Memorial Day Murph

CrossFit has a series of workouts ("WODs") called The Hero WODs.  These are named after men and women who have given their lives either in war or in the process of saving others.  They are - hands down - the most difficult workouts in CrossFit.  I don't know where the phrase "suffer to honor" originated, but I suspect it was in the military.  Or from member of the military who was into CrossFit.

Every so often, CrossFit Black Box schedules a hero WOD on a regular day.  And there are times (like after a suicide bomber killed seven CIA members in Afghanistan) that CrossFit affiliates across the world do them on the same day.  Memorial Day is a day that CrossFits everywhere do Murph.  As Memorial Day is a holiday to honor men and women who have died serving their country, it is only appropriate that we do a Hero WOD.  Many affiliates choose to participate in a fundraiser as they do Murph.  Others, like Black Box this year, simply do Murph to honor the fallen.

There is something about suffering to honor that I can't explain very eloquently.  This guy does a much better job than I ever could.  (I recommend reading the May 6, 2013, entry for a taste of hero.  Somewhere on that blog is a wonderful entry about how when you're in the middle of suffering through a terrible WOD, you gain some real perspective.  I can't find that entry because the author doesn't use helpful titles. Anyway, I digress...)  But my not-so-eloquent version is this:

When you're doing a Hero WOD, it's miserable.  You want to quit.  You want to throw up.  You want to cry.  You get angry at your body for failing you.  But in over all the voices in your head telling you how much it sucks, you hear another voice telling you to be grateful for your blessings.  Be grateful that you're alive to suffer through the WOD.  Be grateful that you can go home to your husband, child, pets, home.  Be grateful that when it ends, your misery is over.  It's the least you can do considering that someone else has died so that you can be free.

So today, on Memorial Day, I loaded up Juliet and Ninja and drove to CrossFit Black Box.  The great thing about CrossFit is that everything is scalable.  Even the Hero WODs.  I have been out of the gym for a long time for a variety of reasons.  But, for a different variety of reasons, I'm determined to get back in there regularly.  I am out of shape.  I am slow.  I am weak.  So I chose to do a Half Murph:

Run half a mile
50 pull ups
100 push ups
150 squats
Run half a mile

A full Murph is double that, and to do Murph as prescribed, you do double what I did in body armor.

It took me about 40 minutes to complete my half Murph.  I pushed Juliet in her stroller for the runs, and she watched me do the pull ups, push ups, and squats until she fell asleep.  I got Sean to take a picture of me, Juliet, and Ninja post-WOD.

I know it seems silly to bring my almost-eight month-old with me for a workout like this and expect her to get anything out of it.  And, to be honest, I don't really expect her to get anything out of it (except a nap!).  But if felt important to me that she was there.  I want her to grow up understanding that it is important to be healthy and active.  And I really want her to grow up understanding that people put their lives on the line for her every day.  We really have so much to be grateful for, and remembering those who have given everything so that we can have all that we do is so very important.

This last bit - understanding the sacrifices of others and how it ensures our blessings - is so important to me as the mother of a daughter.  Articles like this and books like Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali make me so glad that Juliet and I are American citizens.  We are guaranteed so many rights and protections that so many women in other parts of the world are not.  We should never ever take these for granted.

Thank you, Murph, for helping me remember how lucky I am.