experiencing fantastic health benefits--strong muscles, low colesterol, great cardio, high energy levels, lower stress levels, and the list goes on and on.

I love this quote from Albert Einstein: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” The act of running with all of the systems involved from respiration, circulation, digestion, etc. is a miracle.

You have given a lot to this sport as a coach and participant. Your hard work and dedication is inspiring to me. Thanks for running hard, for enjoying life, and giving us all something for which to aspire.

From Rob Murphy on Tue, Jun 25, 2013 at 10:56:25 from 75.100.216.112

Thanks so much Scott. That made my day.

From Jason D on Tue, Jun 25, 2013 at 11:01:29 from 24.1.80.94

Great race, Rob. I was pleased to see this among the strong races in Minnesota. I was still getting my beauty sleep at the time, so I wasn't able to track you, but I managed to thumb through my phone and see the final time with my blurry eyes :)

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