CrossFit to half marathon: Running season is here

As the weather cools down here in Houston, you may feel the call to head out and get some miles in on a run. You may even already be signed up for a race in the next few months with the Houston 1/2 and full being very popular in January.

But just because you can run at the drop of a hat does not mean you are ready for 4 runs a week. Be smart.

We underestimate running because we do not consider it a skill. If I can put one foot in front of the other then I can run, right? My little boy is learning to run right now. Good acceleration. Terrible technique.

So you have been run capable since you were 18 months old. But if you have not been regularly running your legs need some consideration. Add to that squatting and pulling heavy or at least frequently over the last year or even years, and that adds even more need for consideration.

Remember, running is the activity with the most injuries related to it. Meaning, pain that prevents someone from being able to continue to participate in the activity until they heal.

[I also want to add that the mental side of it matters too. Too much too fast will often leave you never feeling like you are good at it. And if you cannot feel confident doing something then doing it for an hour (10k) or 2-3 hours (half) is a terrible idea]

COMMON MISTAKES

• Too much running too fast
  • Physical – Legs need to acclimate to what you are asking them to do. If you go from running a few 400s a week in your CrossFit workouts to trying to run 2 or more miles 4x per week, your legs will at best, ache and at worst, begin to strain. Shin splints are the most common issue. But knees and hips will get funky too.
  • Mental – as mentioned above, if you run to your limit every time you will never build confidence mentally. Just like we start with empty bars and light weight until we are confident in our technique, we should start with slow, repeatable paces at distances we can sustain those paces. I promise if you let your brain feel good about running, you will increase your excitement for long runs when thy become more necessary.
• Not continuing to strength train
  • I wish I had done a better job of documenting this but back in 2018 going into the 2019 Houston 1/2, we had 10 or so people signed up. 6 stepped away from CrossFit to “focus on their running.” 4 continued and altered to a 3-4x CF per week in the early months and then 2-3x CF per week in the 6 weeks before. Of the 6 who stepped away, 2 made it to the starting line with 4 picking up injuries and strains that made the 1/2 a bad idea. Of the 4 that continued to strength train and use full ranges of motion through their CrossFit workouts, all made it to the start line.
• Not hydrating or fueling correctly
  • Yep, Goos are not just for elite runners. Even in training. Food is fuel and once you start to push beyond a 3 mile run, your fueling and hydration becomes more and more important. There is not signal that tells you that your fueling or hydration was the issue, but your runs will feel harder than they need to be. Eating well and staying hydrated in the days leading up to your runs will do the most for you regardless of your distance. But on the day, having a way to get some calories in mid run will help you feel better and have better, more effective training runs. (No, cool weather does not make it ok to run for over an hour without hydrating or eating something).

HOW TO TRAIN SMART

Be honest about your starting point. It does not matter how fit you are in the gym. If you have not been running then you are not ready to run far safely.

If you have not been running 3 or more miles a week, you do not need to run 3 miles more than twice in your first few weeks.

And you should be open to incorporating walking into your program, especially in those first few weeks. Lay a strong foundation and you will be flying through your runs in no time.

• Sustainable pace then rest until it is sustainable again – For me that means I run for as long as I am able to keep a bounce in my step. And I walk or at least slow down before that bounce disappears. I like this more than using pace for new runners because pace is distracting. Like running on a treadmill, it’s not great if you are getting into running for the first time or back to it after a break. There is too much nonesense that will convince you that you must maintain a 10:00 pace to be worthwhile. But if you try to do it too soon in your training you’ll run too fast too soon and not feel great. How far can you run well? Then walk for 2:00 then do it again. Collect your mileage that way.
• Understand the purpose of each run
  • Long runs (usually once per week) – “Long” is relative to you, but for the most part this is often your Zone 2 type runs which simply means runs that do not gas you terribly. You basically stay moving at a very sustainable pace. Sometimes in infuriatingly slow although you then have to ask why is it infuriating. The more patience you show the better off you’ll be because that sustainable pace will speed up the more consistent you are. The goal is to collect distance without dying. If I am new to this, this may be walk jogging the loop around Memorial Park. Running slow until you lose your bounce, then walking until you get that bounce back.
  • Tempo Runs (once or twice per week) – These are when you get to play with pace. For confident runners, running 1 mile at your 5k pace then slowing down to your 1/2 marathon pace for 800m is an example. For those of us who have less flexibility across our different paces (my pace is my pace bro), this could be running a fixed distance at a pace 1:00 faster than your Long Run pace, then recovering and doing it again. This is not speed work (that’s next). If I want to run a 30:00 5k then maybe I start by running a mile at an 10:00 pace, then I walk for 2 or 3:00 and do it again. Or maybe the second run comes down in distance if I dont quite have the endurance (yet) and I run 1200m (3/4 a mile) then rest, and then 800m (1/2 a mile) then rest. If I can do another 800m then I do, or maybe I continue to come down to 400m and do it twice with the break. The goal is still not to die. But you do push yourself to practice your pace for as long as you can sustain it.
  • Speed Work (once per week and also not super necessary if starting from scratch. CrossFit workouts often bridge the gap for new runners) – What is the longest distance you can run HARD for? The dream is to be able to run repeat 400m for 5-7 sets at a pace faster than my mile time. (If I can run a 7:00 mile then I want to run my repeat 400s with a time of 1:45 or less, w/ 1:30 to 2:00 rest. If I can run 5 sets of those staying ahead of that time, then I can either add a run the next time I come out, or bump my goal down by 5 seconds. But 400m is a long distance at 80% effort or more. Maybe your goal is a 400m, then a 300m, then 2-4x 200m. The theme with all of these is to finish before you fall a part.

HOW MANY TIMES TO RUN PER WEEK

2-3 Running days a week with 3 days of full body, full range of motion workouts is a pretty good spot to find yourself at the start.

Then as the race approaches, and depending on the distance you’ll be taking on, you may shift to 3 or 4 running days per week with 2-3x days of full body, full range of motion workouts. Unless you truly train like a runner, rarely do people NEED more than 3 real running days per week. Two tempo runs, and 1 longer run tend to do the trick up through a 1/2 marathon distance.

GOAL TIME/PACE

Now the caveat is in goal time. I believe CrossFit and 2-3 days of running can get you to a sub 2:30 1/2. Probably a sub 2:15.

But to guarantee progress from there you do have to move toward a more running specific approach. And even these times are impacted by your background and experience more than your current training. Some of y’all could go run a sub 2 hour 1/2 right now without adding much running to your CrossFit workouts.

What I want you to understand is that you must be patient when building your foundation. If you do that you will be able to enjoy the journey much much more and keep your body from hurting unnecessarily.

Let me know what you think.