13 men came out to push through a tough Murph prep workout Tuesday evening, and got 1% better.
This past Tuesday I Q’d (F3 lingo for leading the workout / the leader of a workout) at the Asylum PM AO, otherwise known as Lakeshore Park to all you non-F3’rs. It was hot, the sun was beating down, and these guys pushed hard for a solid 45 minutes. Rather than doing the full Murph workout (which if you are unfamiliar with what this is - check it out here), which I will be leading this upcoming Saturday, I created a modified version to challenge us. Here is what the workout looked like, start to finish:
Warm-Up
Baby Arm Circle (F) - 10x4
Baby Arm Circle (B) - 10x4
Rockette: 10x4
Grady Corn: 30x4
Hillbilly: 10x4
The Thang (F3 Lingo for the main workout)
[ Cash In ]
100 SSH (1-count)
75 LBCs (1-count)
50 Mountain Climbers (2-count)
25 Frog Jumps
Mini-Murph
200 merkins
200 squats
200 bent-over rows (with a rock)
= simulating the 600 total reps in a real Murph
Instead of running 1 mile on the front and back end of the reps, we’ll run a specific (and shorter) route after each round of reps
Rounds of reps
All 3 exercises
25 reps each
Total of 8 rounds = 600 reps
[ Cash Out ]
100 SSH (1-count)
75 LBCs (1-count)
50 Mountain Climbers (2-count)
25 Frog Jumps
Even though it was a modified Murph - it’s safe to say we were all smoked. Once I caught my breath, here is the Word I shared in the COT (Circle of Trust).
I sat there and felt sorry for myself for one minute, then I had to keep going.
-Marcus Luttrell
I find myself in this position more times than I’d like to admit - feeling sorry for myself, rather than getting up and dealing with it and adapting and overcoming. However, this is no way to live.
I then read an excerpt from Marcus Luttrell’s book “Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10.” I would highly recommend this book, in addition to watching the movie as well.
To be honest, I really thought I might be finished now. I was full of despair, wondering if I might black out, begging my God to help me.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me….
That’s the Twenty-third Psalm, of course. We think of it as the Psalm of the SEALs. It is repeated at all of our religious services, all funerals. Too many funerals. I know it by heart. And I clung to its message, that even in death I would not be abandoned.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me for all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
It was all I had, just a plaintive cry out to a God Who was with me, but Whose ways were becoming unclear to me. I had been saved from more or less certain death, and I was still armed with my rifle. But I did not know what to do anymore, except keep trying.
I kept repeating the Twenty-third Psalm in my head, over and over, trying to stop myself from breaking down. I was scared, freezing cold, without shelter or proper clothes, and I just kept saying it…
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake…
That’s how far I was in the prayer when I heard the water for the first time.
To get your copy of Marcus Luttrell’s book, and to check out more of his story and the huge impact he has through an organization called Team Never Quit, click or tap here.
I then shared some words from Marcus, from a video I found of him speaking on this experience - you can view it below.
Draw A Line - Marcus Luttrell
“I rolled over, and I was paralyzed from the waist down. I started crawling, pulling, using my elbow to start pulling myself through the dirt and out of this ravine. Well I got up and the sun was going down, and I started to crawl. I was in bad shape. I didn’t know what to do. And I was laying in this tree, looking at the moon, and I was feeling sorry for myself. And I must have laid there….my brother was a Navy SEAL too, I got a twin brother, he’s a Navy SEAL. And I was thinking about him a lot and my teammates, and all the training I had been through. I laid there and I was like, c’mon, get up. Let’s go. That’s exactly what I said. What was I gonna do, lay down there and die? I wasn’t gonna do that, I definitely wasn’t gonna feel sorry for myself. And I kept thinking like, I’m still alive man, I mean, I’m alive. They fought and died by I’m still alive. The mission’s still on, let’s go. So, I reached out and I grabbed a rock and I reached out as far as I could and drew a line in the dirt in front of me. I’m gonna crawl to that until my feet hit it and if I’m still alive I’m gonna do it again. That’s what I did. I’d draw a line, until my feet hit it, I’d fall down a hill and draw another line. And I did that for 7 miles.”
So, wherever you might find yourself today, whether it be a hard season of life or not, draw a line in front of you and find a way to KMF - Keep Moving Forward. Sometimes that line for us is physical, but more times than not it is always mental, emotional, relational, and spiritual. If you make a pattern of drawing a line in front of you, finding a way to KMF, and then rinsing and repeating this through life, I promise you, you will do things you never thought you could do. And, it will challenge and encourage the people in your life to do the same.
Iron Sharpens Iron!