Rob Murphy

Nine miles in 1:06:26 (7:23) around Sugarhouse Park. Beautiful day today in Salt Lake.

Legs are slightly sore from the race yesterday.

Five easy miles plus some weights/strength training. Lifted pretty hard but only about half the sets of my normal workout.

Had a really nice dinner last night up in Park City with my old Furman University track and cross country buddy Chris Farmer. Chris and his sister Beth are skiing with their families this week in Park City. Beth was a 5 time All American at the University of Florida and at one time, the U.S. 10000 meter record holder on the track.I actually hadn't recalled this, but she ran the marathon in the Olympic Trials in 1984 - the first year they had the women's marathon. Beth ran 2:36 as a 19 year old to finish 18th. More amazingly, she ran the race with a cast on her broken arm. That is hard core old school!  She had some really great stories.

It's really cool how easy it has been to keep in touch with friends who live on the other side of the country. So many are now coming out here each Winter.

I was able to come home and rest a little before my workout, but I still don't like how my chest and lungs feel.

Started out with an easy 3.25 mile warm-up which finished on the Highland High track. Then I switched into my sharp new Nike Zoom Rival D spikes.

6 x 100 meter striders

6 x 200 meters in 35, 33, 31, 31, 30, 30

2 mile cool down...

I really felt like I was getting sick earlier today, but I took a couple Advil's and my achy symptoms went away.

Managed to squeeze in four easy miles with a handful of fast pick-ups at 5 to 6 minute pace during lunch.

More parent-teacher conferences after school then off to the airport for the trip to ABQ for USATF indoors. My first race, the 3000, is tomorrow evening. 

Medical update. Feeling like complete crud. Not sure about race tonight? 

Well, I made it through. Felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest the whole way though - the dry indoor air at the Albuquerque Convention Center coupled with my cold/fever.

The gun went off and the pace was really slow for the first 400 meters. Really tightly bunched pack with lots of elbows and jostling. Came through 200 in 41 seconds and 400 in 82. I was actually digging this because I certainly didn't feel like runing fast and it was nice not being off the back of the pack.

About a half mile in, things began to open up. I quickly discovered that there were three or four guys racing for the win (17 total in the race), and then everyone else.Anyway, before the mile I was in 13th place with thoughts of quitting running through my head. I was running alone now and at least didn't have to worry about tripping. My good buddy Doug was taking pictures of me with his fancy camera and I was mostly concentrating on looking good each time I came around to his location. Priorities!

Then, a strange thing happened. I began passing people! One or two every lap, steadily working my way up in the field. Now I had something to race for! With two laps (400 meters) to go, I was coming up on the shoulder af an African American dude that I had had a great conversation with before the race. I could clearly see "45-49" on his back and I knew that if I could get around him I might actually finish pretty high in my age group. Then, and I'm slightly ashamed to admit this, my mind engaged in some racial stereotyping. I thought "this guy's probably fast and will outkick me over the last 50 meters if I don't put some distance between the two of us". Just being honest.

Passed him and one other guy the last lap. Finished 5th overall and 2nd in the 45-45 which earned me a supercool medal proclaiming me the "National Runner Up in the 45-49 Division in the 3000 Meter Run.

So there it is, not a good time. I sometimes run faster for the first couple miles of a 10k road race. But a fairly satisfying conclusion to a really difficult race.

Now, for the mile today. Cold isn't any better this morning, but I did get a good night's sleep.

Geez! This kind of racing is a whole different ball game.

Today I ran the mile here in Albuquerque. It was clear that the top two guys were in their own world, so I quickly realized that I should be aiming for the bronze medal. Ran with a pack of 5 guys all obviously thinking the same thing. After several laps of running together, I honestly felt like I was the strongest runner in the group and had a great chance at third. But with about 300 meters to go one of the guys shot to the front of our pack and kept the hammer down. I was the only one who went with him and we had a pretty good duel down the final back stretch. He outkicked me for the bronze though. Bummer.

Really enjoyed the intensity of track racing this weekend and I think I will be a better runner because of it. This meet was a great experience. Watching all the 90 year olds compete was very inspiring. And watching 70 year olds run 6 minute miles was just crazy.