The Memorial Day Murph is sort of a tradition on Memorial Day to honor those who have given their lives for our country. Here in the USA, Memorial can be a big deal or not really. Some people use it as an excuse to have a lazy day with a cookout, some people take the time to remember what Memorial Day is supposed to be about, and some do a combination of both. There's nothing wrong with spending time with family and friends, but we need to make sure we do not forget about our brave men and women who give everything to fight for freedom and the protection of our home.
This year, I was asked to do the Murph. Now, the Murph is a WOD (workout of the day) in honor of Lt. Michael P. Murphy, a navy SEAL who lost his life. It is a Hero WOD. It is likely the most widely known Hero WOD, though there are hundreds of others. Each Hero WOD is named in honor of a fallen hero. We do these WODs in honor of these brave men and women.
So, the Murph. What is it? It is a 1 mile run followed by 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air squats, and another 1 mile run to finish out. All this is done wearing a weighted vest. The weight for men is 15lbs (I've also seen 20lbs) and 12lbs (I've also seen 14lbs) for women.
I did the Murph with 8lbs for my vest. This was my first year doing the Murph, so it was pretty challenging. It took me a while, about 2 1/2 hours, so not very impressive. But, I did the best I could. I had to do assisted pull-ups because I can't even do 1 strict pull-up on my own, but I'll get there someday.
Anyone else do the Murph? Any tips? I am also going to do a Hero WOD for the 4th of July and I plan on doing the 9/11 Memorial/Tribute WOD in September.