Estefi A. - Rehabbing Her Knee and Running a Marathon
I have been at CFCL since October 2015, and as a competitive athlete, I can see and measure my progress in fitness and endurance since starting.
During my marathon training this summer/fall, I was combining 2-3 days of crossfit with the 3 days of running. It was going very well, until I hit the long run training stage (15 miles+). Seems that my hamstring and knee were very tight which led to pain. Combining physical therapy, major stretching (the foam roller and lacrosse ball saved me) and specific individual programming that Cassi recommended, I was able to continue my training and get rid of the pain and tightness. I could not throw away months of training, and I knew that I had to be smart about how I trained; I wanted to stay in shape and keep my body & muscles healthy and stretched.
I am very grateful for the entire CFCL coaching staff that helped me and accommodated my programming in that period. Big shout out for Cassi, who was my champion getting me ready and back to running with the programming. Thank you Cassi - would have not done it without you!
In 2 words: CrossFit made my marathon training faster and stronger. Definitely helped my endurance. Having done a marathon before without crossfit, I can tell the difference as now I am definitely more fit, stronger, agile, fast and have much more energy left in the tank after a long run/race. The marathon training program I was following combined cross training, and 3 separate days of running (sprints, tempo racing and long runs). I believe that crossfit as my cross training days definitely increased my own performance, and allowed me to get that needed strength training under my belt. It also allowed me to achieve a great PR for the first 15 miles of the race (my family or I were not expecting that I smoke the first 15 miles so fast! ;)
Next, I am working on more challenging movements in the WODs- I would love to do a strict pull up, or handstand ;) Also, I would like to train to do an Olympic triathlon, and definitely another marathon with better PR. Bring on 2017!