Rob Murphy

Week starting Mar 10, 2013

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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: 5.00 Month: 85.25 Year: 495.22
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
51.002.002.500.0055.50
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.750.000.000.007.75

7.75 miles around Liberty Park plus a bunch of fast striders on the wood-chip.

I've been having a problem with sluggishness on a lot of my runs lately. Sometimes I'm getting light-headed. I think I might not be getting enough carbs. I'll tweak that and see what happens. 

Must have been an event out at Liberty Park today called "Rednecks With Their Pit Bulls On Parade". Gotta love sunny, warmish weather! 

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
4.502.002.500.009.00

This qualified as a "workout". Kind of disappointing. More after I eat dinner.

Well, I decided I should do something resembling a workout. I'm a firm believer that all runners need a small handful of staple workouts that they do fairly regularly to gauge their fitness.

I've long had a treadmill workout I do that's sort of a treadmill fartlek. It's a 60 minute run divided into 10 minute increments. I do two minutes at 7 mph, two at 8 mph, two at 9 mph, and four at 10 mph. I try to increase the speed .1 every time so from 50 to 60 minutes I'm doing 7.5, 8.5, 9.5, 10.5.

When I'm really fit this workout is moderately hard. It leaves me feeling confident but not hammered.

I tried to do this today but couldn't. Basically I learned that 6:20 pace is my new 5:55 pace. Kind of depressing. I topped off at about 9.5 mph on this one and only managed 50 minutes for the workout. I did keep close track of the data though and will be able to monitor my improvement.

The thing is, I thought I could basically will myself through the workout the way I used to do it. But I've done this workout so many times that I know exactly how I usually feel running at 10 mph and I was totally bummed to find myself feeling close to the same way at 9 mph. 

On the bright side, I spoke to Ann and the kids about this and they all assure me that they still love me and think I'm mostly a decent person. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
Comments(13)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.500.000.000.007.50

A quote from my favorite TV detective of all time, Jim Rockford...

"I try to keep my virtues to a minimum. That way, they're easier to keep track of." 

I was able to run in the gully today! 7.5 miles of trail running bliss. I was almost warm at the end.

Saw my old buddy Snoopy on top of his dog house. He looked happy but he's getting old. I'm not sure how much longer he will be able to jump up there. It's been about two years since he barked at me. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
Comments(9)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.250.000.000.0010.25

10.25 miles in the gully. Lots of sand, lots of hills.

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
5.000.000.000.005.00

Today I ran four easy miles. Then I stopped and ran six 15 second hill sprints in Sugarhouse Park on what my kids call "the little sledding hill".

Then I jogged a mile home and decided to call it a day. It was kinda hot out. 

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
0.000.000.000.000.00

Today was a great day.

Earlier this year I invited the historian David Kennedy from Stanford University to come to Alta High for a day. Kennedy is probably the leading authority on the Great Depression and World War II era, He wrote Freedom From Fear which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 and he also writes probably the most used AP U.S. History textbook, The American Pageant.

So I picked him up at the Alta Club downtown at 6:30 this morning. Pretty swanky place. He told me that "The Stanford Club" got him his lodging there. He did three presentations this morning and then met privately with my ten top students after lunch for a question and answer session. The whole day went really well and I was thrilled with the great questions and comments my kids had. Not bad at all for public school students. They actually stayed after school for an hour to continue the discussion with Professor Kennedy with none of them seeming anxious to leave. It was downright heartwarming for a teacher.

We Murphy's decided to celebrate our Irishness this evening by going to MacCools Public House for dinner. Had me some Buffalo Shepherd's pie and a pint of Guinness. Just in case anyone from Ireland reads this and questions whether Buffalo Shepherd's Pie is authentically Irish, just let me say that's what we Americans do - we take other people's stuff and make it better. I know this for a fact because I have tried to find decent Chinese food in Chinatown in San Francisco and found that it paled in comparison to Panda Express.

The only thing that would have made the day better would be if I had been able to get a run in. 

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
16.000.000.000.0016.00

Heading up to Jeremy Ranch now for a long run. I'm still a little sore from my "hill blasts" a couple days ago. I love getting old.

Sixteen miles in 2:06 up at Jeremy Ranch.

***JEREMY RANCH ROAD CONDITION REPORT***

99% OF THE ROAD WAS SNOW-FREE FOR THE ENTIRE 7.5 MILE LENGTH. THE ROAD WAS QUITE MUDDY IN SOME PLACES ON THE MORGAN COUNTY SIDE NORTH OF MORMON FLATS. COMPLETELY RUNNABLE NOW. YOU'LL GET A LITTLE MUDDY BUT AIN'T NOTHIN WRONG WITH THAT. 

PM: Push-ups, sit-ups, core stuff. 

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
51.002.002.500.0055.50
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
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