I can’t believe this is already the third year of doing “Murph” for Neil! It was only my second year (the first year I did a half-marathon over Memorial Day weekend), but it’s something we definitely look forward to every year. Not only is it a way to connect with our CrossFit community, many of whom are active or previously serving service members, but it’s such an awesome tribute to bravery and selflessness.
Here is the CrossFit WOD “Murph”:
I had no idea what to expect this year. I went into this week thinking I could probably still eek out the two miles of running, but around Wednesday I decided to simply row out the opening and closing 1,600m. I’m probably one of the few people who doesn’t mind rowing. The rest was simply a chipper. Neil and I have adopted the strategy of front-loading pull-ups while we’re fresh and then doing a 5-10-15 rep scheme for the remaining rounds. Without front-loading pull-ups, it’s essentially 20 rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 air squats with a mile run on each side.
A few pics:
National Anthem
Tyler
Ridiculous power couple Matt and Laura Kitzi
I ended up feeling pretty good about my Murph experience this year. Last year, I did half the pull-ups band-assisted. This year I managed all unassisted. I did push-ups on the parallettes so I could reach full depth and maintain easier control going up and down. And the air squats? Well there were a lot of them. If you are looking for other scales for pregnancy, check out this post on CrossFit Mom. Neil and I worked side by side most of the time.
Neil’s experience
Every year I do Murph I am usually tired from staying up too late the night before, and this year was no different. Yawning as the call of 3-2-1 went out, I set out on the first mile. Everything felt okay, and as I completed the mile in the pouring rain, I came back to a slippery pull up bar. But the air was cool and the rain felt good.
After the first couple (of 20) rounds of 5-10-15 pull up, push up, air squat, I knew that this was going to be a fast time. Nothing really phased me until around round 15 when push ups were a struggle. I am not quite sure why that day was so good for me in terms of body weight movements; maybe it was the few rest days I took, who knows. I knocked it all out even in the rain in 43:33, a near 10 minute PR from last year.
Aftermath
Afterward, we sped over to a local diner for breakfast, opting for the heart-stopping concoction of biscuits and gravy layered with hash browns and eggs. We made it home just in time to crawl into bed for the rest of the morning and into the afternoon.
We then stayed up way too late playing with our new toy, the Wahl Deep-Tissue Percussion Massager. I was given the opportunity to test this through my ambassadorship as a Women’s Health Action Hero.
This thing is no joke, and seriously has to be one of the coolest things I’ve ever had the opportunity to test as a blogger. It’s not wimpy. Previously, we’d been using a home-improvement buffer at the box for massages, but this thing is comparable in power, putting out almost 3,350 pulses per minute. It also has 4 different head attachments for different pressure points.
It felt awesome on our sore lats, traps and scaps and today I barely feel sore — after Murph no less. Neil also spent a good amount of time massaging his calves on his own after I went to bed. If you are a CrossFitter, or put in some high volume training — you NEED this thing.
Disclosure: I am participating in the Women’s Health Action Hero program and have been provided with a Wahl Deep-Tissue Percussion Massager and the opportunity to participate in an ambassadorship program for the period of a year in exchange for my thoughts, awareness through blog posts and opinions about any products or opportunities I partake in.
One Comment