Rob Murphy

15.5 miles in 1:56 up and down City Creek Canyon. The first half of the run is consistently, sometimes brutally, uphill. Difficult to maintain an 8 minute pace. In fact, at 8 minute pace I feel like I'm running at threshold pace - about what I feel like racing a 15k.

Coming down I was able to easily run 6:30 miles.

Zero today.

10.5 miles in 1:16. Very Hot - 94 I think.

I'm having a problem with lingering soreness in my quads and hamstrings that won't go away. Makes me wonder if I boosted the mileage up too quickly following the month off. I'm not 25 any more.

10.25 miles in 1:21:50 (7:59 pace) at Alta Ski Area.

While running up the Summer Road and on the uphill trail portions in the Albion Basin campground I paid closer attention to my Garmin that I usually do. On the Summer Road I was averaging about 8:45 pace. On the steeper uphill portions in the campground it was more like 9:25 pace. My heart rate was in the stratosphere so I classified these as threshold pace. That's what uphills at 9000 to 10000 feet will do.

I felt tired and beat up. Took an iron supplement along with my normal multi vitamin and will try to rest some today.

am: Easy five miles around the neighborhood. 39:15

Now off to cross country practice and swimming for the kids. 

pm: Two easy miles on the treadmill. Hoisted some weights, did some push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups and some other stuff in the gym. Also did some plyos for the first time in a couple months on account of the achilles.

12.25 miles in 1:30 (7:21 pace) around the wood chip path in Liberty Park. I drove to Liberty because I wanted to avoid hills today, both up and down. I just wanted to get in some decent miles at a steady pace without too much impact.

Hot. 91 at the end of the run. I was looking back over some of my entries from March and April and I can't believe how much complaining I was doing about the weather. 35 with some light snow sounds like heaven now!

The "Treadmill Special".

The goal was to run hard for 60 minutes and then do a 5 minute cool down. Ran 9.65 miles in 60 minutes and 10.25 for 65. I feel pretty good about this workout since I was sore going in (I've had this chronic, low grade soreness for the last couple weeks) and I didn't get started until around noon after a morning of lawn mowing and yard work

The Plan: I've got three more races on the agenda for this year. The Minuteman 5k next Saturday. The Pocatello Half Marathon the first Saturday in Sept, and the Fabulous Alta Peruvian Downhill Dash and Bar-B-Q Bash (8k) the week after that. I am considering doing a new race called the "Sinner Six" which is a six mile race in Park City the Sunday after the Park City Marathon. I believe this will be Utah's only Sunday road race and I feel I should do it out of principle. Maybe some would say lack of principle. But I believe the commandment is "honor the Sabbath and keep it holy", and since I find nothing unholy about running, I'll go ahead and race.

After that I will rest and take it easy for a few weeks. Try to focus on having fun and coaching my cross country team. I have already registered for the Austin 3M Half Marathon in Austin, Texas in late January so that will be the kick off for 2011.

***UPDATE ON THE SINNER SIX FROM THE PC MARATHON WEBSITE***

"This inaugural costume-encouraged race starts at 7 am from the Newpark Plaza. Dress up as your idea of a sinner (Please, No Nudity!) and have some fun.

How can anyone pass this up?

Body forced me to rest. 

Walked 4 miles around Sugarhouse Park.

am: 9 miles in the Dimple Dell Gully. Call it a fartlek since I was constantly changing pace running with different groups of my runners. I kept backtracking and looping around so that my kids wouldn't know where or when to expect me. I ran with the girls a lot today mostly because they are more fired up and motivated for the season than my boys.

Went to the gym after and lifted for about 45 minutes.

pm: 5.75 miles in 44 minutes around the U of U and East High track while Abby was at swim practice.

The whole world was conspiring against my running today...

My work, Ann's work, swimming lessons, visiting mother-in-law. I'm lucky I got anything in at all.

7.5 miles in 55 minutes. At least I avoided the goose egg.

12.25 miles in 1:38:00 at Alta/Snowbird. Good run. Legs are hammered right now.

I did my normal run from the base of Alta Ski Area up to Albion Basin and around 6 times. Tacked a little extra on by running down the trail to Alf's and then up the road to Snowbird and back. I really could have used a pair of trail shoes today. My Nike Lunarflys were definitely challenged on the rocky trails.

As a bonus, I saw five mooses including a calf. Two of the mooses were in the campground and were very tame. They didn't startle at all when I ran just a few feet from them. That's generally not a good idea when dealing with two bulls, but I was running downhill in pretty dense woods and didn't see them until I was pretty much on top of them. Also saw a few deer and about a thousand prairie dogs.

On the way home we (the whole family usually goes up to Alta on Wednesday) stopped at Lone Star Taqueria in Sandy which, according to Sunset Magazine, has the best fish tacos in the West. I believe it. In fact, if I were to make a list of the top 10 things I like about Utah, fish tacos from Lone Star would be up there pretty high.

Easy recovery run. I'll probably take it easy tomorrow also - racing Saturday at the Minuteman 5k.

I had a great time today at the Minuteman 5k. Everything was great with the exception of the race itself. Since this was a USATF circuit race with a decent amount of prize money, all the fast guys in Utah showed up, at least in the Masters division - Dennis Simonaitis, Steve Anderson, Neal Gassman, Bill Cobler, John Erickson -jeez, doesn't anybody ever take a vacation?

As you can see above, the race turned out to be substantially short. Apparently the police motorcycle pacer didn't know the course and took a wrong turn.With my current lack of 5k fitness I would have been better off had he added distance.

Anyway, from the beginning I could tell by my breathing that the fitness just wasn't there. I ran with Steve and Neal for the first mile which

 I hit in 5:36. Steve pulled ahead on mile 2 and I tucked in behind Neal. I have never beat Neal in a 5k, so I figured this was a sound strategy. Neal ran a 14:08 5000 at the University of Illinois back in the 80s which is one or two seconds faster than me. Those who know me know that was a lie - about me, not Neal. It was on the second mile that the course SNAFU occured, but I hit my Garmin on the real two mile which was 11:12. A 5:38 mile, not bad. Still running right off Neal's shoulder.

"Mile" three (actually .86) was where disaster struck. Stephanie Talley caught me. She's one of the best local women and the wife of Corbin Talley, one of my high school coaching rivals at Davis High School. We turned onto the last half mile back towards the stadium for the finish, which was all uphill and I just mentally lost it. I just stuck with Stephanie into the finish. Covered the last .86 in  5:14 which is 6:07 pace! Finished in 16:27. Would have run 17:50 for the full 5k. I ran 18:03 in this race last year. That's something I suppose.

Of course Dennis (the best 45-49 guy in the U.S.) beat me as well as Steve. Neal got me by about 10 seconds. If I hadn't been such a pogue I could have hung with Neal.So I finished second in my age group and 4th in the masters division.

Tho dog tag medals were cool, all the Utah National Guard rock climbing stuff, helocopters, 155 mm Howitzers etc. were cool for the kids. Lots of good food and good conversation at the finish. Steve Anderson, who is a pilot for Frontier Airlines, had to jet off to Mexico almost as soon as the race finished, but his achilles seems better judging by the 5:08 pace he averaged.

Heading out now for an additional 10 to 15 miles.

PM: OK, I erased a little of the shame from this morning. Not so much for my time, but for my refusal to compete with more intensity. 10 miles in 1:12:16 (7:14)

Really unfortunate run today. 14.75 in 1:52.

The plan was to run 18-20, but running West on 900 South today towards Liberty Park (about 11 miles into the run) I rolled my right ankle horribly, went crashing to the ground and rolled several times downhill. Those of you that know Salt Lake know that this is a steep downhill from East High down to the 9th and 9th area. Cut up my hands and elbow pretty good. I got up and hobbled to the side of the road where I clutched my ankle and rolled around in agony for a while. This seemed to help some.

So I got up and started walking, then jogging a bit. The power gel I had been holding in my hand exploded on impact and I began licking the excess off my fingers - being careful to avoid the road grime and debris. Tasty. Felt a surge of energy after this.

Finally got down to Liberty Park where my wife and kids were planning on picking me up. Jogged around the park a couple times at about 9 minute pace with the ankle hurting pretty bad. Not sure what I was trying to accomplish. Although it did seem to hurt less when running than it did when walking. Finally decided to abort the mission at 14.75.

I got home, threw a bag of ice in the tub and sat for a while. But now the ankle is swelling up more with each passing hour and I'm reduced to a hobble around the house.

So that was my run today.

Taking the day off. I'm optimistic about the ankle. I think I avoided doing major damage and it seems to be improving a lot today.

Back to work tomorrow. I'll be doing this thing where I have to wake up early in the morning and then go to this place and stay there a few hours so that I can get some money to buy things.

We are having this meeting/pep ralley for all the secondary teachers in out district so that our superintendant can indoctrinate us with our new mantra/credo. Something like "every child will be college ready upon graduation".

I was able to run on the treadmill today. Did five miles starting out at 7 mph and working up to about 9.3 mph.

Also did an abbreviated strength/core workout after.

Very pressed for time today after work and before Abby's swimming.

6.75 miles on the treadmill. 1.5% grade.

.5 mile warm-up

5 miles in 33:19

1.25 mile cool-down

The ankle felt ok. It's still sore to the touch and has about half the range of motion as the left ankle, but it doesn't hurt on impact. Hopefully I can get in 4 or 5 more this evening.

Today I ran the "gully long run" twice. 12.6 miles, very hilly, about 80% trail/20% road.

Ran 1:39:12 (7:53)

8.25 in 60 minutes

Went to Whole Foods after and got some yogurt, cliff bars, strawberries, and a loaf of bread. Annoyed the hippie clerk by asking for a bag as I forgot my re-usable organic, hemp Trader Joes bag.

Did some core exercises in the evening while sitting with my kids who were almost literally splitting a gut watching Americas Funniest Home Videos.

7.25 in 59:10.

I was out the door at 4:45 this morning. Definitely not used to that, but as school starts today, I'll sppose I have to. After I warm up a bit I actually enjoy the early morning runs.

Definitely a chill in the air. Fall

Afternoon Run: 6 miles in 43:14 (7:13) around Sugarhouse.

Easy 5 miles today in cross country practice with some of my younger runners.

5:45 am workout with my cross country team

2.25 mile jog

4 x 100 meter striders

Skipping and bounding drills 

Push-ups/Sit-ups, core exercises

800 meter jog 

pm: Really busy evening. I didn't get home from practice until around 5:30 then had to pick up Abby at swimming. Waited until after the kids went to bed to run at 8:30. Got to watch the moonrise - a full moon - over the mountains as I circled Sugarhouse Park.

10.5 miles in 1:18

The treadmill fartlek...

60 minutes on TM broken down into 10 minute segments plus warm-up and cool-down.

1st 10 - 7, 8, 9, 10 mph

2nd 10 - 7.1, 8.1, 9.1, 10.1 mph

3rd 10 - 7.2, 8.2, 9.2, 10,2 mph

4th 10 - 7.3, 8.3, 9.3, 10.3 mph

5th 10 - 8, 9, 10, 11 mph

6th 10 - 8, 9, 10, 11 mph

I do 2 minutes at the first 3 speeds and 4 minutes at the fastest pace. 1.5% incline on the TM except for the 8 minutes run at 11 mph when I dropped it down to 1% because I'm a baby.

5:45 am workout with the varsity teams: We ran an easy 3 miles with a fast finish. Then some striders, drills, and core exercises. Finished with an easy 800.

I averaged 8 minute pace which is pretty good since I've been experimenting with a new trend I've been reading about in the best selling book "Chi Posin With the Tarahumara". I'm running in swim flippers while wearing the Vibram Five Fingers on my hands. Before primitive man learned to walk upright he would occasionally run on all fours while chasing wildabeasts to exhaustion. Hence the Five Fingers - I'm not quite ready to go bare handed. 

In casual conversation with other runners I'm also sure to shake my head in dismay at the poor saps who are still running in running shoes. 

Very, very hard run today. The kind you just have to grind out.

First, I ran at 4 pm as I had a cross country meet this morning with my girls team - more about that later. It was 92 degrees and windy with gusts up to 40 mph, a hot, dusty, desert wind coming from the South. There was never a point in the workout when I felt good or happy to be out there.

I had planned on a progression run with each mile faster than the previous mile. Here's what happened...

10.5 miles in 1:08:00 (6:29 pace)

7:34, 6:46, 6:31, 6:27, 6:23, 6:03, 6:05 (1.02 miles), 6:03, 6:49 (massive melt down), 6:13, 3:04 - all on the hilly Sugarhouse Park road loop.

All in all I am happy about the workout and from a purely masochistic standpoint I probably got something out of it.

Now, to the super fabulous Alta Hawks cross country girls who finished second overall at the Grass Relays in American Fork today. This is a unique race with each team's top five girls running a 2 mile relay leg. The two mile course includes a total of 28 hay bales that must be jumped including "the gauntlet" - a grouping of seven hay bales in succession. The Alta girls defeated the defending 3A state champs, Park City and the defending 5A state champs, American Fork. Only perennial national power Davis High School beat my girls. We were in 8th place after the first relay leg even though my #1 girl (Carolyn) ran our fastest time.I guess a lot of teams put their fastest runner on the first leg. The duel between Alta and Park City was especially thrilling. At one point the Miners had a 35 second lead on my girls. Celeste, running our #4 leg cut it to 15 seconds, and Sierra Murri, running our anchor leg, closed with the Park City girl and got her by about six seconds.

The meet typically draws 25 to 35 teams. I'll have to check the final results to see how many were there this year.

So congratulations to Carolyn Webber, Sierra Knapp, Tiffany Morris, Celeste Gutzman, and Sierra Murri.

In City Creek Canyon.

17 miles in about 2:08. Mile splits were...

8:16, 8:41, 8:59, 7:58, 7:39, 8:24, 8:53, 8:20, 6:45, 6:17, 6:06, 6:28, 6:13, 6:19, 6:32, 7:48, 8:03

You guessed it. Up a mountain. Down a mountain. And a little back up again.

I'm tired. Three hard, quality workouts in four days is a little much. I guess I've been trying to make up for my inconsistent training lately by cramming a bunch of quality into a short period of time. Probably not a good idea.

Rest and Relaxation day

am: Workout with Varsity cross country team plus a handful of dedicated JV runners

3 miles easy.

110 push-ups, 110 sit-ups/crunches

6 x 100 meter striders