Balance: Crossfit + Running

Earlier this week I contributed to the official blog of Reach the Beach, where my teammates Tina, Patricia, and I talked about how we were balancing our RTB training with our love of Crossfit.

This is what I had to say about that…

I’ve been Crossfitting for 4 months now. I’m hooked and I love it… the Kool Aid has been drunk. I don’t remember ever jumping into something so fervently in such a short period of time before in my exercise history. Now, even with Reach the Beach only 6 weeks away, I’m still trying to figure out the balance of Crossfit with my training runs. I’m sure it doesn’t help that Crossfit still has that new and exciting feel to it… I don’t want to cut back! But on the other hand, I know my body, and I know that I need to get in those runs.

Gotta love my “I’m dying” face haha…(Source)

Currently my plan has been to maintain Crossfit 3-4 times a week, as I had before, and get in a longer training run on the weekends. When I trained for my very first half-marathon last year, I was having some issues with plantar fasciitis so I had cut out my shorter mid-week runs, leaving just my long runs, so that I wouldn’t be running too much on my foot.

I was just looking to be able to (somewhat) comfortably finish the half-marathon, not go for any particular times, and I did just that. So, for me, I know my most important training goals are to make sure I get in the longer training runs once a week. I’m confident that those runs, plus the metabolic conditioning aspects of Crossfit will be enough to get my through my 3 legs and Reach the Beach!

In addition to that, I think I want to try doing 2 runs “back-to-back” to mimic what the relay will be like.  And by “back-to-back” I mean 8-12 hours in between runs. 

In other news, my Crossfit box is starting a big 60-day “Paleo Challenge” starting next week.  I’m still on the fence about this whole Paleo thing, but I’m always up for a challenge…especially when it involves keeping better track of my food intake!  Plus we’re going to be broken into teams and there are other ways to get points aside from eating…

(Cauliflower “rice”…really liked this!  Will have to experiment with recipes more)

1 point each for the following:

• getting 8 hours of sleep
• 20 min stretching/mobility
• taking your fish oil
• completing the WOD (workout of the day)
• water: drink half your body weight, in ounces, a day
• eating Zone (the zone diet is also a favorable way of eating for Crossfitters) This PDF has a great breakdown of The Zone diet

But you get 4 points for eating Paleo, losing points as you decline from 100% (4 points) paleo to 85% (1 point).

I’ve already made another batch of Paleo Brownies…mmmm.  This time baked them for only 20-22 min.  Much better consistency if you like your brownies on the fudgy/gooey side :) 

As much as I do agree with many aspects of the Paleo diet, I just don’t see myself going 100%.  I find I get too resentful/angry when, in my head, I “can’t” have something.  Plus I don’t want to stress over it.  My focus during the challenge will be to incorporate more Paleo-friendly meals, keep my carb intake down, and keep it clean!  Plus we’re doing some baseline workouts to compare at the beginning and end…I love seeing improvements, and not just in my appearance! 

I’ve been doing a pretty good job of this lately anyways, so I just need to keep it up!  Can’t hurt for my Vegas trip next weekend either ;) 

Red Sox home opener tomorrow!

I think Bromley could teach them a thing or two ;)

 

Tomorrow’s Friday!!!  The weekend is going to be beautiful, I just feel bad for the marathon runners on Monday…great weather for spectators but it’s going to be a warm one!