It is what you make it.

Hero WOD: "Blake"

*U.S. Navy Senior Chief Cryptologic Technician David Blake McLendon, 30, of Thomasville, Georgia, of the Naval Special Warfare Group 2 Support Activity in Norfolk, Virginia, killed September 21, 2010, in a helicopter crash during combat operations in Afghanistan's Zabul province.

2 rounds cals (this week: jumping jacks, shuffle splits, air squats, knees to elbows, stretches)

100 m weighted walking lunge (Rx: 25 lbs for females)
30 box jumps (Rx: 24")
20 wall balls (Rx: 14 lbs for females)
10 handstand push ups

4 Rounds for Time (scaled: 3 rounds)

31:30
(4 rounds: 25 lb plate for lunge walk, 20" box jumps/step ups, 10 lb wall ball, modified HSPU)


Monday in the box is never easy....never. Hurricane WODs are the norm; Heroes, the exception. Hero WODs are designed to be exceptional, just like the heroes they honor. And was this one ever exceptional.....

Lunge walks are not my strong suit, but I did them. All four rounds with a 25 lb plate over my head. Started strong on the box jumps but switched to step-ups once my form started to suffer. By the fourth round, even those were wobbly.

Wall ball....my nemesis. I am constantly being told to get down deep into the squat for these....something I don't otherwise have an issue with. And I need to be told. I WILL learn to dominate these bastards. I even told my brother that I want to buy myself a 14 lb wall ball for Christmas just so I can practice with it. (Who does that??)

I realized I was lagging behind everyone else once I hit the third round of lunge walks. I had the simultaneous realization that I was also one of the only girls still lunging with the 25 lb plate. Somehow, being behind didn't matter so much anymore.

By the fourth round, I was lunge walking by myself. Everyone else was done with that part of the round or done with the WOD entirely. The sun was beginning to come up and there I was in the alley, alone. And I was at peace with that. I could have so easily picked up the plate and walked back inside without completing the last 50 meters of lunges. But why would I want to cheat myself like that? No one would know....but I would know. My body would know and my heart would know. And that's the first time I've ever fully realized that the time on the clock, my personal time, does not matter to me. It's my effort that matters. It's my effort that builds muscle and strengthens my body and soul. It's my effort that lets me know if I can walk out with pride or if I should walk out with the sense that I didn't do the WOD justice. When I am on my hands and knees, dripping sweat, I know that I have given it my all. And that's all a hero WOD, or any WOD, really requires.


*Photo courtesy of Alamo CrossFit.