Rob Murphy

Always impressive when a coach actually adheres to advice that he likely would give one of his athletes. Wise move, Rob. Back at it in a flash.

Wise move. may keep you running with a few days off rather than a month or two. I agree, if you don't like a certain race, no need to do it. Great job today! Get that knee taken care of!

I would have to say that marathons just look silly, especially that one :) Sorry you had a bum day out there, but I am glad you didn't completely ruin your knee so you can enjoy the rest of the summer!!!

Many thanks for the hospitality and the pre-race pancakes. Sorry about your knee issues - but you'll be glad you did not do any long term damage and be back at it. Do the half next time!!

Wow, very impressive first half!!

So sorry about the knee. Freakin' joint!! :) :) :)

Anyway, so smart to pull out. I am pretty certain the you can meet all of your short and long term goals of "Hav[ing] fun, not get[ting] fat, and stay[ing] fit" with the distances that you do love! Seems like a no-brainer to me!!

Take care of that knee. :)

Sorry it didn't go as planned, Rob. I was sort of shocked to see you walking... I was mentally preparing myself to run the last 7 miles with you (which might have been tough).

But on the bright side, you didn't push yourself to the point of getting injured, and I'd hate it if you got hurt for the rest of the summer. I've been enjoying running with you several times a week and I want to keep that going.

Sorry Rob, DNF was very hard for me to deal with as well. I still want to go run your Gully run with you sometime.

Sorry it didn't pan out, but kudos on pulling the plug before you did some serious damage. I am with you on the marathon thing! I struggle with that distance mentally too.

Thanks everyone. This blog is a great place.I feel better already.

you're a stud. plain and simple. just an injury and nothing you cannot overcome again. Enjoy the upcoming races, your days are not done in any event...

Sorry about the knee Rob. DNFs are the worst; I should know I have a few under my belt. I don't blame you either on disliking the marathon; I still haven't had one I'm happy with.

Despite the circumstances it was still good to see you after the race and say hi. Keep your head up!

By the way, I have a 110% brand knee sleeve that comes with ice sheets that are easy to put in the sleeve. And it's been awesome for me. It makes it way easy to ice and you can do it very often. The sleeve also is compression; so you get both the ice and the compression. It helped me a ton when my knee was hurting in April. You may look into...and I promise I am not sponsored or paid to say anything good about 110%, it's just been an awesome product for me.

I do not accept that your last marathon is a DNF, nor do I believe you should assert absolutes following a really bad (or really good) race. Why not temper your expectations and commit to running Boston, Minnesota, or somees other race you love in 3:00 hours?

You're part of the freaking reason I've run sub-3:00 four times in the last five marathons I've started.

Of course you made the right decision to DNF...you know your body better than anyone. Of course you should do more shorter races and trail running if that's what you enjoy. But don't swear off 26.2 without reflection.

Thanks Wesley. I'll try to elaborate more on what I mean tomorrow. Basically I'm just not going to force things. The major problem today was that I really didn't want to run a marathon - just felt like I needed to. I should know better.

I appreciate the tip Riley.

So sorry to read this tonight. I've been excited all day to read your report and see how it went. I've DNFd three times. Always glad a few weeks later that I did but I know that's no consolation.

Rob- sorry about the DNF. They suck- I've had a few. But I found ones where there was a legitimate injury concern are much quicker to get over than ones where you're just a wimp. I hope you view this one as the former. Had you quit hiking in the grand canyon a few years ago, that would have been the latter. But you didn't- you climbed out, proving your toughness. Get well and get back to it!

i was sad to see you go, but it sounds like you made the right call. no sense in putting yourself through those terrible final miles if you are just going to end up injured and regretting it.

smart move. hope the knee is feeling okay now.

You were right on target. Your fitness is there. Just sucks that you were prepared for a good one and had the knee issues. Do what you must, but you're too young to give anything a lifetime ban I think.

I think you made a smart choice Rob and I admire that. It would have been miserable and stupid to run 9 miles on a bummed knee. Hang in there and keep on keeping on. You will live to run again.

I also agree that marathons are hard and I'm not the biggest fan either. But that is what makes them fun...kind of...figuring out how to best deal with them. Give it some time and maybe you'll decide to throw youself into the fire again sooner than you realize.

It was good to talk to you yesterday Rob. I think sometimes it's just not our time on certain days but when things heal up and you rebound you'll pop a good one. You definitely have the fitness and the background. Stay strong and keep plugging away.

Let me guess...you woke up pissed off and signed up for TOU Marathon?

Nothing I could say at this point would be of any value given the excellent comments above. So I will wish you the best and keep reading your blog to see what you do next.