HERO
An ordinary person facing extraordinary circumstances and acting with courage, honor, and self-sacrifice.
I didn't know what a Hero WOD was when I first fell in love with one.
I just saw a workout called "Murph" — a one mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, and another mile run — and something in me said yes. Simple. No equipment. Just a body and a pull-up bar and the willingness to suffer a little. And at the bottom of the description, a single line:
If you have a 20lb vest, wear it.
I didn't have one yet. But I knew I would. And I knew I would wear it.
Months later I learned who Michael Murphy was. Navy Lieutenant. 29 years old. Patchogue, New York. Killed in Afghanistan on June 28th, 2005. This workout was one of his favorites. He called it Body Armor.
Something cracked open in me when I read that.
I wasn't just doing a workout anymore. I was carrying someone. I was moving through something hard so that his name would be spoken, his life would be honored, his sacrifice would not be forgotten. And I learned that when you suffer for something beyond yourself — you find out what you're actually made of.
That was the beginning.
Since then I have completed 332 Hero WODs and 121 Memorial, Named, and Tribute WODs. I post almost every Sunday. I have now done Murph without a vest, with a 14lb vest, with a 20lb vest more times than I can count, with a 25lb vest, a 30lb vest, a 35lb vest and twice with a 40lb vest.
Some workouts I've had to scale. Some I've had to modify. But I have not stopped. It is too important to me to stop.
Because here is what I've learned:
These men and women who are honored in these workouts — they didn't stop either. They kept going when it was hard. They kept going when it hurt. They kept going when everything in them might have wanted to quit.
The least I can do is show up on a Sunday.
I have received many messages over the years from people who knew the person being honored — family members, friends, fellow service members — telling me that seeing their loved one's name, that knowing someone out there was still moving in their memory, brought them to tears. I have been asked to write an original Hero WOD to honor someone's friend.
I don't take that lightly.
This page is my log. My record. My act of devotion.
Every rep is a prayer. Every workout is a conversation with someone who gave everything. And every Sunday I show up — however I can, whatever I can do — because showing up is how we honor the ones who no longer can.
There is one rule when you do a Hero WOD with me — for myself and for anyone who joins me:
There is no complaining.
Not because hard things aren't hard. But because the person whose name is on this workout didn't get to stop. They didn't get to complain. They just kept going — until they couldn't.
The least we can do is honor that with our silence and our effort.
Thank you for following this journey.
If you have done any of these workouts yourself — I would love to know.
Leave a comment. Send a message. Tell me who you were honoring.
With great love and deep respect, Juliet
Most recent Hero WODs
Walshy 142 — CrossFit Nitro Memorial WOD In honor of Leith Walsh, who passed January 2, 2019, after suffering from PTSD, alcoholism, anxiety and depression. Every rep in this workout carries meaning — 142 back squats for his final PR, the weight vest for the burden he carried. Completed Rx+ in 48:22.
Hero Journey
K9 Kitt — Hero WOD
In honor of K9 Kitt, a police dog who gave his life on June 4, 2021 in Braintree, MA — taking three bullets as he advanced on an armed suspect, protecting his partner Officer William Cushing and two fellow officers. Every rep in this workout tells part of that story.
21 rounds of deadlifts, hang power cleans, front squats, shoulder-to-overheads, and a 200 ft weighted carry at 60 lb. Completed in 43:41
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