Jarhead's Running Myths & Misadventures

I put a bit more thought into tapering today and waited anxiously last night for today’s Crossfit Zone WOD to get posted before deciding on what kind of training to do today, a run or a WOD?

Well to my surprise today’s WOD had a run component in it so it accomplished both very nicely.  The WOD was called “Chasing Isabel”.  “Isabel” is a classic CrossFit named workout that involves 30 snatches (ground to overhead in one smooth motion).  The “Chasing Isabel” version breaks the snatches into 5 rounds of 6 snatches and a 200m run.  The RX snatch weight for both was 135# but as I said, “I put a bit more thought into tapering today”, so went with a much lighter weight of 65# and just hammered through it quickly finishing in 7′18″.  I felt nice and loose after the WOD and ready for some more, a good feeling!

Check out Josh Everett thundering through “Isabel”

I don’t think I’ve ever tapered very well… and this week’s tapering hasn’t started too well.

Packman, Matts and I had discussed tapering for the Dirty Duo during our run on Saturday and  the general consensus was that it should start today by scaling back the WODs at Crossfit Zone and lessening the mileage and intensity of runs over the next two weeks.

So far I’ve been able to follow that advice for the runs, I didn’t run yesterday and I won’t today, but when I went to Crossfit Zone at lunch today I got caught up in the WOD and went at it per usual – with intensity!

The WOD was called “Own the Podium” and was broken down into three parts.

1. 10 minutes to hit a 3 rep max in the Thruster
2. 10 minutes to to hit a 3 rep max in the Overhead Squat
3. 5 rounds for max reps of 30″ pull-ups, 30″ wallballs with 30″ rest between rounds

My scores:

• 3RM Thruster – 115#
• 3RM Overhead Squat – 125#
• Rep count – 81

I also kipped out a new PR for pull-ups getting 20 consecutive during my warm up

Had a super fun run yesterday with Packman and Matthias, thoroughly enjoyed dinner at George’s Taverna Restaurant with the Gang in Ladysmith to celebrate Scott and Roz’s engagement last night and today took in the last day of the 2010 Winter Olympics and worked for a few hours.

The run yesterday was awesome. KDF chauffeured Packman, Matthias and I out to the Sooke Potholes early in the morning and then the three of us ran back into town on the Galloping Goose trail.  We covered 35+km and had a ton of fun along the way… there were stories and tales and laughs all the way.

▌♥ ▌Our Canadian Men’s Hockey Team took Gold! ▌♥ ▌

Last night Packman and I had the privilege of giving a presentation to a fairly intimate audience at Crossfit Zone.  I find it incredibly fun to share my passion about ultras and multi-day adventures with people who aren’t familiar with them and being up in front of an audience with Packman is always a treat – after five years of races and adventures together we’ve got a few stories tell…

We used a fairly new web based application for the presentation – Prezi -  I’ve embedded it below so you can have a look through.  You will get all the visuals and videos but not any of our entertaining tales

CrossFit is result oriented. Every workout is measurable.

Yesterday I was reminded (yet again!) why I love Crossfit Zone so much.  The WOD of the day was “Helen” which is 3 Rounds of a 400M Run, 21 KB Swings, and 12 Pullups for time.

The last time I did “Helen” in a WOD was on June 24th last year when one round of “Helen” was incorporated into a WOD called “Four Bitches”.  At that time I was using a 40# kettlebell and a blue band to assist with my pull-ups.  Yesterday I did the WOD as required using a 55# kettlebell, did unassisted pull-ups and finished in 11′ flat – measurable results!

Crossfit Zone’s training methods are exciting, effective and addictive and I am stoked to see how these continually developing levels of strength and fitness translate into my running endeavours this year.