Monday morning I joined my East Dallas CrossFit family for the traditional Memorial Day Hero WOD, “Murph.” This was my first Hero WOD.
Lieutenant Michael Patrick Murphy lost his life in June 2005 during a mission to kill or capture a Taliban leader hiding in the hills of Afghanistan’s Kunar Province. Trapped in a firefight behind enemy lines, the Navy Seal was gunned down after he abandoned cover in an effort to call for backup. He was posthumously honored with 14 service medals, including the Medal of Honor, Silver Star, and Purple Heart.
Lieutenant Murphy called his grueling workout “Body of Armor” – he did it while wearing a 25-pound flak jacket – but after his death, the folks at CrossFit renamed it the “Murph” and added it to their collection of hero workouts, named for fallen soldiers.
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| Lieutenant Michael Murphy |
“Murph” is a mile run followed by 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air squats, and another mile run. My box also offered a scaled version of “Murph”; 850m run followed by 50 pull-ups, 100 push-ups, 150 squats, and another 850m run.
After much deliberation I decided to do the full “Murph.” I was talking it out with my friend Jill who reminded me of my big goal, going out big in 39! That was the encouraging talk I needed - it was decided, I was doing the full “Murph.” Since I can’t do pull-ups yet I asked if I could do ring rows, once I got the OK I was happy with my decision to do the full version.
The “Murph” went down at 9:00am. When I got there I didn’t think the turnout would be as big as it was, seems like 30 or so people were there, maybe more. We broke out into two groups, the scaled version and the full version. The scaled version went first. Watching them complete the WOD made me nervous for choosing the full version. It’s a tough workout regardless of the version. My friend Jill completed it with a broken toe! Talk about a warrior!
I decided to break out the pull-ups (ring rows), push-up and squats into 10 sets of 10-20-30 so I would do 10 ring rows, 20 push-ups and 30 squats, 10 times. Yikes!
The second group started about 9:45. We gathered around the door waiting for the countdown clock to beep. BEEP….and we are off. I kept my running pace of 10 minutes. I kept up with Charlie and was able to follow his pace through the first mile. He got me through those hills; I didn’t want to stop if he wasn’t. Y’all know I HATE hills!
Back inside I started my 10 sets. I was next to one of my coaches, Trevor. He kept me on tempo with the squats, definitely chose a good spot for my sets. The first three sets weren’t so tough but that quickly changed. By the sixth set my legs were on fire and my arms were exhausted! I could hear Jill call out my name and every time she did, I started moving again.....thanks Jill!!
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| I'm either taking a break or praying....photo credit @jillybeanbexar |
Once I crossed off that last set I headed outside for my final run. My legs felt like jelly and my run was more like a shuffle. I came up to another member and I stopped and walked with him for a second and then he said run so I started to run and just kept on running till I ran back through those doors! Final time 59:57, I will take it my friends!
I survived my first Memorial Day “Murph!” Ask me how I feel today….well I can barely walk so I waddle, I wince in pain when I stand up or sit down and I refuse to raise my arms. Was it worth it, H-E-Double Hockey Sticks it was!
After the workout, the remaining group, about 7 of us went over to Taco Joint for some tacos and a well-deserved beer!
I LOVE my CrossFit family……they are truly great friends who consistently inspire me!
Kristin
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