This week I participated in my first “Murph.” Murph is a CrossFit Hero workout named after Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, who was killed in Afghanistan June 28th, 2005. He was 29 when he died on duty. Lt Murphy was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor after his death.
The workout was one of Mike’s favorites and he’d named it ‘Body Armor.’ It first appeared on the CrossFit site August 18, 2005. The workout is this:
Engaged in a frenzied firefight and outnumbered by the Taliban, Navy Lt. Michael Murphy made a desperate decision as he and three fellow SEALs fought for their lives on a rocky mountainside in Afghanistan’s Kunar Province in 2005.
In a last-ditch effort to save his team, Murphy pulled out his satellite phone, walked into a clearing to get reception and called for reinforcements as a fusillade of bullets ricocheted around him. One of the bullets hit him, but he finished the call and even signed off, “Thank you.”
My husband did the workout with a 20lb vest . . . I just wore my gym clothes, lol. He finished in 38:39 and I finished in 53:10. I wanted to stop so many times, but I just kept thinking about Michael Murphy and his sacrifice for his country and peers. What I was doing wasn’t all that bad!! The 1 mile run at the end was more like a very slow jog but I just concentrated on my breathing and crossed the finish line under 1 hour. Thank you to my dad who served in the arm forces in Vietnam, men and women who have and are serving, and for my friends at the gym that cheered me on.
It was an awesome experience. My whole body hurts while I’m writing this, but my heart feels full.
Dr. Gill
