Memorial Day Murph

1 Mile Run to start
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
1 mile run to finish

That’s what it is. A little running, a little calisthenics, a little more running.

This was our second year participating. It’s all to honor this man, and for us, any of those who have chosen to serve in the Armed Forces. I told the children the story of LT. Michael P. Murphy and his bravery. In The Buster’s mind, he’s become the man who saved his friends and died from making a phone call.

Buds completed the workout in 38:56. It took me 1:01:00. I thought we had completed it as RX’D, but Buds just informed me that to be RX’D, we would have needed to be wearing a weight vest.

Yes, a weighted vest adding 20 or 30 pounds. Maybe next year.

Lots of our friends completed the workout in vests. Many of them wore their combat boots and wore camo. And our Vet friend, Jason, did it with his prosthetic running leg, camo, and running boot.

Around 60 of us did the WOD. Our friend Sarah had her car stolen out of her driveway in the early morning before the WOD. She still came to show her respect and support by completing this grand adventure. The heat was getting to be a factor for the 11 a.m. heat of CrossFitters. We came to test ourselves, and we stayed to cheer for each other. Some people have been training at CrossFit for a couple months, some for a couple years. Some completed a half-Murph, some completed a full, some completed a Murph in full gear, and some just came to cheer. All were greeted with camaraderie and affection. A little teasing, a little puking, a lot of watermelon, water, and beer.

Noa sat by my side and counted my rounds for me. Buds had created a very specific rep scheme to play to my “strength” of being able to only do one pull up at a time. I completed all 100: Even Mehdi would have to agree I grunted my way above that freakin’ bar every single time. And I paid for every single one of them.

I love this WOD, and more than once on my runs I thought, “LT. Murphy, I wish you were here to run this with us.”

Thanks to kind friend, Aaron Wyche, Professional Sports Photographer, and really cool guy, I have another photo of Yessa and me at Murph.

And bless my Buds, there are actually photos of me running with my friend, Courtney, which I never thought would happen in a million years. My first mile was an 8:47, which is lightning speed for me. Let’s be clear. Courtney had already completed Murph. She had, in fact, been done for quite awhile. She came back out to run with me, as did our friend Jeff Namadan, because I wanted their company, and I needed their support. I would not have run nearly as much of the final mile without their presence. On the second to the last lap, as we rounded the first corner, where I would normally would have stopped to walk, Courtney said, “Okay, we slow down, but we do not stop running.” And, by golly, we didn’t. It was pretty freakin’ awesome!

Finally, a cute one of Buds from Beloved Darryl: