Endurance Testimonials

Camille Hehn

I ran track and cross-country in high school, doing the usual boring workouts, pounding around a track for endless miles, sometimes for hours a day. The more miles we ran, our coach concluded, the better we would run our races. Once in a while, we did the even more boring weight lifting workout, on a universal gym, pushing metals plates up and down, up and down. ZZZzzz. Time moved on. I loved running 10K's and 5K's in my twenties, running on my own, putting in twenty-five to thirty miles per week. Time continued and following an injury, I dropped down to only walking for many years.

Then I joined CrossFit. I heard that doing CrossFit would be all that was needed to run a race. I wanted to do 5K's again and Jason insisted that I wouldn't have to run the obligatory twenty to thirty miles per week to "get in shape" for a 5K. I thought he was out of his mind, as usual, but I decided to give it a try. I ran a few one mile runs in addition to the usual CrossFit WOD's and entered a 5K. I thought I would surely die out shortly after the one mile marker. NOT. I did fine, as if I had been training exclusively for the race.

I've run several races since then, cold, as they say, with only my CrossFit training and although I'm not running as fast as I was in my twenties, I'm not doing too bad, now that I'm twice as old as that. Recently, without doing any extra mileage, I ran my fastest 5K time ever, just over thirty minutes, and I felt great the whole way.

Jen Ceponis

Last Saturday, July 11, I ran the Boilermaker 15k in Utica, NY. I had never run this far in my life. I enjoy running some times – as in when it’s not too cold, not too hot, not raining, not snowing, not slippery outside… lets face it, this is Albany and it is rare the weather cooperates so this leaves me very few conditions in which to enjoy running. I have a collection of 5k t-shirts I’ve collected through the years but never had the guts to commit to a longer race. My friends psyched me up to run with them so I enthusiastically registered figuring I could cross it off my bucket list.

Back in March I mapped out a training schedule which I wrote in my agenda, programmed into my phone and wrote on every wall calendar in my office and house. It included things like “tempo” runs, strength days, and long run days. My training was scheduled to begin April 1. I planned on continuing CrossFit and adding the runs to my daily workouts. Things did not go as planned.

I started to panic a month before the race since I had not been “training.” I believe in CrossFit but it didn’t seem logical that lifting, squatting, sprinting, jumping, and stretching would prepare me to run 9.3 miles. I fit in two 5-mile runs but as the race got closer I had less time to fit in long runs so a mile here and there was the most running I did in the final weeks before the race (and most of those were part of WODs!). I complained to Jay about the lack of running in my preparation and like any CrossFit devotee he told me, over and over again, do not run and continue to do the WODs. Thursday before the race I asked Caleb and Kevin if after three straight days of WODs I should come to CrossFit or go for a run on Friday. They both recommended I come in and hit the push jerks, do not run, and rest Saturday. So I did.

My arms were sore Saturday, even after extensive stretching. I was a little panicky – what do I do all day? What should I eat for dinner? What should I eat for breakfast before the race? Should I and how do I warm up for 9.3 miles? Will I make it up the infamous hills? Should I wear my Vibrams that I’ve been working out in for the past few months or strap on my sneakers which haven’t seen the pavement in awhile? I was a serious wreck.

Sunday morning I woke up feeling good. I opted for my sneakers since all the tips I read recommended not wearing anything for a race that you haven’t run long distances in before, and I downed a protein shake (Jay Robb’s egg white protein) and a handful of blackberries. We made it to the start line about 15 minutes before the race officially started. There were thousands of people there, even the Governor. There were all these long and lean bodies, knee-brace- clad, sprinting up hills and jogging back and forth warming up for the race. I was feeling a little out of my element.

The race started and the first three miles went by quickly and easily. I was running my average pace of about 9:30 minute miles, weaving in and out of crowds of people, and feeling very good. Even the mile 3 hill, which I had been dreading, was less painful than I anticipated. Around mile 7 (and the 2nd big hill) I hit a wall and the remaining 2.3 miles might as well have been 10. This feeling didn’t last long and I got a second wind, stepped up my pace and finished out the last couple of miles. Although I got tired at some points, my legs always felt strong enough to keep running. I finished with a time of 1:36:37 and a pace of 10:30. Within 15 minutes of finishing I was drinking beer (the race is sponsored by Saranac so I had to) and feeling 100% again. The following day I had a little soreness in my hips but felt pretty good considering I had never run 9.3 miles in my life. The verdict: Jay was right. You do not need to run to train for a running event.

CrossFit training was apparently all I needed to have the strength, endurance and confidence to finish the race. I enjoyed it so much I signed up for the Hamptons Half Marathon in October!

Rachel Breidster

I’ve never defined myself as an athlete. Rock climber, hiker, kayaker. Outdoor enthusiast maybe, but not an athlete. When my rock climbing gym closed in June of 2009, I didn’t start to feel the impact until late Fall. June through October is still considered outdoor climbing season, so I was getting plenty of exercise until the winter started setting in, and it was just too cold for me to climb outdoors.

I’m also an ice-climber, but do that with much less frequency, as the weather has to meet very specific criteria in order for the ice to reach the right consistency for climbing. The winter of 09-10 did not bring the type of weather that lends itself to excellent ice-conditions, and as such, I spent a lot of the winter on my ass.

I’m also an artist, so if the weather isn’t right for exercise, I can very easily get lost in painting, jewelry making, sewing, sculpting etc. And that is exactly what I did this winter. Lots of friends and family were thrilled with their hand-made, personalized artwork, and I enjoyed making it, but when I looked in the mirror, I was miserable.

I’ve never been one to belong to a fitness gym. Or, more accurately, I’ve never been one to go. I’ve had plenty of memberships, I’ve just never used them. I find gyms incredibly intimidating. With several more months to go till the outdoor climbing season began I figured I would take up running to shed some of the unwanted pounds.

I’ve never been a runner. I have arthritis in both knees and I have shit for endurance, which do not make a great recipe for running. But I looked up the Couch to 5K training program and decided that even if it killed me (which amazingly, it didn’t), I was going to run a 5K.

It took me a long time to train, but I ran my first 5K on Mother’s Day, with a finishing time of 38:47. The result of the race was that I couldn’t walk correctly for several weeks. I used my cane to support weight on the worse of my two knees, and started doing PT like crazy. Foam rolling, hip dips, resistance stretching etc. I tried running again about 2 weeks later and my leg literally collapsed under my weight.

Somewhere in the midst of all this I joined ACF. I was hitting the WODs twice a week and running three times a week. Eventually I got to the point where I was missing WODs because running would leave me in so much pain. Jason suggested not running (gasp!) and just going to ACF.

Needless to say, I was not excited about this idea. I wanted to prove that I could be a runner. And I had signed up for the Gay 5K during Pride week in June. If nothing else, I had to be there to run in full-out, award-winning rainbow attire. The problem was, as excited as I was for the 5K, I couldn’t run. It just hurt too much.

I started going to ACF more frequently and figured when race day came, I would just walk to the 5K- after all, that’s how I’d always done 5Ks before. Amazingly enough, the day of the race I thought I would start off with a slow run and just keep going till it hurt too much, and then walk the remainder. I hadn’t run in about a month. Well, I started off running and didn’t stop till I got to the finish line in 36:22. More than 2 minutes shorter than my previous run time.

I haven’t returned to running too seriously since then for two reasons. One- it just hurts too much. Two- it seems that if I keep on top of the WODs at ACF, I’ll be prepared for my next races which include: The Warrior Dash in September, PedalPaddleRun in September, and the Hudson Mohawk Half Marathon in October. I do still run occasionally, although I am now following Jeff Galloway’s interval running approach- which means greater speed and less knee pain.

While I am sort of terrified of how I will do come the next race day, there is also a part of me that knows I will do okay.

In other ACF to real-life translations, I could offer the following.

My kayak is 15 ½ feet long and 57 pounds. I have always been able to get it on and off of my car and carry it some distance down to the water. Since joining ACF I can literally feel the difference in how easy it is to pick that thing up and either carry it down the water, or hoist it up into my Hull-a-ports. As I said, I’ve always been able to do it, the difference is, now it feels about 20 pounds lighter.

I bought a house in February. And I work for a non-profit. Which means my house is a serious fixer-upper. I’ve put a lot of energy into demo-ing deteriorated sections and re-establishing them. In this process I have filled, hauled, hoisted and dumped more 5 gallon buckets of debris than you can imagine. It still sucks, but with the practice I got hoisting those concrete stones up onto my shoulder, I’m sure I saved my back some agony in how I lift 5 gallons of broken concrete.

It’s also climbing season again. The Gunks are an easy fix for climbing, as the approach is easy and there are thousands of routes to be had. I’m personally more of a Dacks climber. There are fewer people and more challenges. The cracks tend to run vertical instead of horizontal, which makes a more challenging climb for me. Additionally, I’ve had the opportunity to set new routes and get FFAs on previously un-climbed/unnamed/unrecognized routes. That’s a thrill and a half. The downside of climbing in the Dacks? The hike in can be brutal. It can be several miles of steep terrain before getting the cliff. What’s more, when working on “unestablished” or “unclimbed” crags, there isn’t always an established trail. This means you’ve got to keep up with the group if you want to ensure that you make it to the right place. At 5’3” I have a hard time keeping pace with my well over 6’ climbing partners. Couple this with the shit for endurance I mentioned earlier, and there is a good chance that I’ll end up lagging pretty far behind my group. The last two weekends that I went out climbing, I kept up with the group better than I ever have before. Sure I’m still sweating more and breathing heavier than the rest of the guys, but I’m keeping up- and that’s not something I could have said last year.

Andrea Devlin

Prior to joining Albany CrossFit in August, 2008, I would have called myself a runner. I ran several times a week, logging miles and on alternate days worked my "upper" and "lower" body for strength. I ran several 5ks and 10ks and eventually trained for a half marathon. Depending on what race was coming up, that would dictate how many miles I would run, but my performance never really changed. I averaged about a 9 minute mile and logged about 15 miles a week.

When I joined Albany CrossFit, I began hitting wods daily and eventually was crossfitting 6 times a week. As I spent more and more time crossfitting, I spent less time running. Without running any serious distance outside of my daily wods, I never thought I would be able to cover any distance running anymore, let alone improve my time. I was wrong. After crossfitting for about a year, my best mile time was 7:18. I ran a 5k and placed first in my age group(20-29). Probably most impressive to me was running the Stockade-athon, a 15k race in Schenectady last November. I ran 9.3 miles at less than a 9 minute pace without any formal "training". In fact, I had not run more than 3 miles the months prior. My only training was hitting CrossFit wods six times a week.

Dean Leber

I knew that running a 50k/32 mile run up and around bear mountain out by west point would be no easy task, but after being told I couldn't a marathon I decided to prove them wrong by signing up for this.Now mind you I have ran 5Ks for fun but never anything more. I started at 175 and decided to change my diet drastically eating as clean as I could. Knowing that running alone would not prepare me for such an intense trail run, I focused on trying to simulate in my workouts what I thought I would go through during that 50k run. I started my training with lots of intervals on hills with a vest (knowing I would be carrying gear with me), learning how to best deal with the pain that was inevitable. I also created a WOD that I used to measure my progress.

It went as follows (all done with a vest)

7 air squats,:
then run stairs with 10lb dumbells and run back down,
then leaving the 10lb dumbells sprint up the stairs
do 5 pushups,
then sprint back down
and repeat for AMRAP in 25minutes,
then immediately go run a mile for time.

I used this ever 3 weeks or so to track my progress and make sure that I was improving. I used this Crossfit method for training, but unfortunately their is only so long that one can maintain that intensity on your own, and my workouts started to suffer. It was at this point that I signed up at albanycrossfit to bring and maintain that high level of intensity in my workouts.

When race day came I was down 120lbs/155lbs and felt awesome. I started the race at 7am, and finished the race just before 4pm, not feeling so awesome I had mud all over my body ,but most importantly a medal around my neck.

Sara Horaczek

Before writing this I decided to e-mail 5 of my old high school buddies and asked them to describe my athleticism in one sentence. The responses were:

1. "LOL"
2. "You were in marching band if that counts..."
3. "It's a miracle you only broke one bone in your life."
4. "Dude, you failed GYM."
5. "You almost had the grace of an elephant... who was drunk.... and blind... and mildly retarded."

I'm not mad at them. It's all true. I was not an athlete EVER. I made it on a few teams in school because I had great "team spirit." (I could cheer and yell from the bench really loudly!) I was a marching band geek and lived up to any and all stereotypes included with said title.

Fast forward to college. More of the same. Majored in music. 6 hours a day locked in a practice room and 20-23 credits a semester didn't leave much time to be physically fit.

Next came having some babies. Eating for two means eats twice as much right? I ballooned up to 205 with my first pregnancy and 185 with my second.

I was "fat fat" now instead of "skinny fat." All the years of doing NOTHING had caught up to me. No super metabolism to save me now. I would have to.... (gasp) exercise! And that means cardio, right? And cardio is running.

Cue "Couch to 5K" in June 2010. Did the program to the letter. My mile pace was just over 10 minutes regardless of distance. Ran the 5K. Got an okay time. 32:48 Also got shin splints. And IT band problems. And quit. Great 8 week running career.

Cue Crossfit in August 2010. You all know what it's about. It's certainly not about running long distances. I had it in my head I'd Crossfit and train for runs. But the shin splints and IT band stuff wouldn't allow it. So I gave up on the runs. Crossfit felt 1,000 times harder and yet the shin splints and IT band issues went away almost immediately. It also pointed out how weak you can be when you only run. My 1RM for a back squat was 45 lbs. I could do 3 knees-on-the-ground push-ups before stopping. I couldn't do 1 burpee correctly ( had to walk my feet to my hands).

In November (having not run since August) I ran the Turkey Trot with my students at school. Not once, but nine times. I ran the 100m dash with Kindergarten. Then with 1st. I ran the 200m with 2nd and then 3rd. I ran the 1/2 mile with 4th and then again with 5th. Then an entire mile with 6th. And then a mile 7th. And then a mile 8th. My pace for that last mile run of the day? 9:04 Not bad considering I'd never broken 10 minutes before and I hadn't run in months and I had already racked up over 4 miles in a short period.

And now today (February 2011... having not run since that ONE time in November and since I "trained" in June) I went for my first "It's warm enough and I'm sick of Winter" run. I had no plans for distance or pace. Just a nice feeling run. I ended up doing 2 miles in 17:49. I had to stop running, even though I didn't want to, because I had to go pick up my son at daycare. Not good practice, but I literally ran to my car and hopped in. I realized I wasn't even winded or sore. Totally recovered in the amount of time it took to sit, buckle up, and back out of the driveway. Recovery during the "Couch-to-5K" took all day- I was sore and tired and my lungs burned all day.