Humbled: How CrossFit ruined my marathon...

Yes, you read that correctly. I blame Crossfit for my sub par performance in the 2011 Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. Be humble or Be humbled. I, friends, was humbled after 'only' 30+ minutes of work.

I arrived at the Nobel Athletic area, where these self proclaimed bad news bears-esque crossfitters had been meeting to do primarily body weight / endurance type crossfit workouts due to the limited equipment(read no olympic lifting, pull ups etc), on the Sunday before the RnR in the middle of my taper. Perfect time to fit in an 'easy' workout.

The WOD on the mini white board read as follows:

*With Partner*
Buy in 400 M (together)
3 rounds for time (only one person working)
50 Burpees
100 Airsquats
50 Push ups
Cash out 400M run (together)
For time.

I sized up the dozen or so in attendence and looked back at the white board. 'Easy peasy, let's do this so I can go bowling,' I thought.




Partnered with fellow first timer, Roger, we went out as fast as we could...but looking around everyone seemed to be moving faster. By the 2nd round my quads were on fire and my chest and tris had failed me. We somehow got through the prescribed activities and it was off for the 400 m run. One quarter mile, just like Vin Diseal lives his life, should be easy for a marathon runner, right? Hint: the answer is no. Not after approximately 150 airsquats (body weight squats). The sensation in my legs was something I've never felt before, it was like they were a couple of wet noodles (whole wheat, of course(because I'm brown)).

The above was a Sunday. My legs were sore for 5 days (the race in 7). More than sore, I was broken. Sitting down and standing up was a chore. Stairs were a nightmare. And I couldn't potty without wanting to scream for assistance. After the soreness in the legs subsided, my upper body decided it wanted to play along.

By race day the majority of the soreness left, but my body was definitely still recovering as I didn't feel 'right.'

After a couple weeks, I returned to the park on a weekday morning (with my tail between my legs). 6am on a tuesday was a struggle, but I made it out and I've been coming out consistently ever since. How will I be challenged today? That's what gets me out of bed at 5am (even on days when i get home at 2am the night before). Having this awesome group of people there to help me get through a wod helps a lot too.




Running has since taken a back seat to what was meant to be a cross-training tool; and I've never felt more 'right.'

Curious? check out www.crossfit858.com and like them on Facebook. CrossFit 858 is on Miramar Road. Easy to find, just look for people doing this: