Today I thought I would blog about how Crossfit and endurance training can and should exist together in harmony…
Crossfit is the combining of Olympic lifting and gymnastic movements together to create a stronger more powerful body with an emphasis on core strength. Endurance exercise is to build a stronger heart and the ability for your body to be able to overcome your mind. Distance sports and exercise creates a better bond with your mind, because you are in it for a long period of time.
I can talk about these things because in the past year I have done both Crossfit and Endurance training and let me say this I never knew I could do the things I have accomplished. On the endurance side I have run hill workouts from 15 miles to 30 miles in one sitting, and flat ground runs from 10-30 as well whether it be a sanctioned marathon or just getting out on the road and running for the pure joy of it.
I was never int o distance running but one of the leaders of the November Project sent out a facebook challenge and I chose to accept. The story is though I had been out the night before and tied one on pretty good. I got home and passed out about 1:30 am and set my alarm for 5 am but for some reason I woke up at 2:45 with all this energy, and set out for Summit Ave in Brookline where the November Project meets every Friday at 6:30 for our weekly hill session. So I got there and started running knowing full well 15 miles of hills was going to take me awhile. but drunk or not I did my first distance run… On one of the toughest hills you will find. Then it was 20 hills the next week, then 33 hills which is equal to 26.36 miles according to my app time 5hrs 15 minutes… But I had set out to do 30 miles that day and my body kinda gave out at 33 hills but I had accomplished my first marathon on a hill! So in May of this year I set out to run 37.5 hills which is 30 miles for the kids at Judge Baker Children’s Center in Mission Hill part of Boston who deal with Mental Illness and Behavior Disorders. I raised over 1000$ and an overall awareness that anything is possible if you choose to try. I took my first steps down the hill at 3:30 am with the help of my great friend Rosa who ran over 18 miles of hills with me even though she was scheduled to run a half marathon on that Sunday herself… Having the rest of the tribe show up and either run with me,by me or just high 5 me I gathered more energy to continue until the 30 miles was completed gratefully at 10:30 am! Anything is possible if you don’t set limitations and you just choose to try!
On the Crossfit side I had always lifted and exercised at the gym but this was way different for you don’t do it alone you are coached in the correct movements amounts of recommended weight to do these compound movements. I didn’t like it at first, couldn’t handle being told what to do or what I was doing wrong but I didn’t want to make any rash decisions likje quitting before giving it it’s due. And thankfully I didn’t quit for I have done ring muscleups,bar muscleups and things like back squatting over 300 lbs. I have learned more about myself in this past year becaquse of these thing than in 30 plus on my own in the fitness world. Doing Workouts of the day and doing the RX took me awhile which means the recommended weights for that particular workout. The RX is where you get to not where you start as a Crossfit rookie unless you wee like an Olympic athlete! So you start at like level 1 which is a better percentage of weight to start with and even then you may need to scale the weight down to a place where you can successfully complete the wod in the time allotted. I recommend trying it out and seeing how it feels to you, it is not for everyone but you just might find out that it is something you hunger for!
These are just my opinions but it is a first hand one so thank you for taking your valuable time to read some of my thoughts and life changing moments!
crossfitrunner73 