Workout of the Day:
Weighted Step-Ups
5-5-5
(Select a box to step on that is just above the height of your knee. Step your full foot on the box and drive up with the top leg – do not push off with the leg on the floor. Fully extend your leg and hip without resting the trailing leg on the box and lower yourself back down. Perform five step-ups on one side before switching feet. Select the heaviest dumbbells or kettlebells you can handle.)
and then,
For max reps:
One minute of Kettlebell Swings (24/16 kg)
One minute of Burpees
One minute of Pull-Ups
One minute of Hang Squat Cleans (35/25 lb. dumbbells);
then 45 seconds of each movement;
then 30 seconds of each movement;
then finish with 15 seconds of each movement.
(The entire workout should take you exactly 10 minutes. Keep a running total of and report your completed reps.)
Running Sucks, Kind Of – Part One
Written by Justin Nahama
There are few certainties in life. In addition to death and taxes, virtually everyone who discovers CrossFit will inevitably wonder about two things: (1) what about abs; and (2) what about running? I would like to discuss my thoughts on the latter. In short, I believe that Crossfit will make you a stronger runner even though we do not spend a significant amount of time running. More importantly, I believe that there is value in running that is often overlooked in our training.
First, let me articulate how I feel about the subject matter: running sucks. When I see anything over 800 meters in a WOD or a training evolution with the Marines, I dig deep into my bag of excuses to avoid the workout. Like many other CrossFitters, I initially was concerned that there was not enough running in the program. As a Marine, we are required to take a Physical Fitness Test (”PFT”) at least twice a year. The running portion of the test consists of a 3-mile timed run in running shoes. To max out your score, you must complete the run in 18 minutes. For each 10 seconds after 18 minutes, you lose 1 point, and anything over 24 minutes is an automatic failure. Accordingly, avoiding running was not an option for me.
Although I grew up playing sports, I never particularly enjoyed running. I had to work extremely hard to get my PFT run time below 20 minutes. Before I began
CrossFit, my PR for the PFT run was 18:40. A respectable score, but not where I wanted to be. At the time, I was following a pre-BUD/S
program that involved endless running, pushups, dips, situps and pullups. The program increased in mileage weekly, and before leaving for Officer
Candidate School, I was running at least 30 miles a week. When I ran the 18:40, I did not feel particularly strong, other aspects of my overall fitness suffered
because I had lost weight, and the monotony of the program was as exciting as watching traffic.
Enter CrossFit. After a year of training through the main site and with no additional running, I had my first PFT while I was in the Reserves. In the past year, I believe the farthest I ran in a single WOD was 5k, which happened at most twice. I lined up with a dozen or so other Marines on a crisp October morning in Boston. I vividly recall being extremely nervous and secretly praying that Crossfit would come through. The horn blew, and we were off. I hit my stride, and the strangest thing happened. My body felt stronger than ever. My legs felt like pistons firing, wanting to go faster and faster. My breathing was controlled and I remember thinking, “this is not nearly as challenging as many of the WODs I had fought through the past 12 months.” I focused on my breathing and just kept moving. I crossed the finish line as a Marine yelled out my time – 17:20. The “functional application” aspect of CrossFit was permanently seared into my head and heart. I was a believer.
CrossFit provides us with the foundation to succeed in nearly all physical tasks, which includes running. If you don’t believe me, check out what Greg Amundson did: http://journal.crossfit.com/2009/02/training-2-miles-to-run-100.tpl If you do not know Greg, he is one of the original members of the HQ staff, and an all-around wonderful person. He is also a freakishly strong and talented athlete who was crushing WODs before guys like Speal and Josh Everett emerged. I am not suggesting we all cold turkey attempt what Greg did, he clearly has the heart of a lion. The results of his “experiment,” however, speak for themselves. Moreover, you do not have to look far to find similar validations of the CrossFit methodology. Our very own Dan the Man crushed his previous best marathon time by more than an hour (http://www.crossfitinvictus.com/blog/2009/06/friday-june-5-2009/#comments) after incorporating CrossFit into his marathon training.
This brings me to my second point, the hidden value in running.
(Part II will be continued tomorrow.)
Tags: Motivation, Testimonials
Nice post Justin.
Justin, you are the man. I can’t thank you enough”I think” for introducing me to Crossfit.
Kim and I are signed up…both racing as individuals…but will be sporting the CFI bling.
Made up Helen yesterday. 8:23, not quite sub 8 yet. On a side note I actually used to enjoy running before BUD/S. It was kind of a release from whatever BS was going on in my life. I tend to find that more from the WODs now. I’m not sure if my times have dropped since I started crossfit (Haven’t done a timed 4 miler on the beach in boots), but like Justin said running definitely does not feel as demanding on the body anymore.
Awesome post Justin.
People need to realize that you need to get fit to run, not run to get fit. As Justin noted, using running as your primary form of exercise can actually decrease your level of fitness.
Prior to crossfit, running was a joy and leg workouts were the enemy, which translated into poor crossfit times in my initial stage as a crossfitter. My overall strength, however, was not to be relied upon during any heavy lifting or heavy metcon day. Invariably, scaling was inevitable. Running has certainly helped me in those fast paced low weight days. Since I have shifted focus towards building more strength my running has gone down due to constant soreness, yielding a less than enjoyable run! My goal is to build strength while maintaining my ability to being a fast mid-distance runner. I will say that I’ve always been inconsistant at stretching.
Good food for thought from the CF Endurance website:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1914987,00.html
Good post Justin. I am going to toss in a couple of extra running workouts per week over the next four weeks to make sure I can actually finish the 3-mile O course, but will keep 4-5x weekly CFI workouts as the training base. For a 3-miler I will probably do some 800-1200m intervals with bodyweight exercises in between to simulate the O course. Long gone are my days of 10 mile runs and giant bowls of pasta.
Sexual Icon
Easy, Cody. We all get to share him.
I love running
Patrick Finucane lives in the Crown Point area of Pacific Beach with his dog Lily.
Patrick Finucane can eat just one Lay’s potato chip
[...] Thursday, August 13, 2009 « CrossFit Invictus Blog [...]