Memorial Day Murph
Another year, another Memorial Day Murph. I’ve been doing CrossFit since July 2011 so this the workout is nothing new to me. I even managed to do a version of it while I was at Sill last year on the PT field. New for this year was the idea that I would take on the workout with the vest on. Murph as written includes wearing a 20lb vest while you do the workout, and I decided that this was the year I was going to take on that challenge. The vest is a game changer, I cannot stress that statement enough. Complete game changer, doing the workout for the fourth time, it felt as though I had never done it before.
I finished the workout in 71 minutes, which doesn’t tell the story of how I finished the run towards the front, and even got through 1/5 of the pullup/pushups/squat combo in a decent time. Because at that point I hit a wall, hard. I got way too hot, and really light-headed. I had to stop the workout drink some water and stand in front of the fan. The thing that the vest does in addition to adding some weight is that it cuts off any airflow you have over your torso to regulate your body temperature. So after running a mile and then getting through a few rounds of the movements my body temp was so high that I was getting light-headed. I trudged through the rest of the reps. When I say trudged it, I mean it, every movement felt slow, doing each movement trying to be efficient but riding the struggle bus the whole way. I worked and watched the fastest of the group finish and head back out the door. Cursing that they had chosen to not wear a vest, while I had decided that I should wear one. Cursing as they came back from their run to cheer me on as I was still a few rounds from finishing my work. To finally leaving the door right before the one hour mark. Our mile course includes a nice sized hill, and my legs were having none of that nonsense. So I shuffled my way out, made decent time down the hill across the bridge only to turn and look back up the hill. The legs let out a collective F-this, and I ended up having to walk back up the hill. It was a humbling experience but after getting back up the hill I picked up the pace again and jogged it in trying to push the whole way. I came into the main area at 71:10, feel to the ground and was content to spend the next 10 minutes trying to gather myself.
Memorial Day Murph was complete, I honored the legacy of a brother in arms and pushed myself to places that I wasn’t sure that I could make it through and came out stronger for it. I’m happy that I took on this challenge, but I’m also very happy that it’s over. At least for another year.