Today was an important day for me as a coach. While CrossFit has many workouts dedicated to our servicemen who have given the Ultimate Sacrifice to protect our freedoms, until tonight, all of the soldiers were just names to me. With tonight’s Hero Workout, “Jack”, it hit a little bit closer to home. Some of my friends in the Seattle area (CrossFit SnoRidge) actually knew this Hero in person, so I was honored to have my athletes complete this WOD last night.
Here is an excerpt with a little background on Jack from the CrossFit website:
“Army Staff Sgt. Jack M. Martin III, 26, of Bethany, Oklahoma, assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group, Fort Lewis, Wash., died September 29th, 2009, in Jolo Island, Philippines, from the detonation of an improvised explosive device. Martin is survived by his wife Ashley Martin, his parents Jack and Cheryl Martin, and siblings Abe, Mandi, Amber and Abi.” (http://www.crossfit.com/mt-archive2/007130.html)
Workout of the Day:
“Jack” ~ As Many Rounds as Possible in 20 Minutes of:
10 Push Press / 10 Kettlebell Swings / 10 Box Jumps
Box Jumping and Push Pressing. Great Lockout, Clayton!
Any time you’re doing a 20-minute workout, as hard as you can, it’s going to be a challenge, but the group tonight did an awesome job of maintaining proper form through fatigue! In the picture above you can see Ashley jumping up to the box. She actually decided mid-workout that she wanted to increase the height of where she was jumping. What a statement for her to make the workout even more difficult!
Fully extended arms, knees and hips fully open. BOOM!
Athlete Results:
Ashley (15# Bar / 8kg Kettlebell) – 8 rounds + 4 Push Press
Clayton (75# Bar / 16kg Kettlebell) – 7 rounds + 5 Push Press
Kristin (35# Bar / 12kg Kettlebell) – 7 rounds + 10 Push Press + 10 Swings + 5 Box Jumps
Caro (45# Bar / 12kg Kettlebell) – 6 rounds + 10 Push Press + 10 Swings + 3 Box Jumps
Honoring Army Staff Sgt. Jack M. Martin III
Thank you guys so much for pushing through this workout today. I know our friends in Washington appreciate knowing that people around the world are honoring their close friend for everything he did for us. Rest in Peace, Jack.
Smashby's Training Blog 
Tom and CF Lakewood: Thanks for honoring Jack. He was a CF’er from Rainier CrossFit and trained there. They are good friends of ours at SnoRidge so when we saw this new Hero WOD we had to do it as well to honor his sacrifice. I am sure the folks at Rainier greatly appreciate this!