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
12.500.000.000.0012.50

 

Alta run. Included, I think, 11 campground loops for a total of 12.5 miles. No major wildlife sightings - just a bunch of rodents.

Long post...

Big weekend coming up. Jake and Andrea are getting married on Saturday and they have asked me to officiate. Since I'm a big believer in marriage and also a big believer in Jake and Andrea, I'm happy to do it and incredibly honored that they asked me. I'm hoping they aren't expecting a ton of professional polish out of me as performing weddings is not my main gig in life. But they can expect a ton of sincerity and heart-felt well-wishes for their future success.

The wedding will take place at the Alta Peruvian Lodge which is a special place for me and about to become a more special place for Jake and Andrea. Ann and I began going to the Peruvian 20 years ago early in our marriage before we had children. These were some fantastic times and probably the main reason why we decided to move to Utah from South Carolina in 2002. These trips really stretched our budget but we felt like it was worth it. If you live outside of Utah and are ever in the market for a ski vacation, I would highly reccomend Alta and the Peruvian Lodge over the more swanky and touristy Park City resorts. Alta is one of the most mind blowingly beautiful places in the world and you meet the best people there - genuine, authentic, unpretensious. 

Nowadays I spend a lot more time up at Alta in the summer months. For partly selfish reasons I hold cross country practice there every Thursday although it is a GREAT place to train. Practice starts at 9 am and I sometimes run with the kids, but more often these days I will go up at 7 and run by myself for 10 to 15 miles before the kids show up. I find that I crave the solitude and these Alta runs are the highlight of my week. It's also difficult to describe how good it feels to be healthy and fit enough to enjoy the mountains to the fullest. It overwhelms me with gratitude! I hope to be running and skiing at Alta when I'm 90. I hope to be plodding around the Albion Basin campground in the year 2050 and maybe even bump into a sixty year-old former Alta cross country runner doing the same thing who would thank me for introducing him/her to these runs. I could die at that moment and be content.

For every hour I spend at Alta, Jake and Andrea probably spend ten. I can tell that they connect with life and each other in the mountains more than any place else. When they go on vacations, it's usually to visit OTHER MOUNTAINS! This is no small thing. In future years I hope they will not lose sight of why they moved to Colorado and then Utah in the first place. Life will take its' toll. There will be financial stresses, career stresses, possibly kid stresses, and there will be times when they feel a bit beat down by life. What I hope they will remember is that the greatest happiness and contentment comes from knowing that you have ordered your life in such a way as to allow you to live in harmony with your values, with what is meaningful to you. The opposite is also true. Life's greatest frustration arrises from knowing that you have lost control and that you are out of harmony with your core values.

I have this confident feeling that when Jake and Andrea are 90 and looking back on their lives, that neither will say "we spent too much time in the mountains".

In other words, make time for the mountains!

They asked me to include a few personal thoughts during the ceremony and this post was mostly thoughts that came to me on my run today. 

* Hopefully they will post plenty of wedding pictures here on the FRB.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
Comments
From JD on Thu, Jul 07, 2016 at 15:33:28 from 75.169.19.215

this is a truly awesome post.

thank you.

From Rob Murphy on Thu, Jul 07, 2016 at 15:35:16 from 24.10.247.181

Thanks JD. I had a PBR tall boy with my pizza last night.It was my dad's beer of choice.

From JD on Thu, Jul 07, 2016 at 15:44:02 from 75.169.19.215

:-)

From Vis on Thu, Jul 07, 2016 at 16:12:03 from 199.201.102.37

Thanks for the post. I'm sure Jake and Andrea will appreciate your wisdom.

From Jake K on Thu, Jul 07, 2016 at 16:35:38 from 67.166.113.191

Rob - this means a lot. Thanks for what you wrote here and whatever you end up doing and saying this weekend. We picked the right guy for this job. I'm honored that you are doing this.

Thanks for being such a good friend to us.

I'll definitely get back blogging and photo posting once the wedding build up is over and I have some time again :-)

From Jake K on Thu, Jul 07, 2016 at 17:22:37 from 70.212.48.228

I just read this aloud to my parents and got choked up. You are going to freaking make me cry on Saturday!!! And Andrea won't let me wear sunglasses during the ceremony!!!

This is my favorite post in FRB history. I'm printing it for my scrapbook.

From Jon on Thu, Jul 07, 2016 at 17:51:56 from 96.33.87.148

So cool. I had no idea you were officiating, or that the wedding date has arrived. Hope it goes well for all of you. Love your thoughts above. I sure need a lot more mountains in my life right now- my wife can tell you that.

From Rob Murphy on Thu, Jul 07, 2016 at 17:55:22 from 24.10.247.181

I'm gradually fixing all the typos Jake. Glad you like it.

Our door is always open to you Jon.

From Bret on Sun, Jul 10, 2016 at 06:33:27 from 107.72.162.108

Great post Rob. I trust all went well with wedding...Congrats to Jake and Andrea.

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