The Murph from Bella's perspective....

Belladonna here for a short guest post.

Today I did “The Murph” – a crossfit challenge workout.

I started crossfit about 2 months ago, and I really enjoy it. Going from dwarf tossing to training for powerlifting, my body had enough of the heavy lifting and I needed something a little more cardiovascular, except running..I’m sure ERJ has emphasized how much I hate running. Crossfit pushes me to my limits and moves me to where I need to be for physical workouts, adding in the benefits of cardio to weight training in one, intensive package.

Some workouts we do are called Hero WODs(Workout of the day) – to honor fallen soldiers who have sacrificed their lives so that we may have our freedom. A very popular one that I mentioned above is called “The Murph”. So, on Memorial Day weekend, crossfit gyms all around the country host their Murph Challenges in honor of Lt Michael Murphy. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do this one with my gym-goblins but I still had dad around to help encourage me.

Murph

• 1 mile run
• 100 pull-ups
• 200 pushups
• 300 squats
• 1 mile run (Did I mention that I hate running?)
  

LT. Michael P Murphy was a U.S. Navy SEAL who did this work-out to prepare himself for recons. LT Murphy was the officer in charge of a 4 man SEAL team who got ambushed while on duty in Afghanistan, June 2005. After taking fire for hours, Murphy made his final stand on an open cliff where he could get reception for his radio. He called the base for QRF and immediate assistance. 

Murphy knowingly put his life in jeopardy and accepted the consequences of making himself a target while protecting his team. He made the ultimate sacrifice. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on October 27, 2007. The movie Lone Survivor depicts what happened on that fateful day for that crew.

So we do the Murph Challenge to push ourselves past our limits, humble us and dedicate some pain, blood, sweat and maybe even a few tears to honor Lt Murphy for making the ultimate sacrifice so that we may keep our freedom.

Dad says he was just the driver but he happily accompanied me on the runs, and continued to run while I was doing the stuff in between... he ran a total of 5 miles today! He’s still pretty spry for an old guy. He even took me out for lunch after. He’s pretty awesome.<Grudgingly allowed by the censor/editor>

Happy Memorial Day!

Over and out,

Bella