Edward Blanch

A CrossFit tradition and one that is very much alive at the Cove is Memorial Day Murph. We celebrate the memory of Michael Murphy with the hero workout “Murph”, followed by a community potluck-style party afterward (food signup can be found here).

Michael Murphy was deployed to Afghanistan in April 2005. During a mission (later depicted in the movie Lone Survivor), he died while climbing to higher ground to make a call for help. Despite suffering severe wounds, he was able to make the call and continue fighting. During that mission, Michael Murphy, Matthew Axelson, and Danny Dietz were killed. The fourth member of their SEAL team, Petty Officer Marcus Luttrell, was able to escape, largely because of the call made by Murphy.  We honor his heroism with the following benchmark WOD:

“MURPH”

1 MILE RUN

100 PULL UPS

200 PUSH-UPS

300 AIR SQUATS

1 MILE RUN

As safety is of paramount concern for the coaching staff at the Cove(for more on this, check out this great article from Larry Jackson) , we also want to highlight some safety parameters for the workout.

We want all athletes to execute the movements using the full range of motion. This is not just to get the most out of the training stimulus but is a safety concern. Executing movements with a short range of motion puts undue tension on the muscles, ligaments, and joints and can be extremely dangerous.

We are asking all athletes to use a yoga mat or grey mat at the gym for push-ups. We will not have time to clean mats between heats and we want to have a clean space (as much as possible) for each athlete.

We also ask that all athletes be on their second mile run by the 48-minute mark. Going beyond that time we feel is beyond the stimulus of the workout.

While this is a daunting workout no matter how you cut it, there are TONS of great ways to scale to make it work for you:

Break up the reps in easy bit-sized pieces.  Most people opt for 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 air squats (for 20 rounds) to get to the 100/200/300 total rep count.

For most, the PUSH UP is the first part to fail.  If this is an area of weakness for you, consider breaking up the push-ups even more.  Go 5 push-ups, 5 pull-ups, 5 push-ups, 15 air squats (for 20 rounds).

Consider doing “TEAM MURPH”.  Find two or three friends (or we can pair you up) and split the volume.  For those of you who love partner WODs, this is a super fun way to attack the day!

HALF MURPH is a great option as well.  You can cut the runs to 800’s and then hit 50, 100, and 150 reps.  We still STRONGLY advise you to break up the reps it smaller sets!

Or you can just do it as an AMRAP.  Let’s say 30 minutes is a good “feeling” time cap for you.  Go for a run then do a 10 or 12-minute “Cindy”.  Then hit another run!  Cap yourself at 30 minutes.

We want you to have FUN and work within your own capacity … and the possibilities to make that happen are almost endless.  Talk to us or any coach and we’ll figure out a plan that works for YOU. Make a plan and stick to it!

. We are working through all the details of the day, but here are some things we DO know:

We will run multiple heats of 25 athletes per heat.

Your spot MUST be reserved in Wodify and we ask that you stick to your heat time.

If you are doing “Partner Murph”, each partner counts as a single sign-up (meaning, if ten teams of two are going at once, that is a heat of 20)

“Outside Murph” will have pull-up subs including barbell row or sit-ups.

Sorry, no barbells on the rig. Jumping pullups, barbell rows (off the rig) and ring rows are all great options.

Make sure you are hydrating properly ALL WEEK. Drinking water Monday is great, but starting now is even better!
All athletes will have to make their own time for a self-paced warm-up before we hit the workout. We will be coming around to all athletes to make sure everyone has an appropriate (and scaled for many) attack plan.

The event will kick off at 9:00 am Memorial Day (Monday, May 31st) with the National Anthem, welcome remarks, and standards review.

And yes, we will have a community potluck-style party after!

We will do our best to safely honor the remembrance, celebration, and community that this day is all about.

This Friday we will be having a regular partner workout but this one will be a very special one. This Friday we will be doing “Noah Leotta”, which is in memory of Police Officer Noah Leotta. Noah, was killed in the line of duty on December 10^th, 2015 when he was struck by a drunk driver during a traffic stop. He had pulled over one drunk driver on Rockville Pike when another drunk driver came along and struck him.  He was only 24 when he was killed. He was born in Aspen Hill Maryland and served as a member of the Montgomery County Police Force.

Noah was a friend of one of our members, Rob Rollins. We are happy to have this workout this Friday and it will now become an annual tradition at the Cove. This happens to be law enforcement appreciation week and we would like this Friday to be a moment where we can all be thankful for the sacrifices made by so many officers of the law, in particular that of Noah.