Jenny

JT Scott | 04/28/2015 | 3

Named workouts started in CrossFit culture as a shorthand reference for benchmark workouts that could be compared across athletes and locations. The original named workouts were “The Girls”, named with a tip of the hat to the National Weather Service’s tradition of labelling hurricanes with traditionally feminine names. We repeat these WODs about every 6 months or so as a way to test our progress, similar to the original intent when posted by CrossFit HQ over a decade ago.

Since then, another class of named workouts has become a part of CrossFit, one that we use in class programming far less often. These “Hero” workouts are a way to honor American soldiers (and later, also law enforcement officers) who died in the line of duty. The first Hero WOD, “JT”, was posted July 6, 2005. Since then CrossFit HQ has designed and designated many heroes, probably the most well-known being “Murph” which we do every Memorial Day in honor of Lt. Michael Murphy.

We pursue these workouts with perhaps a little extra push, knowing that our suffering in this moment is small compared to the suffering of the families these people left behind and the pain of death that they endured. We may challenge ourselves to fight a little harder for the RX’d weight or reps, knowing that the workout isn’t just a designed challenge but also a memorial.

One more thing: these Hero WODs customarily do not have a mens/womens RX. There is one RX, just as in the line of duty there is one job: meet the challenge of the day head-on.

These men and (since 2011) women are remembered by their friends and family, but also remembered by an extended community that shares with them one of their passions: they too loved CrossFit. They were put in harm’s way by us, by our government, and paid the price with their lives. We honor them by retelling a piece of their stories and remembering them – by holding them in our hearts and minds one more time as we struggle on without them.

WOD:

“Jenny”
AMRAP 20:
20 Overhead Squats (45#)
20 Back Squats (45#)
400m Run

U.S. Army Capt. Jennifer M. Moreno, of San Diego, California, died Oct. 6, 2013, in Zhari District, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked her unit with an improvised explosive device. The 25-year-old was assigned to Madigan Army Medical Center on Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. Moreno is survived by her mother, Marie V. Cordero; sisters, Jearaldy Moreno and Yaritza Cordova; and brother, Ivan F. Moreno.