I used to answer this question by saying, “Life.” I was asked this many times when people would see me train at my old gym. There were only a couple of other guys who had even heard of CrossFit there in 2007. The rest just thought I was nuts. Oddly enough, over the last few years I’ve found quite a few other nuts to join me in a quest for Elite Fitness.
While the answer, “Life,” is still true, I also train for specific events as well these days. Coming up in less than 3 weeks, CFW will take 2 teams to the Europa Challenge in Dallas.
As a {previous to CF} avid runner, I still enjoy challenging myself in organized running events. Earlier this year one EPIC race in particular changed the game forever!
On a whim, 10 runners mostly made up from CFW & the Waxahachie Running Club joined together to run the Texas Independence Relay, a 203 mile relay from Bastrop to Houston, TX. We had a BLAST!
Hands down it was one of the best running events I’ve ever done! As Team We Mustache, we ran 203 miles in 34 hours, 2 minutes and 43 seconds.
Team We Mustache is looking to make it’s second relay run in October of this year- The Capitol to Coast is 223 miles and tougher since each leg is just a little longer.
Our CFW “runners” fared pretty well with very little run training. This fact really leads me to continue espousing the idea that CrossFit training can prepare you for just about anything. That said, we could have been better. For the last few months as a team, we have been taking on CrossFit Endurance to get ready for the next race. We perform 2-3 CrossFit style workouts a week in addition to 2-3 endurance workouts. Our endurance training has been focused around short, hard efforts (intervals), pacing drills, and longish time trials or intervals. We’ve done everything from 150m repeats x6 to 5K run/row repeats x3 (yes, that’s 3 5Ks in one workout). So far so good, our running times are improving and our strength numbers are holding steady.
I’m so glad to be able to incorporate my love of endurance and outside sports with CrossFit training. I look forward to applying my new-found fitness in our upcoming CrossFit competition as well! This will be FUN!
So whatever you’re training for, CrossFit style training can certainly enhance your ability to hit your goals. Strong is good. And there’s no doubt CF can get you strong- mentally & physically.
Stay strong and keep going, my friends!
PS- If you’re a runner in the Waxahachie area and you haven’t checked out the WRC…do it now! Click the link and ask to join. We’re very fortunate to have this group in town! These guys and gals are AWESOME!