My First HERO

Warm up: a little stretching, couple of pull ups and squats.
WOD: "Murph" -- 1 mi. run, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats, 1 mi. run

I've had my stomach in knots about Murph for days. Silly me, I was most worried about throwing up from the intensity of the WOD. What I should've been worried about was how my knees were going to survive 300 squats. Doing my first "hero" WOD was kinda like having my first baby: I was terrified of delivery, when I should've been a lot more worried about my labor. Hindsight is always 20/20, right?!?

Meet Navy LT Michael Murphy, for whom today's WOD is named:

CrossFit doesn't just forge elite athletes. It supports our military and honors our fallen soldiers. We have an American flag in our gym, and I have rarely seen a picture of a CF gym that didn't have one in the background somewhere. As the spouse of a fallen soldier and the girlfriend (and hopefully future spouse!) of an active duty soldier, I think it's fantastic that CF goes out of its way to show such solidarity with these heroes. Going along with that concept, there are some WODs, and they are usually real smokers, called hero WODs. They are usually the ones with male names, and they honor a fallen soldier. Are there any hero WODs that honor fallen female soldiers? Don't know, but it's a definite possibility.

Here was the background to "Murph" as posted on CrossFit and quoted on CrossFit Centex's site:

"In memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., who was killed in Afghanistan June 28th, 2005. This workout was one of Mike's favorites and he'd named it 'Body Armor.' From here on it will be referred to as 'Murph' in honor of the focused warrior and great American who wanted nothing more in life than to serve this great country and the beautiful people who make it what it is."

OK. All nostalgia aside, let's talk about "Murph."

AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!! Oh, the pain and the misery! OK, it wasn't that bad, but it's the hardest I've worked in my life since popping out two ridiculously large babies several years ago. The first mile went by at a nice pace, and each time one of my teammates passed by, I made sure to say something to cheer them on. I really love working out in a group and motivating each other. I needed that on a day like today in particular.

Next came the calisthenic portion of the WOD. Prior to starting, we talked about different strategies for conquering the mind-blowing numbers of pull ups, push ups, and squats. I knew ahead of time that I needed to plan for knee discomfort and try to do mine in sets that would maximize my efforts and minimize stress to my joint. I ended up with this method of attack: 10 rounds of 10 pull ups, 15 squats, 20 push ups, and 15 squats. Basically, you could do 10-20-30, but I knew that I couldn't do 30 straight squats for 10 rounds, so that's why I broke mine up. However, on the last round, I did 10-30-20 so that I wasn't ending with squats prior to running. This plan worked like a charm for me. I broke it down pretty manageably, even though it was still a struggle.

I mentioned earlier how nervous and anxious I had been going into this WOD. Today was equal parts physical exertion and mental dedication. Going into round four, I hit my wall with knee pain and quads getting tight. By the end, I was walking and bending my knee as little as possible. I really didn't know if I was going to be able to finish it. But just like my coach says, I just knew I had to keep moving, keep getting one more. By round five, I was trying to just break those squats down into groups of five and resting more between exercises. I just knew that, if I didn't fully complete this WOD, I would never forgive myself for quitting. And my coach won't let you sit still for long; she's excellent at keeping us moving and utilizing planned rest.

I have to say, I was proud of myself with my pull ups and push ups. I still can't do a completely unassisted pull up, but that's OK. I used a band and was really able to knock them out many times. My push ups had to be on my knees, but I was able to knock those out pretty fast, going all the way down to the mat and touching my head almost for almost every rep.

That last mile was just nuts. I started off at a pitiful little jog, but my knees and calves were laughing hysterically at my efforts to run. At one point, I even mused out loud, "Who the heck am I kidding here?!?" So, I decided to power walk the rest of the way. My coach and a teammate motivated me to jog the last quarter mile, so I ended on a very positive note.

As I was out there doing that last mile, I started thinking. I could imagine this young man in his PT gear, probably outside with his buddies in the humid darkness of early morning, cranking out this WOD. Then I thought of something that another one of the coaches said this morning, which was that hero WODs are really hard, and the least we can do is to give it everything to do this WOD in their honor. And as I write this, it reminds me of the amazing soldiers of C Co, 2-30 IN, 4TH BDE 10TH MTN DIV, who were going to name a FOB after my late husband in his honor as their first CO. Remembrance is so important; it is how we keep a little piece of that person and what they stood for with us forever.

I may not have posted the fastest time at the gym, but I completed "Murph" and will likely be "feeling" my tribute for days. For me, this was a milestone in many ways. Thank goodness tomorrow is a rest day!

Posted time: 72:42