By looking at my goals, you could infer that my main focus this year will be on getting stronger and being capable of running long distances (with emphasis on becoming more competitive in 2012 with ultra running, although that isn’t spelled out). I don’t really know exactly how close or far I will come to achieving my strength goals as I’ve never made strength my main focus before for longer than about a month. I tried to make guesses on what I could achieve in a year’s time and those were the numbers I came up with.
Although I still love CrossFit and have spent almost all of the last 2-3 years using it as my main training method, I made a decision to lower the amount of CrossFit I do in favor of ultra running and dedicated strength training. This decision involves a couple different trains of thought. I feel like I never have a chance to be competitive in Crossfit. Maybe someday I could contribute on an affiliate team, but other than that I’ve never been a stand out in the sport. I noticed that once I started to get into running that I am really good at it, which is surprising because I never ran when I was younger and haven’t done a whole lot of running specific training. I’m young and if I’m ever going to be a stud at any sport I think now is the time to focus on it because the opportunity might go away as I get older. The other main reason behind why I might not do as much CrossFit revolves around a similar train of thought. I realized that if I’m not training for health and I’m not doing it to be competitive in CrossFit, then what's the point in making that my main focus? Some people use Crossfit as a daily work out to be healthy and fit, and then there are the ones who do it to be competitive. I’m stuck in between and I don’t see myself wanting to be on either spectrum (or being able to for that matter). I know the benefits of intense training, and I will not be eliminating the intense metcons totally. I’ve never been great at bodyweight stuff; I couldn’t even do a pushup until the end of my freshman year of high school. The skill work goal I made will be very bodyweight-oriented and I think that it will help me become stronger, overall fitter and when I do go back to Crossfit it will make my transition back a lot easier. The skill work goal will require about 8 minutes a day of work to reach 48 total hours during the year. My only worry in general is I might burn out, and if I do I will simply re-evaluate my goals and figure it out from there. I will never be consistent with a training program that I hate doing, so I need to make sure I’m happy as well as training to reach my goals.
A typical week would be something like
Day 1: Powerlifting/Strongman/Strength Work (possible metcon in the PM)
Day 2: Metcon + CFE Style Run
Day 3: Powerlifting/Strongman/Strength Work (possible metcon in the PM)
Day 4: Rest Day
Day 5: Powerlifting/Strongman/Strength Work (possible metcon in the PM)
Day 6: Long(er) Run, Ranging between 1-5 hours
Day 7: Rest Day/Skill Day/Bodyweight Work
The possible metcon would only happen 1-2 times a week, and if it begins to affect recovery then it could be eliminated.
I’d like to get bigger and leaner this year. My main diet will be a paleo + whole milk hybrid and living at home will make this a lot easier. I’m lucky to have someone to help me support how I eat and I look forward to seeing what getting a lot stronger will do to my body composition. I generally don’t care what I look like anymore. My main concern comes from feeling healthy and feeling capable of training, so recovery will be key this year. With one long run every 1-2 weeks I will also have days where I do not follow my diet and as long as I limit those days and I am smart about it (which I admit I need to work on) then I should be OK.
I also want to make pretty clear that if my elbows do end up getting injured again, I won't go through the crap I did this fall. I will focus on ultra-running and become a runner, and probably start running 4-5 times a week. If my elbows get injured to the point where I cannot train in a suitable manner then I won't do a watered down version of Crossfit and instead will focus on running a 100 mile race this year. My idea behind this is that if I can't accomplish any of my goals, then I should probably pick something crazy to do and focus all my efforts to that.
I don’t really know how everything will work out. I don’t have many options for suitable Crossfit-type gyms in the area because I don’t like how the affiliate near my new college programs their workouts. The gym I will be joining is powerlifting and strongman dedicated, with 2 rooms full of equipment for each. If I like this gym enough, I may get a year membership. I'll be in this area for a while so I may have to look into buying my own stuff for home if I do end up deciding to go back to a Crossfit type training style. I can do short metcons there with barbells for sure, but I may be limited with other stuff. I will have a really busy schedule with work and school this year so I might have to work around time constraints that will limit my training some days.
One thing I know is that I'm ready for whatever comes and I'm going to leave 2011 behind with some pretty awesome goals accomplished.
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