This year the first Friday of the month has been RED Friday at The Uptowner. I have to give credit to F3 Greenwood. I stole their idea and sometimes steal their workouts. Today we celebrated the life and service of Sgt. Thomas MacPherson. More on him in the NMM.
Conditions: 81 degrees and 91% Humidity (Heat Index of 89 in the gloom)
Equipment: Rocks Ranging from 30 – 50 pounds
Warm-up: SSH x 31: IW x 31; Abe Vigodas x 10; Good Mornings x 10; Moroccan Night Club x 31; Self-love x 10; Copperhead Squats x 10
The Tommy Mac uses 5 different lifts, so we practiced a few with the rocks. These lifts actually require a barbell, so we made some slight modifications in order to perform them
- Thrusters – Squat, then press rock above head.
- Power Snatches – Pick up rock from the ground, lift over head, then throw it back on the ground real manly like.
- Push Jerks – Shoulder Presses with a rock that’s too heavy to shoulder press.
- Hang Squat Cleans – Curl the rock, then squat.
- Overhead Squats – Just keep the rock at chest and squat. Don’t get crazy.
The Thang
- 12 Burpees
- 12 Thrusters
- 12 Burpees
- 12 Power Snatches
- 12 Burpees
- 12 Hang Squat Cleans
- 12 Burpees
- 12 Overhead Squats
We went AMRAP. I believe everyone completed 2 rounds in 28 minutes, some started a 3rd before time was up.
NMM
Today’s workout was in honor of Thomas MacPherson. Sgt. Thomas R. MacPherson, 26, was killed in action on October 12, 2012 by enemy forces during a heavy firefight while conducting combat operations in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. He was leading an assault against an enemy position when he was mortally wounded by small arms fire.
MacPherson was a team leader assigned to Company D, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. He previously served one deployment to Iraq and this was his fourth deployment to Afghanistan.
The “Tommy Mac” Hero WOD was created by elite-level coach Rudy Nielsen of CrossFit Outlaw (Alexandria, VA, USA), who first posted the workout on his “The Outlaw Way” blog as the workout of the day for October 27, 2012. The post included the following quote from Tommy’s former Platoon Leader:
“The whole thing with Tommy is that he embodies everything that’s right about Ranger Battalion. He held the position of Ranger Team Leader which is literally the tip of the spear. He was the consummate, quiet professional—he expected absolutely zero recognition for what he did. He loved his job because he was a born protector. He was perfectly content to carry out his life’s work under the cover of darkness, with his and his comrades’ actions to remain forever under the cloak of shadows. He died doing what he loved; protecting all of us. What stood out about Tommy the most was his maturity beyond his years. I believe it was the fact that he was the older brother of younger siblings, but like another Sgt. said “Tommy wasn’t one of those guys who joined the Army and grew into a man. He joined as a man and grew others.” He left behind his beautiful wife wife, Claudia MacPherson, and their son, Brayden.”
Lagniappe
- It was great to be joined by 3 actual Uptowners at The Uptowner. I believe that is equal to the number of Uptowners that have posted in the past year. If Uptowners ever outnumber the World at the Uptowner, we may consider a name change. These Uptowners handled themselves admirably. Tools always said an Uptowner would never suvive the Uptowner, but these three proved him wrong. I hypothesize that since they are relatively new to F3, they have not been sufficiently softened by the tickle fights that occur at the Skinny. Let’s get Douille or Yankee out here and see what happens then.
- It was agreed by all that the rock exercises were the best part of this workout. #BurpeeLoveHate
- No Mahatma today, so I believe it was Tool that took home the prize of WOD crusher.
- Pay attention to what Abacus wears. He gets it.
- I did my best Cowbell impersonation and wore flip-flops to the workout. Difference is that I worked out instead of drinking an umbrellaed libation and looking on. Baby steps. (If Shorty is reading this, this is where he says “I think you mean Cowbell steps.”)
- 2 Rounds = 120 burpees which we all did correctly and can count toward the June ISI challenge of 10,000 merkins.
