Thanks so much to Presley for guest posting about Crossfit today! I’d love to hear your reactions… do you think CrossFit and running can be combined?
Hi, Mommy Run Fast readers! My name is Presley and I blog over at RunPrettyBlog.com. Laura was kind enough to let me take over for a few minutes while she gets her move on. Moving is tough work. She’s pretty much my hero right now. She deserves a break!
A little info about me: I love to run, yet I haven’t really been running lately. Gasp. I know, right? I imagine a lot of you who read Laura’s blog are also runners. I bet a few of you can’t even imagine replacing your daily runs with something else. I used to be the same way. Then I found myself in somewhat of a rut post-baby. I’ve been trying out all sorts of new things lately. Many of which I never would have imagined myself doing.
Recently, I even snagged a Groupon for a few local CrossFit classes. I’m not going to lie, I was pretty anti-CrossFit before trying it. I just didn’t think it would work for me. I won’t go as far as to say that I’ve been sipping on the Kool-Aid now, but I do enjoy it. It’s something different, it keeps me focused, and it’s pretty fun in a painfully hard way.
That being said, I do want to continue running. Can I do that and keep up the CrossFit classes? I think it depends. I want to get faster, build my distance back up, and ultimately get to a place where I’m “better” than I was before having my son. I’m not sure that I can do all of that and still push myself to the fullest during class.
The topic of whether or not CrossFit is good for runners is highly debated. There are theories that say CrossFit can ruin your runs and race times. There are also theories that say you can run long-distance races purely on CrossFit classes alone. I’m going to repeat myself: I think it depends.
Before I get into my honest opinion on the topic, let’s break the last WOD I participated in down:
Our hour was split up into a warm-up, a strength “practice” portion, and the WOD (workout of the day). We replaced the hang power cleans in the strength portion with squats and we replaced them with kettle bell swings in the WOD.
Overall, these are the types of things I would do on my lifting days at home if I wasn’t taking CrossFit classes. However, I probably wouldn’t be doing them in that grouping. I definitely wouldn’t be doing them for time. That’s the thing I notice that makes CrossFit much different than my normal weight training. It seems rushed. I actually enjoy that aspect of it during class, though. I liked that there were sprints sandwiched between weight sessions. I felt like it was teaching me to push through a run after my body was already exhausted. I could honestly see that helping tremendously at the end of a race or any point during the miles where you just feel done. I think when you put your all into it, CrossFit can help you reach new levels of mental and physical toughness during your runs.
On the other hand, I think it could be potentially dangerous. Sometimes you need to listen to your body and slow down or stop. I feel like, for some people, CrossFit might lead to a less than healthy view on “giving up”. Knowing you need to hang back in a race is not the same as throwing in the towel. CrossFit is known for the group mentality of “keep going” and “you got this!” type of working out. That’s awesome when used as a motivator, but I think it could cause someone to ignore the signs from their own body. I mentioned before that everything seems rushed. If you’re not watching your form, you could do a lot of damage. If you get injured, you definitely aren’t doing yourself any favors.
On a purely physical note, some people say that CrossFit hinders their ability to get quality long runs in. I can see how that could happen. During a CrossFit WOD, you are pushing yourself to the absolute limits. You should be tired that day and even into the next. I like running on “fresh” legs. I don’t have those after class. If you run before class, you’ll be less than stellar during the WOD. It could be tricky balancing them both. A lot of CrossFit enthusiasts will tell you that you don’t need to run outside of the sprints in class, with the exception of a few random long runs. I’d be willing to give that a try, but I’m not sure what results I’d achieve, ya know?
Bottom line: I believe you can CrossFit and race. However, it might just depend on your goals. I know CrossFit will build my power and speed for short distance races like 5ks 10ks. I mean, no doubt about it. Strong legs and short, tough workouts lend themselves nicely to those types of races, in my opinion. I also think I could potentially improve my half time while taking CrossFit classes, but I’d probably limit the classes to once or twice a week at most. The jury is out for me on anything longer or more intense. I really think that, ultimately, there is no “right” or “wrong” answer here, which is why the articles you’ll find contradict each other at times. It’s all about what works for you.
Oh, and I really, really want to stress that I’m your “average Joe” runner. I’m not fast, but I do enjoy staving a few seconds or minutes off of my runs. A PR is a PR, not matter how much faster or slower you are than anyone else around you. Running is such an individual sport (that you do with thousands of people ). I’m only adding this in there to explain that this is just my view. If I was fast or an elite runner, I might have totally different opinions!
Are you a runner/CrossFitter? Do you find that it helps, hurts, or makes no difference in your running? I’d love to hear all about your experiences!
Thinking of trying out CrossFit? Check out my post on my first Beginner CrossFit Class. I even included a few tips that I would find helpful.
For further reading/of possible interest:
Six Ways CrossFit Can Benefit Runners via Competitor Magazine
How to Add CrossFit to Marathon Training via Runner’s World
The Controversy Behind CrossFit via Livestrong
CrossFit: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly via Fit Nation
Balancing Running and CrossFit via Alexa Dickerson