Tag Archives: fitness

The hero workout, a day after Memorial Day

Murph lite:

1 mile run
50 jump pullups
100 pushups (various inclines)
150 squats

Tuesday was a milestone. I completed the Murph.

CrossFit is known for many things, one of which being the hero workouts. Named after military personnel who were killed in action, the workouts are a universally known activity that CrossFitters do together in a spirit of community.

One of the most popular is the Murph. Always done on Memorial Day, it’s pretty simple: 2 mile run, 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 300 squats.

Easy, right?

I’ve never known done the Murph before and was hoping to do this year. So, I was ready to go on Memorial Day, a hot, blustery day here in the District. Usually, I work the holiday but due to some creative maneuvering, I had the day off. I was ready to go.

And I overslept. Straight up slept in. Clearly off to a blazing start.

So, it went to Tuesday. By 8:30 a.m., it was nearing 80 and humid. Again, off to a blazing start. But I ran to the Rock Creek Parkway training course, resistance band and water in tow.

The resistance band wasn’t going to work and my upper arm strength still isn’t up to snuff, so it’s jumping pull ups for me. And I got going, 10 rounds of 5 pullups, 10 pushups and 15 squats.

And it got done in about 35 minutes, with a small break after round five. My arms are still feeling it but it wasn’t as bad I thought it would be. Mind you, doing the full Murph with stricter pullups would be a different story. However, considering where I’ve come from, this was a real success.

Then I tried running back for that second mile. Yeah, that didn’t happen.

Oh well, something to work on for next year.

CrossFit 101: The Value of Scaling

I did my introductory course to CrossFit at CrossFitDC this past Saturday. It was a wonderful experience. By wonderful, I mean I sweated off half my weight, madeit outside, then promptly ran inside the gym to puke my wholesome breakfast. Tom, the main trainer, was a little worried.

But I’m sold. A day later, my arms and legs are letting me know they approve. Of what, I’m not sure. In fact, I’m pretty sure they don’t approve at all. No matter.

CrossFit is all about measurements and progress. Participants are encouraged to track what they do each workout so they can track their progress as they go along. I will do my best to track my workout here, so here was the workout tally:

45 squats

20 pushups

20 situps

Learned deadlift stances with kettlebells

Then the actual workout

500 meters rowing

40 box steps

30 situps

20 pushups

10 burpees

And a partridge in a pear tree