Weekend Plans - CFE Cert; the secret to my so-called success (so far!)

I alluded to it earlier this week, but the reason my workout for this weekend is still TBD is because I'm participating in the Crossfit Endurance Run and Endurance Certification at Potomac Crossfit in Arlington, VA.

I've been following the website since the start of 2009, watching the videos, reading the CF Journal articles, and reading all the past blog posts archived up until April 2008. It's an interesting concept and I've added some of their workouts to my training for MMT in addition to the Crossfit workouts and body weight training I've been doing.

Many people have been surprised at my results this year, which started with my 9:32 finish, and 30 minute PR, at the Uwharrie Mountain Run (40 miles) in early February. At that point I wasn't doing the CFE workouts, but had been in the gym more than I had in the past and really strengthen my legs from doing as little as air squats, box jumps, and kettle bell swings. It also helped dramatically in my recovery after races and long training runs. I hobbled for a bit post run to get accustomed to walking in Crocs instead of darting over rocks in trail shoes, but felt no pain in my hips, knees, or ankles, nor did I have any muscle stiffness.

There's a 'four part series' of training runs that the VHTRC host that covers just about all of the MMT course. Of the four runs, which are a marathon or 50K distance each, I only completed one in its entirety. I wasn't feeling it in January, the run in February was the week after I completed the 71 mile Reverse Ring, and the last was a 50k night run. It was the third run, which was 28 miles, that I completed in just over 7 hours. I ran with a plan, which was to go out relatively easy, but steady, and tackle Short Mountain and Edinburg to Woodstock. I accomplished those goals and cruised into Signal Knob parking lot with easy and no soreness. The plan was similar for the night run since I wanted to compare my Short Mtn and Woodstock times to what I could run in the daytime. Since I wouldn't be on the next 5 mile section to Powell's Fort on race day in the dark, I didn't want to train on it at night, and dropped at the marathon mark.

I had no problem cutting these long weekends short. I don't need to be running a 50k every weekend or back to back 20 mile runs on Saturday and Sunday. When I did go long, I ran with a goal of running certain sections faster than others, or getting up to the ridge in a certain time. I wasn't out there just to slog along the course and get in the miles. I look at where I was on the wait list and how many people had to pull out of MMT for me to get in, and the number that have continued to drop out, most likely due to injury from over training.

Sure, my training hasn't been perfect, but it has worked so far. I PRed at Uwharrie, at Bull Run Run 50, and ran my 2nd fastest marathon (4:07) without training specifically for the race. My volume has been way down, but the intensity has been jacked up a few notches. I'm stronger than ever before and close to what I weighed in college after graduating almost 10 years ago. I will go into the MMT 100 miler down about 12 lbs from what I weighed last year at the start of the race.

I'm going to the certification with an open mind. I'm interested in the POSE method and learning more about it and the drills to improve on the technique, as well as the concept behind the CFE programming for endurance athletes - runners and triathletes especially. In the back of my mind I'm considering a return to the triathlon world this Fall with CFE as my main form of training - CF workouts 4-6x a week, plus some swim, bike, and run workouts from the CFE website. Stay tuned.