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
17.500.000.000.0017.50

16.25 miles circling and circling and circling Sugar House Park. Two hours, four minutes.

I have to reccomend a book. Elite Minds: Creating the Competative Advantage by Dr. Stan Beecham. I think it's the motivational sports psychology book I've always been looking for as a runner and a coach.

I'm going to be quoting from this book a lot in the coming days...

Every now and then, I hear someone talking about a backup plan, a "Plan B". The backup plan is what you do if the primary plan, Plan A, doesn't work out. When we create a Plan B, it's not so much of a safety net, but a noose. It's a great way to sabotage yourself. Anyone with a Plan B is not totally committed to Plan A. They are hedging their bets. People with a Plan B are planning to fail - they just don't know it yet.

Kill Plan B or it will kill you!

PM: 1.25 warm-up miles and weights. Did some squats.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
Comments
From Bret on Fri, Jan 03, 2014 at 13:01:44 from 216.234.133.229

Clockwise or counterclockwise circles. (just curious).

From Rob Murphy on Fri, Jan 03, 2014 at 13:07:36 from 24.10.249.34

Always clockwise which is against the one-way traffic flow.

From Jake K on Fri, Jan 03, 2014 at 14:04:51 from 199.190.170.21

Sounds like an interesting book. I have a couple others ahad of it in my lineup, but plan to get to it at some point based on your recommendation.

Re: that quote.. I get what he's saying, but when it comes to endurance events (ie. marathon), I wholeheartedly disagree. My worst two marathons, by far, were the ones where I only had a Plan A and no Plan B.

In the big picture of training and racing - of course you need to fully commit to get the best out of yourself. But is having a backup plan in a race really planning to fail? That sounds a lot like the totally extreme thinking that sells magazines and books.

From Rob Murphy on Fri, Jan 03, 2014 at 14:50:04 from 24.10.249.34

Plan A - Succeed a lot.

Plan B - Succeed a little bit.

That's what he means I think. There's quite a bit of info before and after the quote that qualifies things.

From Jake K on Fri, Jan 03, 2014 at 15:02:06 from 199.190.170.21

Makes sense. I'm sure in context it reads differently.

My point was - if you don't break 2:18, try to break 2:20, don't throw in the towel and jog in at 2:30. So, that's basically what he is saying too.

From Rob Murphy on Fri, Jan 03, 2014 at 15:22:47 from 24.10.249.34

He wasn't talking about time goals in a specific race. He was talking about where you want to get in life. The author is a sports psychologist who has become popular with runners, but he also has clients in other sports and in business.

I avoid this by not even having a Plan A! That way I'm never disappointed.

From dugco on Fri, Jan 03, 2014 at 15:30:18 from 68.35.217.251

Dadgummit, Rob - no Plan A, B or Z in the first place was gonna be my comment! Although as Jake says, if your "plan" is to run x time and you realize it aint hapnin, don't jump off a cliff... x plus a bit is still a fine accomplishment. [off to dream of "throwing in the towel and jogging in at 2:30" for my next marathon]

From Rob Murphy on Fri, Jan 03, 2014 at 15:59:41 from 24.10.249.34

I'm with you Doug. Jake is a bit of an elitist. Doesn't realize how he hurts the feelings of us slow plodders.

From Jake K on Fri, Jan 03, 2014 at 16:19:32 from 67.128.146.20

It definitely reads differently in that context - bigger picture thinking. And in that case, I agree with how it's written and the point he's making.

From Rob Murphy on Fri, Jan 03, 2014 at 16:43:06 from 24.10.249.34

I'm kidding Jake. See what happens when I leave out the "emoticons"? :-)

From Laputka on Fri, Jan 03, 2014 at 18:09:17 from 71.199.1.12

I read it the same way Jake did. For I while, I felt like a total failure for usually having an A,B and C goal.

From Jon on Sat, Jan 04, 2014 at 16:24:54 from 107.203.52.135

I had the same thought as the others- for races, multiple goals = good (if you always achieve your Goal A in race, you aren't running hard enough). For long term life goals, 1 goal can be good.

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