Crossfit and 5k

I truly believe Crossfit has improved my running.  Since Reach the Beach, I’ve gone for 1 maybe 2 runs, aside from any running that may be incorporated into the workout that day in Crossfit.

Instead of running, I’ve been WODing…4-5 times a week, and I love it. 

(taken from our Crossfit facebook page)  That's me in front in case you couldn’t tell.

So then 4th of July rolls around and I register for a local 5k that is 5 min from my house and a bunch of people from Crossfit are running as well!

The 4th turned out to be a pretty warm day.  Brian was running too and we decided just to take it easy and see how it goes.  The heat usually doesn’t bode well for me.

A few minutes after we started I see that we’re keeping a fairly fast pace (for me) and I’m worried about crapping out later.

Let’s just say I was shocked that we maintained a good pace the whole time!  We stopped twice at each of the water stations, but just kept trucking…and I ended up with a new PR!!

28:26!!!!  My previous 5k PR was a couple years ago at 29:10, and since then I usually hover around 30 minutes.  I can NOT believe I maintained that pace in that heat!  I was so pumped!!

Some of my fellow crossfitters after the race!

Looking forward to more races :) 

So yeah Crossfit is awesome, I love it. 

I love being able to see the results each week…especially the lifting.  I’m really loving the Olympic lifts as well as the power lifts.  I guess its in my genes…my dad used to be a competitive power lifter.  I have photos I need to scan in…they are awesome from his lifting days back in the 70’s/80’s!

We recently started a Fran cycle at Crossfit.  We tested our Fran time, and from there we are going to do lots of workouts focused on improving those skills, and then re-test in about 6 weeks!

Fran is a well known benchmark workout…every crossfitter wants to know their “Fran time”. 

(me, Post Fran…loving me new Lulu top!!)

Its a quick workout, 21 reps, 15 reps, then 9 reps of thrusters (65lb for women) and pull-ups. 

Since this is supposed to be a quicker workout we found our maximum 1 rep thruster (which is a front squat with the bar, and as you stand up you “thrust” the bar up overhead)…. and then used 50% of our 1 rep max. 

The point is, you don't want to use such a heavy weight that it slows you down too much.  Our coach didn’t want anyone over the 6-8 min mark.

I used a 45lb bar, and body rows.  We didn’t use band assisted pull-ups this time…if you couldn’t do unassisted pull-ups you did ring rows or body rows.

My time was 5:52. 

Looking forward to testing it again!

And even thought I can’t really do unassisted pull-ups for a workout yet…  I did get THREE kipping pull-ups in a row!!  Booya! 

I guess that I’m just excited that in just over 7 months of Crossfit, I am able to see myself improving.  It’s definitely motivation to keep on going!

So there’s my little fitness update for you :)

What keeps you motivated??