Memorial Day 2012. Perfect weather greeted us as our team assembled at 0630 for the trip to Pottstown. We made great time and arrived with about 25 minutes to spare.
The street was filled with people getting ready for what is argueably the premier hero WOD - "Murph".
I had been training for this day for months and it had finally arrived.
I admit that my mind was racing. This was important to me. I had only four goals:
- Complete the WOD solely for the honor of those who have given their lives for this nation. Murphy/Dietz/Axelson, my friend Brian Mowery and the 1,000,000+ who have gone before them. I wanted no self-glory, pride or false emotion to get in the way.
- Do the entire WOD in body armor. Even as the temperatures climbed I vowed I would have a heat stroke before taking it off.
- Perform all 200 pushups to Army-standard (breaking the plane) and Crossfit-standard (chest touches the ground) if I could
- Finish in less than 1 hour
My stomach was knotted as I took this mission very seriously and knew I would feel like I had failed the fallen if I didn't meet my standard.
Warming up I met a Marine Infantryman who had lost a leg to an IED in Afghanistan and a bunch of other people who were psyched to get started.
Box owner Robert released the pack for the three lap run and the gazelles were quickly out of sight. A few people had weight vests on but other than Lanita and I there seemed to be nobody else in body armor.
The first mile went well and I came back to the already oven-like box to begin my plan of 20 rounds of 5 pullups, 10 pushups and 15 squats. The pullup bars were jammed and I made the command decision to do all 100 as jumping pullups. It just seemed that using a band would have eaten up way too much time needlessly (I vow to try to do all 100 next yr solely kipped).
After a few rounds I doubled up on the pullups so I could go outside into the cooler air for the other two events. Around Round 3 Pukie was visiting a guy as he yacked into the street while blaming it on alcohol from the night before. Why would you drink before Murph???
I could see the clock through the window and knew I would vaguely on time. I think the first people hit the street for their final mile around 30 minutes. Juls counted sets and rounds or I would have been lost. When she said I was 3/4 of the way I was happy as I knew I still had a good bit of steam left in me.
Somewhere around the last round or two I was fading and did two sets of squats without the pushups. She made sure I got back down and banged them out before yelling "thats it, thats it - run!!".
I took a deep breath and headed around the corner on legs that felt like concrete. I knew it would be close so as I got loosened up I picked up the pace and made the 3rd lap to finish at 56:14.
I couldnt believe it. It was over. The sun was out, I felt temporarily wiped but overall quite good. The huge mental wall of this milestone WOD had been addressed and conquered. I felt amazing and exchanged sweaty hugs with my family and Lanita.
Several people were still out so we all gathered on the corner to cheer them on. During my third lap I passed an obese black lady who sounded as if she was really wheezing. I asked Lanita to go back and check on her (she wasn't in a life-threatening state or I would have stopped myself). When she did she found her not in respiratory distress but crying as she remarked that she had never had this much support before during a workout. THAT is the spirit of Crossfit!
Many Crossfitters made the short trip over to the next street to watch a very nice Memorial Day parade. The comradery was real and everyone felt like they had done their small share to remember three fallen SEALs and the meaning of the day.
Thanks to Rob and Crossfit Pottstown for a great day. I know that this will be a stepping stone to future successes in my Crossfit career.
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