Monday - WOD 119 - Memorial Day Murph

Today, we are celebrating Memorial day. A day that has its roots all the way back to the Civil war. The Holiday was created as a day of Humble remembrance. With this in mind, as Crossfitters, we have always done a hero WOD as a small way of remembering those who have fallen for our liberties.

In recent times, due to the popularity of the book, movie and a few fund-raising websites, many CrossFit gyms have decided to do the WOD called "Murph".

If you don't know who Murph is, he was part of a team of 4 Navy SEALs on a mission to capture or kill a key Taliban leader. They found themselves seriously outnumbered in a firefight with hundreds of enemy troops. Pinned down and under intense enemy fire, their communications operator severely wounded, they were in desperate need for help. Due to the mountainous terrain, their communications could not be received. Understanding the situation, LT. Michael P. Murphy moved to open ground, to use his satellite phone, exposing himself to enemy fire. LT Murphy was mortally wounded making that call. They continued fighting until Lt. Murphy and two of his three team mates were mortally wounded. His fourth team member, severely injured himself, managed to escape and was rescued 4 days later. He went on to tell the story in a book and movie titled “The Lone Survivor”.

For his selfless leadership, courageous actions and extraordinary devotion to duty, LT. Michael P. Murphy was posthumously rewarded the Medal of Honor, the first service member to receive the medal for service in Afghanistan, and the first Navy recipient of the medal since Vietnam.

With this in your mind and in your heart, complete the Murph WOD as you see fit. It is not a time to kill your body or destroy your spirit, but instead, tap into the heroism of our Nation and push yourself a little harder.

The Murph

1 mile run

100 Pullups

200 pushups

300 Air Squats

1 mile run

The runs need to be done at the start and at the end. Based on your level of running skill, this run can be reduced according to your current abilities.

The work in the middle can be partitioned as needed, according to your abilities. Nobody said that the WOD has to be done straight down without breaking it up.

Here are some options

After the 1 mile run

-Complete the workout as written without breaking it up (not recommended in order to maximize Power output)

-2 rounds of 50 pullups, 100 pushups, 150 air squats

-5 rounds of 20 pullups, 40 pushups, 60 squats

-10 rounds of 10 pullups, 20 pushups, 30 squats (the most common)

-20 rounds of 5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 squats

In either case, do what you can according to your abilities.