Hero WOD Riley

CrossFit HQ posted the hero WOD Riley for September 27 and it caught my eye. CrossFit Identity programmed it for September 30 and I am honored to have had the opportunity to perform the workout.

It is important to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for us. We are damn lucky to live in a country where women are able to lift barbells while wearing very tiny shorts in gyms where men respect us as equals and don't see us as property.

CrossFit HQ

Army Sgt. 1st Class Riley G. Stephens, 39, of Tolar, Texas, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), died Sept. 28, 2012, in Wardak, Afghanistan, of wounds caused by enemy small-arms fire. Stephens is survived by his wife, Tiffany; three children, Austin, Morgan and Rylee Ann; parents, Michael and Joann; brother Ken; and a number of family members.


Riley

For time:
Run 1.5 miles
150 burpees
Run 1.5 miles


So running three miles with 150 burpees in the middle is exactly as it sounds - long and a real mental fuck. It takes me about 1.5 miles to warm up and I kept a nice steady pace for that run. My goal was to split the burpees into chunks of 20 but usually I had to stop for a rest at 10. I figured as much so I planned for that on my whiteboard. Write 1-15 in three rows and wipe off the number when you rest. This keeps you moving because you need to rest at intervals of 10. I was most proud of my set of 30.

The second 1.5 mile run wasn't that bad. I kept thinking about the sacrifice Sgt. Stephens made for me and how a run down Zonolite Road is nothing compared to what he went through. Uppity old ladies zipping out of the Flyaway Cafe don't compare to the dangerous our troops experience in Afghanistan so I ran at a consistent, relatively quick pace. I finished the WOD at 43.10 Rx.

Something about 150 burpees really gets your insides moving and my sprint across the finish line and into the box had more to do with my need for the bathroom than any athletic ability. You know what's embarrassing? When you open the bathroom door and the new coach tells you that she was about to come see if something had happened to you because you were in there for so long. In my defense, it was just really nice to sit down.