My Crossfit Training Result/Experience (Page 2)

Then why waste time reading and responding to posts about CrossFit?

What irks people is the assumption that whatever the CF promoter was doing before starting CF was a good way to do it. And that adding CF was the key to their breakthrough. In this case it was actually dropping most all other training and maintaining that other fitness, but it's the same basic idea. It doesn't matter if it was triathlon, running, skiing, skating or whatever. Was their program before CF worth anything in the first place? I'm not going to research the logs at this moment, but from what dangermond described "haphazardly" might apply and it's usually safe to believe that is not a very good way to train.

This is not to say CF is worthless, but rather asking to make sure comparisons are valid.

You tell me where the CF forums are and I'll make it right.

I'm an Ironman and since starting crossfit my speed in all 3 disciplines has gone up, therefore I am all for it but I also am up for tri specific training.  Que sera sera

It sucks that athletes have to be so smug.  Good for you on the experiment and good for those purists who only believe in the s/b/r.... 

whatever works work it!!!

I feel a lot stronger without a doubt.  I weighed in at 208 in 2010 for my HIM, today I am 220 and lower body fat.  Just to give an idea I have 445lb dead lift, 465lb back squat, and 215lb shoulder press (strict no bending of the legs).  I also feel much better in the higher ends of my heart rate.   

 As for how I felt during the race, the beginning fist four miles were tuff.  I had some little aches and pains, nothing major, I ran through them.  But the thought that this could be a long day defiantly crossed my mind.   Once I hit mile fiveish I actually started to feel really good and picked up my pace.  Felt good until about mile 11.  Then I felt like my left hammy was going to cramp, but it did not really slow me down (to be honest this may have been a nutrition issue, I am out of practice taking on nutrition during a workout, I kept forgetting). 

After the race I did not feel as good as I did last time.  I felt more like I did after the HIM, I was more fatigued then my last 13.1.   Yesterday evening I was tight sore had some pain in the lower part of my knee directly below my knee cap.  However, now (Monday morning) I woke up feeling great.  No worse than if I did a normal workout yesterday.  I plan on working out today.    Last time my legs were more tired the next day and I ended up taking a few days off to recover.  Last time during the race I followed a heart rate plan.  I ran steady through the race picking it up as I got closer to the end.  Maybe it was because I cared more, but last time I felt like I was running slow but I could not run any faster (more cardio vascular).  This time I felt like I was cruising but at the same time I knew if I ran much faster I would blow.   I contribute this to the different training before I spent a lot of time running at a 10 min mile or just below.  Now I run intervals no slower than a 7 min mile and most of the time it is even faster than that. 

I hope this helped, let me know if you have any other questions question. 

I don't do CF per say but my bro-in-law is a certified crossfit trainer and he is training my wife and I one on one, so the workouts are similar. For anything longer than an Oly the tri specific workouts are still going to be important. I find the benefit in CF to be a better mental and physical ability to push myself.

For tri running I would run 5-6 miles at a decent clip and call it a day for running. With the CF workout I will run 3 miles, then do a leg routine that includes sprinting and various other things. My trainer says it is teaching my head and my legs to push through pain and go farther and faster than I otherwise would. I haven't been at it long but I enjoy it. I am not going to stop tri training but there is some value in the CF type stuff as well. I really think it will help a lot with my goal to participate in bike races, which will in turn give me faster bike splits in tris. 

I guess I understand the point of the OP's post (he clearly values saving time and achieving general fitness--both really laudable goals--over actually getting faster on the course)...personally, though, if I tried a training protocol that got me slower on the same course after a year, I'd ditch it.  I've certainly had occasional "off" performances in a given year, but most of the time, with benchmark races, I expect to see improvement year to year if I'm not sick or injured.

Coincidentally, I just ran the same HM as the OP yesterday and finished almost 25 minutes (and almost 3000 finishers) ahead of him (FWIW, I'm 51 y.o.).  I just run (and bike and swim).  I get the appeal of CF and CFE, but whenever the topic comes up here, the tri-specific results always seem to be slim.  If the OP had put up a 1:59 FIRST half mary off the couch on just the CF/CFE training with no prior traditional run prep, I'd feel differently, but in this case, all the CF training apparently did was provide a fine level of general fitness with a slightly degraded level of already existing run fitness...if that's what someone's looking for, then that's great.

Runners world Feb 2012 had a section on cross fit endurance. They pulled out a few exercise for readers/runners to do to help overall strength and endurance. Triathlete didn't a similar expose a few months back a remember on just cross fit, not in the same fashion, but there was one nonetheless.

The point is not so much cross fit, but that the differient groups of athletes recognize benefits of cross fit type programs too general overall strength and endurance but cross fit is just the face plate in my opinion.

During my "mini" 3 week off season this past December, I decided to do a couple of crossfit workouts just to see what it was like.

I nearly died after the first workout, then struggled through the workout the next day.  The muscle soreness from the first workout didn't sink in till after the second workout...so lets just say I was HURTING for the next 36 hours.  And I vowed never to do crossfit again.  Not because I thought the workouts were ineffective.  More because I was too scared to do another hard workout like that.

I SBR everyday...most times twice a day.  If you can crossfit everyday...most times twice a day...then you're going to be one BAMF if you ask me.

So yeah...you may not run your fastest HM...but you're probably going to do pretty well...which is basically what the OP was saying.  A half marathon doesn't require that much run specific training to complete in a reasonable matter IMO.

Hmmm... I should go over to the Crossfit message board and say how I had hit a plateu with my deadlift, overhead squat, muscle ups, FRAN, MURPH etc. Then I decided to do nothing but swim, bike and run (and eat wheat, dairy and sugar) for six months and now I'm back in my Crossfit box CRUSHING my old PR's!

Sorry I can't resist. Not saying that following a good traditional training plan is not safe. But CF has shown repeatedly to reduce injuries. That is why the Military, Law Enforcement and Fire Services are implementing CF into or as their main fitness programs in both their academies and continued training of operators.  Obviously the goals of these groups are not to S/B/R as fast as possible.  Here are a few to be specific (there are published articles and spokesmen ect.)

 Santa Monica PD SWAT

 Orange County Fire Authority

 United States Marines Scout Sniper School

 East Fork Fire

 Canadian Army

 1^st Special Forces Group (US Army)

 Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office

 Hinsdale SWAT

 Naval Special Warfare (SEALs)

 There are more this is just some of them, not to mention the 1000s of tactical athletes that use CF on their own to stay fit and ready for the fight. 

Frankly, I have never understood the reaction to Crossfit on this site. There are many ways to prepare for a triathlon and the key for a beginner, in my view, is to keep it interesting and incorporate things we enjoy. Some people, myself included, enjoy lifting weights.

If Crossfit allows us to continue to lift while still being able to finish a triathlon then great. I did not start triathlon training to make the podium. I did it because while I hated running I liked swimming and biking. I found myself sabotaging my workouts when I focused exclusively on s/b/r. I missed olympic lifting. So with Crossfit I can do both. I will not qualify for Kona or pass many of you on the course but hopefully I will live a long healthy life and continue my dedication in the athletics. And if I get a six-pack (instead of my keg) all the better. 

The Cross Fit box my family has gone to for 2+ years has had a number of athletes most of them young who have had significant injuries from doing Cross Fit.

I agree with Shane that claims CF founder and others involved with CF has said about their method being the best and has named specific world class athlete would be faster/better if they did CF. It is a bit arrogant to makes such claims.