CrossFit S3

“Let me just start off by saying….”
by : Elizabeth Naum

Let me just start by saying that I am not a “runner” by any means.  In fact, I do not care for distance running at all – didn’t we invent cars for a reason?   I don’t get euphoric over discussions concerning chafed skin, lost toenails or bloody nipples – and I loathe the split shorts with the one inch inseams (they remind me of Richard Simmons).  I don’t have the long, lean runner’s body with strides like a gazelle.  I am short, and my husband, Nick has described my running as painful looking.

But four years ago when I first moved to Charlotte, I decided that I wanted to run my first marathon.  At the time, I was a stay at home mother to my 18-month-old daughter, Sophia, and looking to challenge myself.  I would have said that I was in great shape too – I ran about four miles every other day, used the elliptical trainer for 45 minutes a couple of times a week, and lifted 5-10lb dumbbells (heaven forbid I get “bulky”!)  Unsure of where to begin, I found an 18 week marathon training program on the computer and got started.

I remember running A LOT over the following four months, closely adhering to the program.  Twice a week I would run 6-8 miles of moderately paced intervals, with a loooong run on the weekends.  And cross-training consisted of, yep, you guessed it, the elliptical.  Unfortunately, over those four months my body just wore out – I had horrible pain in my foot, shin splints, plantar fasciitis, and hip and knee pain.  All were the result of overuse and from the incessant pounding on the pavement.

That first marathon was horrible and possibly the worst experience of my life.  At the start of the 2006 Charlotte Thunder Road Marathon it was a balmy 16 degrees out- flipping freezing!  Not wanting my daughter to be out in the weather, Nick dropped me off at the start, wished me luck, assured me he would be back in four hours, and took little Sophia home to get warm.  Once the gun went off, it was sheer pain from start to finish.  I felt completely unprepared!  As if the weather and the hills weren’t bad enough, the pain in my foot was almost unbearable (I had to run miles 17-20 barefoot.  Oh so primal!).  Somehow I finished, but not even close to the time I wanted – 3:58.  And as promised, Nick and Sophia found me – wrapped in my foil, in the fetal position and in a pool of my vomit.  I was done with marathons…or so I thought.

A year and a half later, after my son was born, a friend challenged me to run the Virginia Beach Shamrock marathon with her.  Begrudgingly, I registered.  This time around however, my training was quite a bit different.  I still did the long runs on the weekend, but my two mid-week runs were shorter, harder, and faster.  Additionally, my cross-training days consisted of taking my friend’s athletic-conditioning classes, which I later realized incorporated many CrossFit elements (most notable was the intensity).  The results were amazing.  Despite the runner’s knee that plagued me from logging so many miles over the course of four months, I felt great the whole race – it almost felt easy.  I finished in 3:27 – over 30 minutes better than my previous effort and qualifying for the Boston Marathon pretty handily.  Nick was shocked at how vastly different I was post-race this time around.  We grabbed a couple of beers at the finish and went out for a night on the town.

I had no desire to run yet another marathon for a few reasons.  First, I was so over the long runs; second, I was in graduate school and had just started two part-time training jobs.  So between that and my two kiddos, I really had no time to train; third, I had just discovered CrossFit and I was hooked!  But, I knew I would kick myself if I didn’t take advantage of my opportunity to run Boston, so I registered.

Before my marathon training began, I went to my CrossFit Level 1 Cert where learned about the benefits of CrossFit met-cons and how they translated back into aerobic workouts.  Moreover, I learned that this type of workout was far more advantageous and less detrimental on the body than the longer aerobic workouts.  With this in mind, I changed the way I trained – my two mid-week runs changed to CrossFit Endurance style runs – Tabata sprints, 400m repeats, etc.- and my long runs, I just didn’t stress over.  A few winter storms kept me from going out on my 2.5 hour endeavors, while other weeks I just couldn’t bring myself to go run for what seemed like an eternity.  In all, I think I went out on just nine of the sixteen long runs that I was supposed to complete.  But I still felt prepared.

The day of the race was absolute mayhem.  Just getting to the starting line was more exhausting than the race itself!  We (my brother and husband drove me into Beantown) had to get up at 5 to meet buses at Boston Common @ 6:00 am, where I waited in a huge crowd in the cold hoping to get on one of them.  From there, it was about a 45 minute drive in traffic out to Hopkinton where we were dropped off in a huge field of thousands of people to wait for the 10 am start time.  The setup of the race was less than idyllic- I was cold, tired and miserable and had very little desire to run the 26.2 miles back into Boston.  But eventually (5 whole hours after I woke up) I started running.

I think what was great about this race was that I didn’t care about split times or pace.  I saw it as my victory lap of sorts – it was to be my last marathon in my home state and my family was there to support me.  But, the most amazing part of the day was that at the half marathon mark, I saw my aunt & uncle, brother and his girlfriend, my mom & dad and my little Sophia and George.  They were all wearing yellow so I knew it was them, and Sophia had made the best sign that said, “go Mom, go!” with a border of x’s and o’s.  Not concerned about time, I ran over and gave my kiddos hugs and kisses to show them they meant the world to me, and then set off to conquer the last half.

Don’t get me wrong, the hills in that race were intense (and I am pretty sure that I ran up “Heartbreak Hill” at least 5 times) but I felt prepared for them.  As I neared the finish and saw my husband, brother and sister-in-law, I still felt pretty strong.  In all, I finished about 8.5 minutes slower than my qualifying time, but I felt good, was uninjured and didn’t miss out on life to train for a silly race.

So my point is this, you can train for and run a marathon without being a slave to running.  By combining CrossFit and CrossFit Endurance training you can save a lot of time and a lot of wear and tear on your body (not to mention cut down on the pairs of sneakers you would usually go through!)

WORKOUT FOR THE DAY

2 rounds
400 m Run sprint
rest 3 minutes
500 m Row sprint
rest 3 minutes
75 Double unders