Jessica box jumps during the final event of the CrossFit Games Mountain Sectional.
Competition breeds excellence.
With only four and a half weeks until the Pengelly Double Dip, I thought it was time to get after my training runs.
As I’ve mentioned in other posts, my method to training for any event is simple, yet effective. But before I get into that, I want to point out a few things.
For the purpose of this article, I’m going to group athletes into three types: single sport, multi-sport, and CrossFit. Each athlete has unique needs and training requirements.
The single sport athlete is usually paid to train and compete in one discipline. The primary objective of the single sport athlete is to win.
The multi-sport athlete usually invests large sums of their own money in support of two or more activities. The primary objective for these athletes is to avoid boredom and to “stay healthy”.
A lot of previous single sport athletes will continue their athletic pursuits as multi-sport competitors. You’ll often find them among the first to cross the finish lines.
The training needs of the CrossFit athlete are what I want to focus on here. The primary objective of the CrossFit athlete is to “increase work capacity across broad time and modal domains”, preparing for unknown and unknowable circumstances, or what can be more commonly referred to as life.
The CrossFit athlete can and should use competition and sport to flesh out weakness in his or her fitness armory.
Throughout the year, there are a range of events that I personally compete at.
In February, there’s CrossFit Montana’s CrossFit Challenge. In April, I’ve got the CrossFit Sectional Games. June will bring the Pengelly Double Dip, a 13 mile trail run with over 5,000 feet of elevation gain and loss. Then in July, Clint over at Alternative Athletics is hosting the Billings Weightlifting Invitational. Finally, topping off the year, is Jenna and Meriah’s Bridger CrossFit Showdown in Bozeman.
Three CrossFit competitions, two Olympic-style weightlifting meets, and one long, steep run and I’ve got a year of opportunity to test and hone my fitness across broad time and modal domains.
For the most part my training is centered on the same WOD’s that I program for my gym. However, six weeks out from an event I tailor my training to the demands of the coming task.
For the Pengelly Double Dip, I’ll be running parts of the course, progressing the mileage of each training run. In total, I plan on completing six runs, topping off at eleven miles.
I’ve gotten started a little later than I had originally intended, so I may not get them all in.
For these training runs I like to wear my Garmin Forerunner. This way I can track time, mileage, and elevation data, so that I can compare one run to another.
You can view the data from my first training run here.
What events are you training for and what are your doing to get ready for them?
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