The Dreaded "Murph" and a 5K

I've mentioned how great my gym is, but part of what makes my gym so great is the owner/trainer (O/T). He likes to keep us on our toes. Each week, the workouts for each day are posted on the big white board, so on Monday, you can see what is in store for the rest of the week. This sometimes is a bad thing because people (myself included) plan their 'rest day' on the day with the workout that they like the least. Nothing pisses off the O/T more than that! He threatens to stop posting the workouts on the board because it irks him so much. Anyway, last week there was a "surprise" day.

I chose to roll the dice knowing full well that if it said "surprise" he most likely didn't want anyone to not show up because of what it was. What did I walk into? The most dreaded CrossFit workout (based upon hearing what it entailed) I knew of. CrossFit has benchmark workouts which you use to gauge your progress and compare yourself to others. Most of the benchmarks have female names, and are referred to as "the girls." They are workouts named after bad ass chicks. Other benchmark workouts with guys names are called "hero" workouts and they honor a soldier killed in battle.

I showed up on Thursday a little bit before the 5pm class. Normally, the 4pm class is well over with, and people are just chatting. Not this time. The workout was in full swing. I saw pained faces and a guy wearing a weight vest performing pull-ups. That's when it hit me, our surprise was "Murph." For those of you not in the know, Murph is a big ole' sandwich. A mile sandwich. What best to put between two pieces of mile bread? How about 100 pull-ups? Ok. Hmmm, something is missing. Let's add 200 push-ups as well. Ok. Still not quite right. Oh, I know! Squats! Let's add 300 squats. So there you have it:
Run one mile.
Perform 100 pull-ups, 200 push ups, and 300 squats (break them up however you choose)
Run one mile.
Oh, and if you have a kevlar vest or weight vest, wear it.

Now that I've done it, I can honestly say, it sounds worse then it really is. Sure it was long, sure my arms were jello, and I'm still sore, but it was not the hardest workout I've done at CrossFit. I'm glad I did it. Who knows, maybe next time, I'll do the workout with the vest on!

Yesterday, 2 days after Murph, was the 5K. My goal was to get under 30 minutes since my last Greenlake run (5K) was 30:23. I finished in 30:33! I was so close! Running in the morning is tough for me, always has been. It seemed like an incredibly fast race as well, everyone was flying by me like I wasn't moving. I'll just have to sign up for another 5K in a few months to try for the sub 30 again.