One mile run.
One hundred pull-ups.
Two hundred push-ups.
Three hundred air squats.
And a final run of one more mile…
Hey all, John here. And today I wanted to share a short reflection.
I’ve been doing CrossFit for a little over three years now. As a result, I’d like to think that I’m in pretty decent shape. Three or four times each week, I show up. I sweat. I recover. But every Memorial Day, there’s one particular workout that hits a little different. It’s not about PRs. It’s not about looking good in a selfie from the gym. It’s about humility. Sacrifice. And remembering that some things are far bigger than ourselves.
This is “Murph.”
It’s a CrossFit Hero WOD (“Workout Of the Day”) named in honor of United States Navy SEAL officer Lieutenant Michael Murphy — a man who gave his life for his team and his country on June 28, 2005, during Operation Red Wings in Afghanistan. Lt. Murphy was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his extraordinary courage and sacrifice.
Folks who knew him say that this workout was one of his favorites. He called it “Body Armor.” In fact, he used to do it while wearing his 20-pound weighted vest. For many CrossFit athletes, that vest is optional. For Lt. Murphy, it was just Tuesday.
Here’s why it matters.
In the chaos of combat, Murphy and his SEAL team were ambushed by more than 100 Taliban fighters in the mountains of the Kunar Province. With communications down and his teammates wounded, he made the unthinkable choice: stepping into open ground, fully exposed to enemy fire, to make a satellite call for reinforcements. He was shot in the back during that call — but he finished it anyway. “Roger that, Sir. Thank you.” Those were his last words over the phone before continuing to fight for his team.
Murphy was just 29 years old. After graduating from Penn State less than a decade earlier, he had been accepted to multiple law schools. He could’ve been a lawyer. But he believed he was meant to serve something greater. He trained to become a SEAL. Those who knew him fondly tell stories of how Michael used to stand up to bullies as a kid. He gave his life doing the same as an adult.
This story — his story — is why thousands of gyms across the country come together each Memorial Day to do Murph. Not to glorify the pain. But to pause. To reflect. To remember. To honor the fallen.
The beauty of Murph — and a big part of why it resonates so deeply — is that it invites everyone to show up as they are. Athletes are encouraged to scale the workout to meet their abilities: swapping pull-ups for ring rows, doing push-ups to a box, or trimming the run to half the distance if needed. Many also partition the workout (think: 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats — repeated 20 times) rather than grinding through each movement unbroken. It’s not about doing it perfectly. It’s about showing up. Giving what you’ve got. Honoring the effort.
As a classroom teacher, it’s hard not to notice the parallels.
My goal for Murph this year was modest: just don’t be the last person to finish. But after the better part of an hour’s worth of effort — the cumulative fatigue from the first mile, the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats? That last mile hurt. And with the sun beating down, it came down to me and two others — each of us just trying to make it up that last hill.
We weren’t racing anymore. We were just trying to get through the challenge together.
And in that final stretch, we made a quiet decision: no one crosses alone. So we linked hands and finished together. Not the fastest. Not the strongest. But side by side — united in effort, humility, and heart.
Because a Dead Last Finish is greater than Did Not Finish. And a Did Not Finish is infinitely greater than a Did Not Start.
I guess that’s the lesson I wanted to share today.
As educators, we are so often asked to give — our time, our energy, our patience. Some days we sprint. Some days we crawl. And some days, we need to be reminded that showing up is the win. But I think it’s important to keep in mind that so much of the same can be said of our students. Sometimes, it’s not always about crushing the test scores or finishing first. It’s about pushing through the hard stuff. And sometimes, about holding the line for the people beside us. It’s about helping one another when we’re down. Giving a kind word of encouragement to someone on a day that they’re simply showing up for themselves and one another. And while it pales in comparison to the ultimate sacrifice that was paid by Lt. Murphy and so many other brave men and women in our armed forces, for educators, a great deal of what we do is about sacrifice — big and small. It’s about standing up when it’s hard and showing up even when we’re tired. In so many ways, the work we get to do in our classrooms is truly such an incredible privilege. And yes, it’s hard. But on a day like today, it’s about remembering just how fortunate we are to be able to spend our lives teaching and learning for a living thanks to the tremendous gifts that have been given to us by those who’ve paid the full measure.
Murph is a workout. Michael Murphy was a warrior.
As teachers, we fight every day for the kids in our classrooms. We don’t leave folks behind. We give a bit of ourselves each and every day for the ones that we serve, and we try always lift one another up and remember to say thank you… even when it hurts.
Let’s never forget what it means to serve something greater than ourselves.
