Memorial Day for Murph

Memorial Day...

Some people take it as a day off of work. Some take it as another day to drink. Some just take it as another day in life.

I would admit that I am guilty of being the person. I would usually shoot a text to my friends and ask what they're doing and probably go out to drink with them for the whole day.

But this Memorial Day, I did something different.

Logan and I after completing Murphy on Memorial Day 2014

I found out via Facebook on Sunday that Deuce Gym, the Strength and Condition garage I go to work out at was having community work out on Monday.

The workout called Murph, named after Lieutenant Michael Murphy (originally called "Body Armor") was the workout for the day, which consisted of:

- 1 mile run

- 100 pull ups

-200 push ups

- 300 squats

- 1 mile run 

I was pretty hesitant to go at first because I just wanted to sleep in on my day off of work.

I asked my buddy Taylor if he was going to the work out but he said he wasn't going for his own reasons.

Right after I talked to Taylor, I watched the Lone Survivor because one, Mark Walhberg is a boss, and two, the Michael Murphy was one of the main characters in the movie.

To sum up the movie in four words, it was pretty nuts. 

After I watched the movie, which was around 2:00 on Monday morning, I made a decision to go to Deuce to work out.

I woke up Monday morning, drank coffee, cooked three eggs sunny side up and drove off the Venice to the gym.

Around noon, Logan, one of the coaches at Deuce, gathered the 40 some odd people that were there for the workout.

As Logan talked, he would do his pep talk on what the work out is and motivate people to give the drive they need to do their best in the work out.

But today was different...

As Logan was talking about the workout and Michael Murphy, he paused for a few seconds and started to break down a bit. Then after a few more seconds, he gathered himself and told us, "There are people out their serving and protecting our country. They don't have the privilege to live a life like we do."

I never seen this man break down in my life until now. I have to say it was one of the most powerful speeches I have heard from anyone.

...

When the work out was going to start, Logan broke us up into 3 groups. I joined in with the second group. 

As I did the work out, I would have some part of the pull ups, push ups and squats done to a certain amount. After I felt like I was going die or pass out, I went to the white board where the workout was written out in different modifications. I started to look at the workout with about a quarter of the repetitions taken out from the RX (the prescribe recommended weights or standards for what is typically your best athletes in the class.) As I stared at it, I was thinking of just stopping at where I was at and just finish the mile and call it a day.

But the little part of me was basically telling me, "all those guys serving for our country would rather be working out here than being out on duty right now."

So I took my inner conscience's advice and finished the workout in 79 minutes and 43 seconds. It was probably the hardest workout I completed since I started to train with Logan in 2011. I couldn't feel my arms or my legs afterwards but the feeling of completing the workout was rewarding, knowingly you put everything you had into that workout to cross the finish line.

I sat around after I finished my last mile and looked around as members of the gym socialized with each other. Then out of no where, I just thought to myself, "I do really take my life for grant at times."

Today had a unique experience to my part of life. It really opened my eyes to what life could actually be instead of what it is. 

You might have job that you might not really like or hate the workout that is posted for the next day, but there are people all around the world that rather be in your shoes. 

Getting through Murphy, like I said, was probably the most difficult workout I've completed. But like in life, you have to keep pushing through it when times are tough.

Jun

Shout out to everything serving in the military to protect our country. I salute to every single one of you.

R.I.P Lieutenant Michael Murphy (May 7, 1976 – June 28, 2005)