Rob Murphy

I've decided to pack it in for 2010. After a couple days of no running, I was optimistic that I would notice a little bit of improvement in the achilles today. No dice. If anything it was worse. So I will be thankful for my almost three years of running injury free and check out for a while.

I've signed up for the Austin 3M Half Marathon on January 30. It is supposed to be one of the faster courses in the country, but not aided. I've also wanted to check out Austin which I hear is a great city. So, I will get the achilles better and then do a long build-up for next year.

One mile on the treadmill today in 8:30.

6 miles on the elliptical in 46 minutes. Did lots of 30 second "sprints" at 100 rmp on level 12 or 13.

Today is my wedding anniversary - 16 years. We have a babysitter and are going to Fresco at 15th and 15th in Salt Lake. What a pain to find a babysitter on 4th of July weekend!

Five miles on the elliptical in 37:36. Had my HR up between 140 and 150 the whole way according to the, no doubt, accurate machine.

Was able to watch the Prefontaine Classic track meet while at the gym. Saw the 5000 which had the first ever sub 13 on U.S. soil. Solinsky and Lagat struggled a bit though.

5 miles in 1:11:41.

Hardly a PR, but it felt good to be out moving.

Did a "fast" 6.5 mile walk in the gully today while my kids ran.

Gym afterwards - one mile warm-up on the elliptical and some strength training.

New protocol for my achilles: I was reading some Tim Noakes the other day ( The Lore of Running, AKA The Bible) and he mentioned icing a sore achilles 8 hours per day. So I got six bags of crushed ice and am going to devote myself to that the next couple days.

I'll report back. Send some positive thoughts my way.

5.25 miles on the elluptical in 40 minutes. 

am: 100 laps in the pool in 58 minutes.

More cross training madness this afternoon. May hop on the treadmill for a few minutes?

pm: Ran one mile in about 9 minutes. No pain, but some stiffness and weakness - a good sign I guess.

3 miles on the elliptical in 23 minutes.

Then another half mile at about 7 mph.

Walked 5 miles.

I'm now doing daily rehab type exercises for the achilles proscribed by a physical therapist friend.

I think I've finally reached "acceptance" in my stages of grief - dealing with not running.

7.25 miles on the elliptiacl in 56 minutes. According to the machine that burned 1100 calories.

Got a cool package in the mail from mom that included the Johnny Cash childrens album recorded in 1975. My kids LOVE Johnny Cash, especially "At Folsom Prison" which might not be totally appropriate for a 4 year-old. When they're belting out in the back seat "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die", I get a little concerned. But apparently not concerned enough to stop playing it.

Other items included a Tampa Bay Rays pennant, Tampa Bay Rays pony tail thingys for Abby, about a millon sample size Cliff Bars mom swiped from a 10k road race she volunteered at on the 4th of July, and a big bag of Dunkin Donuts coffee which was great because coffee expenses amount to close to a car payment.

See I don't have running to write about, so this will have to do.

Two miles on the elliptical.

Massive amounts of IRON PUMPING.

Oh yeah, don't know if anyone heard this but apparently Lebron James signed with the Heat. Didn't receive much media attention.

Six miles on the elliptical in 45 minutes.

I'm not sure what constitutes mileage on an elliptical? I get it for a stationary bike or a treadmill, but I never see anyone ellipticalling over hill and dale in real life. I do know that the percieved effort is different. Running 6 miles in 45 minutes is easy, while 6 in 45 minutes on the elliptical feels like a threshold run.

Perhaps I'll swim a mile or two this afternoon. Perhaps not.

pm: Went to the gym planning to swim, but there were about 8 people sharing 3 lanes. Decided to do some more ellipticalling.

4 miles in 30 minutes.

I think tomorrow I'm going to post a fake running workout on the blog just to see what it feels like. Maybe 16 miles in 1:36.

I think I'm about a week away from being able to run. I did a mile and a quarter on the treadmill at 7.5 mph with no pain. I'm resolving not to push it though.

Walked 5 miles from home and around Sugarhouse Park.

am: 2 miles on the elliptical. Weights. Moved up to 175 lbs on the squat and deadlift. With all the lifting lately I've made substantial strength gains. But I'm aware of the hazard of bulking up and gaining weight. I don't seem to be gaining weight and I'm definitely stronger, so I'm curious to see how it impacts my running. If I ever run again!

Ran 5.5 miles in Sugarhouse Park. Achilles hurt pretty bad but I ran thtough the pain.

I've decided to ice a lot and gulp piles of ibuprofin and just run until it ruptures or miraculously heals. I expect lots of comments praising me for my wisdom and maturity.

Six miles in 42:50 around the wood chip trail at Liberty Park. Wanted to avoid hills. Pain in the achilles kicked in at around a half mile and sort of got worse and worse until about 3 miles. Then the pain either lessened or I got used to it I'm not sure which. Anyway, the last two miles were actually fairly enjoyable running at about 6:30 pace.

Didn't feel any loss of aerobic fitness after my month of almost no running so the cross training has paid off I think. Definitely a decline in neuromuscular fitness though as I don't feel nearly as smooth as I did before the injury. "Smooth" is a vague concept I realize, maybe running economy would be better?

Finished up with 2 miles on the elliptical in 15 minutes.

I think I might give the 10k at Deseret News a try next Saturday.

8 miles in 54:27.

Splits: 7:34, 7:04, 6:57, 6:01, 5:57, 6:38, 7:00, 7:14

Gully Long Run in 49 minutes. Garrett Jones showed up and I ran with him. It's always good to see my recently graduated runners before they head off to college.

Achilles hurt quite a bit the first 3 miles (mostly uphill), then less so the last 3. It feels better today just walking around and my running the past four days doesn't seem to have made it any worse.

Andy went downtown with me to turn in my Alta High entries for the Deseret News 10k high school team race. He really loved watching all the construction on the new LDS Mall downtown - can't remember what it's called, but the LDS church owns it. Then we went to the Gateway so he could run in the fountain and got an ice cream at Ben & Jerry's. Lots of fun.

pm: 4.25 miles from home to Sugarhouse Park and around the Highland High track a few times. Tried out this new Cramer (TM) ankle support which eliminated much of my achilles pain. THIS MADE ME VERY HAPPY.

5 miles on treadmill in 35 minutes. Worked up to about 6:10 pace at the end.

I was finally able to get my favorite run in. 9 miles from the Goldminer's Daughter Lodge at Alta up the Summer road to the Albion Basin campground and then four laps around the campground. My heart and lungs were really struggling to keep up at 8 minute pace at over 9000 ft.

Soaked the achilles in the creek when finished. This run always reminds me why I moved to Utah.

Took the day off from running to hopefully take care of the soreness in my legs before the race Saturday. Rode my bike for about 8 miles and walked 2 miles.

This morning I ran 5 miles in 36:26. Threw in a handful of 20 to 30 second accelerations. My achilles felt the best it has since the injury. Just a little achy at the end, but I'll be able to race tomorrow.

Not that I'm in racing shape. I was still sore this morning which made me a little cranky. Hopefully some more rest today and a good nights sleep will help. Mostly I just don't feel right - I don't feel fast and smooth like you want to feel before a race. Cross training can definitely help maintain your aerobic fitness, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that nothing prepares you to run a race quite like running.

There, now that I have all my excuses out of the way (oh wait, one more - I've gained five pounds of flab in the last month), it's time to go race.

Well, I have to be thrilled with this race all things considered. Most importantly, I felt no pain in the achilles for the entire race. Although it did ache a little on my jog afterwards.

Arrived at Research Park on the University of Utah campus at 5:20 am for the 6:00 start. I saw Steve Anderson at the start. He's been battling an achilles injury as well so we had lots to talk about. Normally when I see Steve at the start I know I'm racing for second in the masters division and this race seemed no different as he got out quick. Despite my 5:03 opening mile, I couldn't see him. I didn't see any other obvious Masters guys around me, so I assumned I was second. At around the 4 mile mark, I passed Steve walking with a limp down South Temple. Bummer - I don't want to beat him that way! I gave him a slap on the back as I passed. Unbelievably, Steve caught back up with me and passed me around mile 5. But then he had to walk again and I ended up beating him by 20   seconds I think. He's one tough cookie.

Anyway, I was happy with the time. Due to the downhill nature of the first 4 miles, this race really can't be compared to a flat 10k. However, it's the 8th time I've run it and today was a course PR for me which is encouraging as I haven't been running.

Splits: 5:03, 5:15, 5:38, 5:31, 5:39, 7:26 for the last 1.23 which is 6:05 pace.

I was really feeling a lack of fitness the last mile.

The awards were really lame. Just generic medals with no inscription. Also, they felt the need to dispense with any sort of awards ceremony this year. You just showed up at a table and picked up your "award". Such a difference compared to my last race, the Utah Valley Marathon, where they go out of their way to recognize and honor your effort.

I waited around for the marathon finish and ran the last half mile of the course with Steve Ashbaker from the blog and Mark Palamar from New Port Richey Florida who is also a regular here on the blog. Mark ran an impressive 3:10 - not bad for  sea level flatlander. He  had a nice, strong stride the last mile and I'm sure he will crack 3 hours soon. It was great to see lots of folks from the blog.

Took the day off today. I'm with the fam up in Montana doing a history geek vacation because that's what I am. Mostly following Lewis and Clark Trail sites.

Twelve miles in 1:27 along the River's Edge Trail on the Missouri River in Great Falls, Mt.

Stopped a couple times to read historic markers along the trail. Ran from the Holiday Inn up to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and back. The museum is really incredible as are all National Park Service sites. Made me thankful that I live in a country that sees fit to spend public money preserving its history and its best places.This, by the way, was the idea of Progressive Era politicians like Theodore Roosevelt. I wonder if Glenn Beck knows about that? Or does he think we would be better off with upscale condos ringing the perimeter of Old Faithful?

I just mention than because Beck is constantly railing against Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and other Progressive politicians.Yes! By all means lets get rid of the National Park system, the National Forest Service, repeal the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote. Also, Progressive Era relics and threats to freedom like the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act should probably go as well.

But it was a really great run today.

10 miles in 1:14. I took the same route as yesterday up and down (actually down and up) the Missouri River.

I'll be in either Missoula or Hamilton Montana tonight.

In addition to the Lewis and Clark stuff yesterday, we went to the Charles Russell Museum and Gallery in Great Falls. Russell was probably the most famous artist of the American West. The museum was truly amazing. It has a great interactive room for kids as well.

Final vacation report...

Instead of heading West towards Missoula, we decided to head South towards Helena. We took a two hour boat trip on the Missouri River through  The Gates of the Mountains. This term came from the journal of Meriwether Lewis in 1805. After over a year of travel on the Great Plains, he came to these imposing limestone cliffs. Their appearance was so striking, that he called them "the gates of the Rocky Mountains". This is a really great family trip. The area is totally undeveloped and looks pretty much like it did in 1805. Just a few miles North of Helena you follow the signs off of I-15. Kids will really like the boat and the tour guide is great.

Now for "Great Moments in History Geekdom". Some of you may be familiar with the late Stephen Ambrose, probably the most successful popular historian of the 20th Century. He wrote the most popular history of the Lewis and Clark Expedition titled Undaunted Courage as well as books on D-DAY and large biographies of Presidents Eisenhower and Nixon. Ambrose was from Wisconsin and taught for most of his career at Tulane University in New Orleans. Anyway, I happen to know from reading Undaunted Courage that Ambrose's daughter, Stephanie, met the son of Bob Tubbs, the man who owns the boat tour company that takes people on these Lewis and Clark trips up the Missouri, when she was sixteen. Eventually they went to the University of Montana together and got married. So, when I was buying my tickets I asked the kid at the ticket booth if he knew Bob Tubs and he said "yeah, he's my grandpa". So I said, "wouldn't the legendary historian Stephen Ambrose be your other grandpa?" And he said "that would be true, he was my mom's dad".

Surely someone on this blog can appreciate the greatness of that moment for me?

Didn't do any running. Just sat in my hotel room reading Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean who some of you might recognize as the author of a much more famous book about Montana, A River Runs Through It which was made into a movie by Robert Redford. Young Men and Fire is the story of thr Mann Gulch fire of 1949 which claimed the lives of 13 U.S. Forrest Service "smokejumpers". The fire occured on the same stretch of Missouri River as our boat trip between Mann Gulch and Meriwether Canyon. So far, I highly reccomend the book.

It's good to be back home now.

am: 8.25 miles in 61 minutes with my cross country team. After practice we had the 6th Annual Alta Cross Country Team Breakfast at my house. My wife and my mom cooked breakfast for 40 high schoolers. This is quite a feat in our wee little Sugarhouse house.

pm: 5.25 miles in 34:52 on the treadmill. I felt no pain in the achilles at all on the treadmill. But it did hurt the last couple miles on the morning run.

9.25 miles in 1:07:17.

It's really hot today, probably close to 100 and this was the first time in a long time that I've run in the heat of the day. One nice thing about Utah is that we generally have cool mornings and low humidity in the Summer even on days when it gets into the triple digits

While I was running this afternoon I did a lot of thinking about my fifteen years of high school coaching. I've been fortunate enough to coach some outstanding teams and individuals. My teams have won three state championships, been runner-up a couple times, and won several region championships.

Despite all that, by far the most rewarding part is following their lives after high school. I have a former runner from my days coaching in South Carolina in the 1990s who is a great example. Joah Spearman came from a very difficult background. Poor, but with a hard working single mom who was raising Joah and his two brothers, Joah defied all the odds and shattered all the stereotypes of how a young black man in his position should end up. Joah ended up graduating from the University of Texas in 2005 becomming the first person in his family to graduate from college. His first job after graduation was as the chief speechwriter for the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) almost immediately after Hurricane Katrina. He then landed a good job with a successful Washington consulting firm while still in his early 20s. You would think a guy would be content with this level of success at such a young age, but Joah wanted to do some things that having a time consuming job like this wouldn't allow. So he left Washington and moved back to Austin, Texas and started a business called Sneak Attack. I would describe it as a hip, trendy sneaker, clothing, and accessory store. You can check it out at www.sneakattackaustin.com

I should confess that I own something like 2.5% of Sneak Attack so if you decide to by something off the e-commerce site you will be helping to put my kids through college.

Joah also recently published his first book through the University of Texas Press. It's called Real Role Models: Successful African Americans Beyond Pop Culture. The book is a series of profiles of African Americans who have suceeded greatly in areas besides sports and the entertainment industry. As a young black man, Joah was frustrated with the fact that the people held out my our society as role models for black children seemed to come only from these two fields. It's aimed primarily at middle to high school students. You can find it on Amazon.com if you are interested. He's currently at work on his second book which will be a history and profile of the music scene in Austin Texas.

I first met Joah when he was in 7th grade. In South Carolina, middle schoolers are allowed to participate in high school sports. I have always made it a point to run with the kids I coach as much as possible and I recall listining to the 12 year-old Joah talk out on runs and thinking that here was a kid I'd be hearing about in the future.

And I have a lot more great stories of great kids who have become great men and women. As I get older, I find that I spend more time appreciating "kids" like Joah, and less time thinking about the championships.

Mile repeats on the treadmill at 1% grade.

1.5 mile warm-up

3 x 1 mile in 5:21 (11.2 mph) with 3/4 mile jog interval

1 mile cool down

Weighed 150 lbs AFTER the run today. Before the Utah Valley Marathon I was 143 or 144 after workouts. I have to drop a few pounds to race at my best. Problem is, my mom is visiting for a couple weeks. Mom and her whole family are from Mississippi and they cook like it. Butter, butter, and more butter!