I didn’t know Murph but he was apparently a badass tough guy.  So tough that they named a CrossFit WOD after him.

 “Murph”

For time:
1 mile Run
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
1 mile Run

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.

Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed. Start and finish with a mile run. If you’ve got a twenty pound vest or body armor, wear it.

Today we were fortunate enough to “only” have to do a 1/2 Murph.  Thank goodness we are all newbies!  As I looked at the board and saw the workout, I immediately knew that it would be bad and was immediately thankful that we didn’t have a “full” Murph on the agenda. 

The HALF Murph started and finished with an 800 meter run.  Sandwiched between those runs were 10 rounds (without break) of 5 Pull-ups, 10 Push-ups & 15 Squats.  Sounds easy enough but by the 4th round, I think most of us were doubting our ability to complete all 10. 

None of us could do a pull-up which is my personal nightmare and something I’ve worked on at various intervals of my life without success.  So we needed to modify those and use bands in order to even get thru the very first set of 5.  Here is a pic of the pull-up with the bands, except most of us needed two or three bands to give us enough support to get up to the bar.  Photo Source

Most know what a push-up and squat looks like so we will leave it at that but let’s just say that by the time I was half way done, a squat never seemed so difficult.  Now add in my lingering hamstring “issue” and my new hip “issue” and well, damn, I don’t like squats very much!  And they weren’t pretty like this:

Ironically, this was good TRI training though cuz when we went out for that second 800 meter run, it felt like a brick workout.  Legs were heavy.  Legs were dead.  Legs were shaking ……. just like how they feel when we get off the bike to hit the run.  BAM, cross training with purpose!

I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to get up from my desk without assistance by lunch time.  I’m pretty sure that my swim is going to hurt tonight cuz my arms will be like rocks.  I’m pretty sure that I’m stronger today, than last Tuesday.  Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration on “being stronger” but hey,  I have to think positively!!  I am getting stronger.  I am making progress.  I am  loving the “burn”. 

** Feel The Burn ** Amanda – TooTallFritz **