This weekend we remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to our country.  In honor of Memorial Day the gym will be doing a workout called “Murph.”  This brutal workout (1 mile run, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats, 1 mile run – wear a weight vest if you have one) is a CrossFit “Hero” WOD to honor LT Michael P. Murphy.  LT Murphy’s actions have been well documented by the book (and subsequent movie) ‘Lone Survivor.’   If you haven’t gotten a chance to read or watch ‘Lone Survivor’ you should read LT Murphy’s Medal of Honor Citation.

On Monday we’ll be open from 7-11 am, so come on in and tackle this beast.  Coaches will be at the gym to help you warm up and figure out the right way to scale this workout.  There are a few ways to go about it: skip the weight vest, do 3/4 or 1/2 of it, ring rows, etc…

When scaling, keep in mind that we do these Hero WODs for the purpose of the struggle.  The struggle of Hero WODs, both mentally and physically, exist to put our life back into perspective.  How can we complain about a hard day at work after thinking about what LT Murphy has done for us?  How can we stay mad about a traffic jam after JT‘s sacrifice?  What are 300 squats when you think about Daniel, Josh, Badger, or any one of the hundreds of thousands of men and women we honor on Memorial Day?

Hero WODs don’t exist to make us feel bad about our life’s struggles; they exist to remind us how great it is that we’re alive to experience them.  Hero WODs, much like Memorial Day, exist as our way – however small – to say thanks to the men and women we’ll never be able to thank enough.

So come out to the gym on Monday morning, struggle through a tough workout and afterwards check out one of the many events in DC.  I plan on watching Rolling Thunder somewhere along Constitution.  

What are your Memorial Day plans?