There comes a turning point in everyone's training when they look for a better way. The athlete finally get sick and tired of being injured, chronically fatigued or the "time" factor in their life will simply no longer allow for their old training protocol.
I am receiving a lot of inquiries from interested endurance athletes trying to make the switch from traditional endurance training to CrossFit Endurance and the same questions keep coming up. Mostly in the realm of volume. How much is needed?
First off - ditch the 20+ mile training run for your marathon. Costs far out way the benefits on that one. CFE is not anti-volume, it's about the timing of it and what you can handle.Starting out? 3 WODs per week while adding 2 CFE sport specific workouts. If you haven't been crossfitting make sure you develop your base first. This is never a better time to get yourself on tape. Clear the technique while gradually testing it against intensity.
Do I have to give up my morning 3-5mile run? Guys, let's face it you're not going to do that right away. Turning completely to CFE takes time. Keep that, but take off a couple days for your CFE sport stuff. Once you feel more confident and see the results in your PRs then you can decide what to do...
Are you open to change? Sometimes the timing just isn't right. We get to decisions in our training where we say "I am going to completely back it off for a month, focus on THIS aspect and then jump into races" The question comes do you stick to the intention? I wrote in my training journal no running for 30days after Ironman for recovery purposes. Made it 34days. The fact is I was ready. Flip the coin and I have completely bailed on a decision...
Go with your gut ... Will it really benefit you to go run 8miles when you crushed a 20minute AMRAP this morning and your legs still feel like rubber? We have to make decisions every day with our training. Don't be biased. Don't make the decision because you enjoy working out more or that you felt like the the morning "Wasn't enough"
The last two months I have been faced with more turning points than I can count. Not just in training, but in life. Our brains are good at the functional tasks. Pedaling the bike and pressing the weight overhead is easy, but backing off your training because you're fatigued is a whole other task. An emotional one. Emotions play the biggest role in our decisions. We can't let them in training. The toughest part about emotions is that nobody ever has complete control and if they say they do that's a complete lie. Remember that switching to the "CrossFit Endurance Lifestyle" is foreign to you. It won't be easy. You will be emotional.
I'm not one to talk. I still find myself wanting to go out and "just run" and that's okay. All we need to understand is that in life and training there are critical workouts and decisions. There is a foundation. We wont always hit every workout the strongest or always make the right decision, but we have to remember to just run at times.
When you recognize its something you're doing to hold yourself back you can accept it and move on. You allow yourself to move on. It's your responsibility to figure it out. Dragging others into your problems or indecisiveness isn't very much fun and isn't fair. Take calculate steps in your transition. Emotions will be there. Admit it...
Last Race Performance
Hilton Head Bridge Run 5K and 10K
Date: October 22nd, 2012
Time: 37:08
Place: 3rd Overall Male
Notables - 5 out 5 CrossFit Hilton Head Endurance athletes picked up a medal at this one! Athlete Lynn happened to PR her 5K again (23:09) and picked up 2nd Overall for the Females. Evidence typically answers the questions about our training.
My biggest TURNING POINT to date. Check out a special video my best friend made me...
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