Ok, maybe I’m crazy, but I’ve decided to use a different kind of training plan to get myself ready for the Rock ‘N’ Roll USA Half Marathon . My new plan is inspired by the single sport endurance workouts from CrossFit Endurance (CFE) . After talking to one of my CrossFit coaches and exploring the CFE website, this type of training is really starting to make sense to me as a way to prepare for the half marathon.
If you’re a long-time reader of CNC, you know all about my running-related injuries . Without fail, once I start to increase my mileage, my body starts to break down and injuries pop up. Instead of feeling stronger as my training progressed, I felt weaker.
All of my long runs focused on distance and “time on my feet,” but my level of effort was never close to 100%. Of course, there are many benefits to this type of aerobic training (increased cardiovascular function, better fat cultivation, etc.), but there are plenty of drawbacks, too. According to CFE, running these long, slow distances results in “being less powerful, less lean and more prone to injury, low energy and abbreviated sports longevity.”
If you’re a runner, you know that it’s important to build an aerobic fitness “base” to build your endurance, so you can run for miles and miles. Most of us have been told that to build this base, we need to do long, slow aerobic workouts. Well, some experts say these adaptions can occur in less time with high-intensity runs. Here’s a study from Runner’s World (February) that demonstrates this idea:
“If you do 400-meter repeats, the vast majority of energy is coming from aerobic metabolism, making sprints a very potent aerobic stimulus,” says Martin Gibala, Ph.D., professor of kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Gibala and his colleagues found that people who did short (25 minutes) cycling workouts with a serious of 30-second sprits improved their fitness over two weeks at the same rate as those who rode for two hours at a less intensity. “Pretty much every adaption we measured could be realized through high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and lower volume.
Interesting, right? So, perhaps I can get similar results by increasing the intensity of my workouts, but not running as many miles? I definitely think it’s possible! I know I can run a half marathon, but imagine if I could get stronger and faster by runner fewer miles? Wouldn’t that be awesome?! This is also a pretty cool training experiment, so why not give it a whirl? Plus, I’d love to share my training adventures on CNC with you guys!
Progression is key to CrossFit Endurance, so I’m starting with Short Intervals Week 1 Day 1 (aka the very first CFE workout) and going from there. A typical workout week might look something like this:
- Sunday: Off
- Monday: CFE Short Intervals + CrossFit
- Tuesday: CrossFit
- Wednesday: CFE Long Intervals + CrossFit
- Thursday: Off
- Friday: CFE Tempo/Time Trial
- Saturday: CrossFit
As you can see, there are no easy or recovery runs in CFE. You’re either on or you’re off for the day. The thinking behind this is that taking a rest day will likely improve your performance because you’re reducing your total training load and actually getting rest instead of making yourself more tired with an easy/recovery run.
Ok, that was a lot of info. Hopefully, I explained everything alright. If I didn’t, just let me know, and I’ll do my best to answer your question (or ask one of my CrossFit coaches for the right answer). For more info on CrossFit Endurance and how it works, check out the FAQ page . It answered a lot of my questions. The Runner’s World article (“Totally Fit”) in the February issue was also really helpful.
So, here I go with a new half marathon training plan! (I’ll put my plan on one page on CNC so you can follow along.) My goal is to feel more balanced, not get injured, and, hopefully, run faster! I guess we’ll see how my new training plan worked on March 17th!
Weekly Workouts
With that said, here’s this week’s workout schedule:
- Sunday: Off
- Monday: CFE Short Intervals + CrossFit
- Tuesday: CrossFit
- Wednesday: Off
- Thursday: CFE Tempo/Time Trial
- Friday: CrossFit
- Saturday: CrossFit
Breakfast
This morning’s breakfast started out as pancakes, but ended up as a mushy mess in a bowl. I wanted to make sweet potato-quinoa pancakes, but they didn’t turn out as planned, so I just scrambled up everything.
In the mix: mashed sweet potato, cooked quinoa, egg whites, ground flaxseed meal , cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and peanut butter.
![_MG_6763 (800x533)_thumb[1]](http://carrotsncake.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Half-Mary_7C79/_MG_6763-800x533_thumb1_thumb.jpg "_MG_6763 (800x533)_thumb[1]")
Off to tackle those CFE Short Intervals!
Ok, maybe I’m crazy, but I’ve decided to use a different kind of training plan to get myself ready for the Rock ‘N’ Roll USA Half Marathon . My new plan is inspired by the single sport endurance workouts from CrossFit Endurance (CFE) . After talking to one of my CrossFit coaches and exploring the CFE website, this type of training is really starting to make sense to me as a way to prepare for the half marathon.
If you’re a long-time reader of CNC, you know all about my running-related injuries . Without fail, once I start to increase my mileage, my body starts to break down and injuries pop up. Instead of feeling stronger as my training progressed, I felt weaker.
All of my long runs focused on distance and “time on my feet,” but my level of effort was never close to 100%. Of course, there are many benefits to this type of aerobic training (increased cardiovascular function, better fat cultivation, etc.), but there are plenty of drawbacks, too. According to CFE, running these long, slow distances results in “being less powerful, less lean and more prone to injury, low energy and abbreviated sports longevity.”
If you’re a runner, you know that it’s important to build an aerobic fitness “base” to build your endurance, so you can run for miles and miles. Most of us have been told that to build this base, we need to do long, slow aerobic workouts. Well, some experts say these adaptions can occur in less time with high-intensity runs. Here’s a study from Runner’s World (February) that demonstrates this idea:
Interesting, right? So, perhaps I can get similar results by increasing the intensity of my workouts, but not running as many miles? I definitely think it’s possible! I know I can run a half marathon, but imagine if I could get stronger and faster by runner fewer miles? Wouldn’t that be awesome?! This is also a pretty cool training experiment, so why not give it a whirl? Plus, I’d love to share my training adventures on CNC with you guys!
Progression is key to CrossFit Endurance, so I’m starting with Short Intervals Week 1 Day 1 (aka the very first CFE workout) and going from there. A typical workout week might look something like this:
As you can see, there are no easy or recovery runs in CFE. You’re either on or you’re off for the day. The thinking behind this is that taking a rest day will likely improve your performance because you’re reducing your total training load and actually getting rest instead of making yourself more tired with an easy/recovery run.
Ok, that was a lot of info. Hopefully, I explained everything alright. If I didn’t, just let me know, and I’ll do my best to answer your question (or ask one of my CrossFit coaches for the right answer). For more info on CrossFit Endurance and how it works, check out the FAQ page . It answered a lot of my questions. The Runner’s World article (“Totally Fit”) in the February issue was also really helpful.
So, here I go with a new half marathon training plan! (I’ll put my plan on one page on CNC so you can follow along.) My goal is to feel more balanced, not get injured, and, hopefully, run faster! I guess we’ll see how my new training plan worked on March 17th!
Weekly Workouts
With that said, here’s this week’s workout schedule:
Breakfast
This morning’s breakfast started out as pancakes, but ended up as a mushy mess in a bowl. I wanted to make sweet potato-quinoa pancakes, but they didn’t turn out as planned, so I just scrambled up everything.
In the mix: mashed sweet potato, cooked quinoa, egg whites, ground flaxseed meal , cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and peanut butter.
Off to tackle those CFE Short Intervals!