More Running, More Crossfit
Had a beautiful run out of Muir Beach back at the end of January with the Endurables. It's almost a 5 mile slog uphill and the same 5 miles back downhill but Jenny and I tacked on a few additional miles on the Dipsea Trail just to keep it challenging. Lol. Running Heather Cutoff takes you up along a dozen or so switchbacks putting you at what you think is the top right about here:
And then you look to the right at the endless hills above and realize you still have miles to go. It's an endurance-fest to run the whole thing without walking but we managed to do it this time around. Not so much during the NFE Challenge back in December. Getting stronger in '09! Hoo yaa!
I'll be honest, in the moment when you're grinding up a looong, steep, hill it's often a complete suckfest. You don't feel lithe, you don't feel runnerly, you don't feel like you've made any gains in fitness or strength or speed. You're hunched over, breathing hard, moving slowly. And then you get to the top or to an opening that reveals some spectacular view or a ripping set of stairs to bomb down and you forget it all and you think, that was awesome!
This is the beauty of both trail running and living in the bay area.
And then you look to the right at the endless hills above and realize you still have miles to go. It's an endurance-fest to run the whole thing without walking but we managed to do it this time around. Not so much during the NFE Challenge back in December. Getting stronger in '09! Hoo yaa!I'll be honest, in the moment when you're grinding up a looong, steep, hill it's often a complete suckfest. You don't feel lithe, you don't feel runnerly, you don't feel like you've made any gains in fitness or strength or speed. You're hunched over, breathing hard, moving slowly. And then you get to the top or to an opening that reveals some spectacular view or a ripping set of stairs to bomb down and you forget it all and you think, that was awesome!This is the beauty of both trail running and living in the bay area. In Crossfit updates, Yariv and I were put to the test with a Maximum Effort deadlift workout last week under Saul's tutelage. One deadlift. Maximum effort. We started conservatively, prepping the muscles, working on form, slowly increasing the weight as we practiced sets of 3. And then it was sets of 1. 1 at 80kg, 1 at 95kg and finally, 1 at 105kg.
That's 231 pounds for you Americans who never learned the metric system (and for me who has to ask each class how many pounds are in a kilogram).
The result? A PR for both of us at 105kg.
You can see us in all our glory in the opening scenes here or you can just return to your Scrubs reruns.
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