31 Heroes WOD
As Many Reps As Possible in 31 minutes of (Teams of 2):
- 8 Thrusters (155#/105#)
- 6 rope climbs
- 11 Box jumps (30"/24")
Partner #1 does this while partner #2 picks up a sandbag (45#/25#) and does a 400M sandbag run. When partner #2 completes run, partner #1 picks up the sandbag and does the run, and partner #2 continues wherever partner #1 left of in AMRAP.
Team score is total number of reps completed.
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The 31 Heroes Project came about in response to the Chinook helicopter crash that took place on August 6, 2011 killing 30 military service members and one military working dog. The WOD is 31 minutes long to honor the 31 heroes who died--one minute for each hero. There's a whole lot more information about it here in case you're curious. It's a partner WOD for those who had a partner for obvious reasons--when you're in the military, everything is about the life of your buddy. His life is in yours, and your life is in his. Literally.
Though it was a partner WOD, I had no partner. I didn't realize that 99% of the participants--um, all but me--had called their friends ahead of time and prearranged teams. Oops. So I did it by myself, which did seem fitting for where I am in this moment of my life. It wasn't a huge variation of what's listed above. I just started with the 400M run and went through the rest of the skills after that.
We had to come up with a team name--anything patriotic. Others chose Apple Pie, Team America, and Patriots. I wanted to think of something clever and, since I was by myself, something befitting of that. So, I was Team George. George Washington exemplified what one leader can do, right? So I wanted to show--mostly myself--what I could do. In retrospect, if I had realized that there was a canine involved in the heroes project, I would have named my team o' one "Sweetlips" because that was the George's favorite dogs (of many--he was a dog lover. He once returned his enemy's dog at the end of a battle. Read about it in this children's book. Alas, calling out "Sweetlips!" at the end of each round sounded a little risque, so...I went with George.
So it started. I am a pretty tough gal, but this WOD really tried to knock me flat. The run was fine--my youngest son weighs 25 pounds, so that wasn't bad--I have training for that weighted run all day, every day. The box jumps are one of my strengths. I chose a lighter weight for the thrusters; I went with just 55#. I wish I had done more, at least 75#.
But the rope climbs. Damn! The rope climbs. I actually like climbing ropes in WODs and am pretty proud of the fact that I'm able to scramble up and down them. But I've never done so many, and it's been months and months since I've done them. I think I spent half of these 31 minutes just staring at the rope, thinking lots of thoughts about how it was me vs the rope. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. No complicated mantra here.
During one break from the 6 rope climbs I walked away from them a little and saw a book lying on a bench. It must have been from one of the kids whose parents come to workout, and their kid sits on the side and reads or, more likely, plays on some cool device that starts with an "i" that I would never let my kids have. This book was The Book of Manners for Good Girls. My mind kind of swirled and my gumption shot up. That was me and still is me--a good girl. Who was always focused on good manners. But maybe too much. We so often look at our girls and tell them to quiet down, stay clean, say please and thank you, follow directions while their brotherly counterparts have more flexible rules because of more flexible expectations.
I attacked the rope the next few times thinking of what I wanted for my daughter, and other girls--to be tough, to try things they might think they can't do, to yell from the rooftops, to laugh in an undignified manner, to get as messy as the boys.
Anyway, long story short: I almost got 4 rounds, by myself. I was two box jumps short. Uncharacteristically of me, I fell on the box and just couldn't get up. I had tears in my eyes and was super emotional about the whole thing, from the WOD but also from the week.
