“I’m Not a Runner”

WOD, 10/6/09:

4 x 800 meter run

2 minutes of rest in between rounds. Try not to deviate 4 seconds between repeats (don’t blow your WOD on the first 800!). If you have ONE deviation of more than 10 seconds, you will have to do 30 burpees after the 4th 800 is complete.

“I‘m not a runner!”

“Why does running hurt so bad, when it is supposed to be so natural?!”

“I like any WOD that doesn’t have a run!”

All sentiments that I have heard frequently out of the mouths of my athletes at SCF. I agree, running is not my favorite thing to do. In most workouts it’s where I have my metal explosion (you know, the part in the WOD where you say to yourself, “maybe I’m not cut out for this…” and “Why do I put my self through this?!!!” and “I don’t care if I come in deadlast in this WOD!”) HOWEVER, this does not excuse me from running. It is an integral component to our conditioning in CrossFit.

Think about it..everything in life gets easier the more you do it…from a handstand push up to ending bad relationships:+) The more we try, the more we adjust, and the better we get. Two years ago, I remember being at my first CrossFit competition. I had only been training for a month, and had yet to do an unassisted pull-up. A fellow competitor looked at me when we walked into Albany CrossFit and said, “S@*t, there are no pull-up bars…I LOVE pull-ups!” I thought to myself, “What jackass in their right MIND would want pull-ups?!!!!” Who knew that a year later, pull-ups were what I was praying for at the Northeast Qualifier. Why? Because I practiced and made my weakness, my strength. I can genuinely say that I LOVE doing pull-ups. We can do the same with running.

So, lace up your sneakers, get here, go over some POSE running drills, and SQUASH those 800′s! Go at ‘em with the same energy that you would use to try to conquer “Fran” or “Cindy.”