Rob Murphy

Jake finished second today in 1:05:55. Averaged 4:57 for the last three miles and 5:02 for the whole 13.1. Not bad!

Today I ran 12 miles in 1:31. My running is going well but I have to remind myself to take it easy. I have no idea what I will run this Saturday but it will feel good to get out and compete. 

Off to the gym now for a hot tub soak. Some people do ice baths, I do hot tubs. Can't imagine an ice bath this winter. 

Circling around Sugarhouse again. 9.25 miles in 1:13.

I'm going to take the day off.

10.25 on the treadmill. Averaged 8.2 mph.

I'm pretty excited tonight. Just got home and my copy of The Unforgiving Minute by Ron Clarke arrived in the mail today. Had to order it from an outlet in Australia because the book is almost impossible to find. For those of you who don't know, Ron Clarke was one of the great runners of the 1960s - the first man to break 28 minutes in the 10k on the track (in 1965 I think). He was legendary for his incredible toughness and tenacity and his book is a running classic.

Sore throat, achy, feverish the last couple days plus I've been really busy. But I'm going to race anyway this morning. Sub 19 for 5k will make me happy.

OK, NOT BAD TODAY.

First race in close to five months and it felt good to be out there mixing it up a bit. Also nice to see a lot of people I haven't seen in a while plus the regular gang from this blog - minus Jake. 

I didn't wear a watch and my plan was to just run at a comfy pace until the halfway turn-around. Which I did. Picked it up a little on the return trip and passed a few people. I was fairly pleased with my 18:21 although when I think about the fact that I would like to run the Gary Bjorklund 1/2 Marathon in June at about 10 seconds/mile faster I get a little bummed. Baby steps though right?

My calf muscles are already getting sore. I guess that's to be expected seeing as how my "speed work" lately has never exceeded 400 meters at 6:30 pace. 

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that my goal for the 10k two weeks from now will be to run faster than 36:42. If the weather cooperates I think I can. 

PM: Quick trip to the gym. 2.25 miles in the treadmill just to work out the kinks plus some serious hot tubbing. Saw Fritz there on his way out who had the same idea. He complained that there were so many people in the hot tub that he had to wait for a spot to open up. I had the thing all to myself. It's all about timing.