Running into Week 5!

Five weeks in and already I am seeing some great improvement in our POSE form and our speed. Great job to everyone for remaining committed to the program and for your great efforts. It's an awesome thing to see people's dedication translate into quicker turnover on the track and faster time in WODs. Keep it up! More fun work ahead of us. Please check out this week's WODs and this great video which touches on some of the fundamentals we worked on at Sunday's hill WOD at Morgan Hill.

Wed:

Tunnel WOD:

100, 200, 400, 800-800*, 400, 200, 100

*(2nd 800 for advanced runners only)

90 sec-2 min recovery

Friday:

2-3 x 1 mile repeats at 5K race pace

Sunday:

Tabata CFE!

Tabata Run

Tabata Plank

Tabata Air Squats

Tabata Sit-ups

Tabata Run

CFE attacks the hills!------------->

http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFitJournal_AF_CFE_Hills_PRE.mov

Maintaining Your Running Form

Maintaining Your Running Form

As the weeks go by in our CrossFit Endurance program, I have been getting some great feedback. By far my favorite is that running is getting easier in the CF WODs. Another one, "running is easier if I focus on leaning forward and maintaining a figure 4." And no, this person was not sucking up. It may be too soon in our training for everyone to feel 100% comfortable with POSE. But, step by step, stride by stride, we are getting there. A wise man (OK, it was Anneke) once told me, "it takes 10,000 reps to become proficient at any olympic lift." The same holds true for running. Each stride you take with quality form will bring you closer to proficiency and speed. I am already seeing vast improvement in your movement - keep it up!

Remember, the feeling you get from a good run (or WOD!) is far better than the feeling you get from sitting around wishing you were running. --Sarah Condor

Here are some good reminders of the basics in CFE. Running with a forward lean and a rapid turnover on your stride should feel easier than doing a slow "shuffle" when you are not using efficient form. This is because the rapid turnover, although quick, if maintained, decreases the impact travelling up through your foot and the rest of your body. This makes for a healthier stride that can alleviate some of the damaging affects often associated with running.

This rapid turnover will still cause fatigue and a decrease in efficiency over time. Paying attention to your stride and cuing yourself to pick your feet up as soon as they touch the ground along with maintaining a good forward lean requires attention to be focused throughout a run (whenever you hear me cueing you for "pull, pull, pull" I am trying to get you to increase your turnover by picking your feet at a faster pace. The better you get at checking your body position for open hips, forward lean, and turnover rate will reflect in how much easier and faster your running gets.

CF Games Open and more!

"Believe that you can run father or faster. Believe that you're young enough, old enough, strong enough, and so on to accomplish everything you want to do. Don't let worn-out beliefs stop you from moving beyond yourself." --John Bingham, running speaker and writer

CF Games WOD 1 will be announced tomorrow! Good luck to all my runners who are competing. And if you haven't registered, you should! It's all for fun and a great way to get into the heart and soul of this sport. We have some great CFE WODs ahead of us this week. Week 4 is upon us and I couldn't be happier with the group we have formed and all the hard work and improvement I am seeing. Keep it up and keep putting one foot down (toe first!) in front of the other!

Anyone down for a free race? Check it out (thanks to Aimee for passing this along):

https://www.arrowheadmedcenter.org/resource.ashx?id=420

It does fall on the same day as a sectionals WOD but maybe some of you might want to go for it! There are very few "free" fun runs so it could be a great one to take advantage of.

CFE WODs for the week:

WED:

3 Rounds of:

5 seconds on, 10 sec off

20 seconds on, 10 sec off

10 seconds on, 10 sec off

30 seconds on, 10 sec off

15 seconds on, 10 sec off

25 seconds on, 10 sec off

FRI:

2 Rounds for time:

800 run

1000 row

3 rest between

SUN:

Hill repeats at Morgan Hill Trail

5-8 threshold hill runs

Active recovery jog to base, 1 min rest, repeat

"Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?" --Peter Maher, Canadian Marathon Runner

Friday Night Fun and time change...

1000 meter repeats to kick off the weekend? Yes, please! Great job tonight! Big props to Teresa Schwarz for sticking it out tough in her 3rd workout of the day (CF WOD, Aly Rx workshop, CFE)...and she even took care of her horses! Love the dedication from all of you. Thanks for giving this program a chance and believing in it!

**Please note: If you are able to make the WOD on Sunday, it will begin at 1 PM as I will be making my way home from San Clemente that morning.

Good review from Brian Mackenzie himself. Please watch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGRrZqUttKc

Week 3, here we come!

Great job to all of you runners (yes, you are all runners) for making it to week 3 of our program! I am impressed with the way you've managed to juggle your schedule around WOD's, family, work, life and even pain to get out on the track and get faster. Really proud of all of you!

Congrats to all of our CFE athletes who competed in C.A.L. this weekend - AWESOME!

This week we have some great CFE WOD's in store for us. Here's the fun!

Wed:

6-10 x 100m

(Rest the amount of time it took to complete each interval)

Fri:

2-4 x 1000m Walking recovery:

4 min between intervals

Sun:

3 rounds x (100m +200m+ 400m)

Rest time=time it takes to complete each interval in each set. EX. 200m run in 35 sec. rest 35 sec then 400m run, rest 400m time, run 600m, rest 600m time, run 200m...

Week 2 Down!

Another great week for all of you! I know you have been bombarded with new information and a whole new way to run; I commend you for taking this step (or stride!) to improving your running and your fitness. Here's a little review as we continue to move forward:

Here's a summary of Pose Running techniques. It's interesting to see how many of these techniques are echoed in top distance runners and by track and field athletes.

• Raise your ankle straight up under your hip, using the hamstrings
• Keep your support time - your foot on the ground time - short
• Support - ground contact - is on the balls of your feet
• The heels do not touch the ground
• Don't 'spring' off your toes: raise your foot from your ankle when your weight is on the ball of your foot
• Keep your ankle fixed at the same angle
• Knees bent at all times
• Keep your feet remain behind the vertical line going through your knees
• Keep your stride length short
• Keep knees and thighs down, close together, and relaxed
• Always focus on pulling the foot from the ground, not on the landing
• Do not point or land on the toes
• Gravity, not muscles, determine where your feet land
• Shoulders, hips and ankles are kept in vertical alignment

Pose running advocates suggest that once a runner has decided to learn the pose running technique they cannot go back to their old running form.

This will be your blog so please use it! Come here to find our WOD's, leave comments, ask questions, generate support and offer encouragement to our team.

This week!

Sun: 4-8 x 400 meter repeats with 2-3 min rest

Wed: 6-10x100meter repeats with 2-3 min rest

Fri: 2-3 x 1000m*

*Walking recovery: 4 min between intervals

Here We Go!

Welcome and congrats to all of you who have made the commitment to improving your running, endurance and overall fitness as we embark on this journey together! It was a great first week and we are excited to welcome a few more of you who weren't able to get there in the first week. (Kind of wacky with Superbowl, Friday 5K, and Saturday commitments).

This Blog will be your go-to site to view CFE WOD, post feedback, ask questions, and continue to get excited about this program. Let's keep each other motivated as we improve our running form, speed, and fitness. Please put my cell number in your phone - 760.644.4134. Feel free to send questions, let me know if you can't make a WOD or will be late, etc.

See you all on Wednesday!

*Photo: A few CFE'ers on a group run back in the fall.