I am ready.

Part 1

I love to run. I don't know why. But I love it. I don't love that despite training longer and pouring over literature on how to run, I never get any faster at the marathon distance. Last summer and fall, I PR'd at all the distances from 5K to half-marathon, but my goal of qualifying for Boston has still eluded me. In fact, after my first real attempt, I came within 4 seconds. Since then, I have run 4 more and gotten slower. In my heart, I know that God has something great for me planned. I've always hoped that it would be something that has to do with athletics. Since volleyball, softball, and basketball don't have much promise for a 31 year old female, I turned to running. But now, I am sick of the traditional training plans and all the hours I spend away from my husband and son.

Part 2

I love Crossfit. I have been doing it consistently since June, and absolutely think it rocks. And I don't completely stink at it. In fact, I can actually do some things well, mostly when they don't have to do with a barbell. For some time now, I have been trying to do both a traditional training program for marathons and full-time Crossfit. Yes, I am tired. But I am also fed up. Despite doing workouts completely tired and not even close to recovered, I have tried to slog though, without improvement (running). This has been going on right up until I decided to sign up for my first Crossfit Competition, The Garage Games, last Sunday. They are in just a few short weeks, and I know that I may not be as strong as the women there, but I am going to rock every WOD as hard as I can. So this all got me thinking...

Part 3

Unscared. That is the name of Brian McKenzie's blog, who is the founder of Crossfit Endurance. I had heard of CFE before, but didn't really pay a whole lot of attention. I got on the website while my son was napping on Saturday afternoon, and ended up spending 3 hours that day researching the concept. His theory goes against everything that I have ever heard or read. He claims that short-high intensity workouts will translate to aerobic capacity in all distance racing (even 100-mile ultras and Iron distance races). He claims that his methods will train you for an Ironman on less than 10 hours per week. As my first thought was... "You are out of your mind". But I kept reading. I even posted a few questions on the forum. And I got a response. I asked how to convert to this style of training and if there was time to do prior to the Nashville Country Music Marathon. The answer was yes. And it gave a plan. Was I really considering this? We are talking about just 4-5 regular Crossfit WOD (mostly 20 min or less in duration), and 2-3 CFE running WOD's per week. Really?

Part 4

I am ready. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Bottom line. I am selling out. I am in. Bring on the protein powder and paleo. I am about to follow this to the letter.

P.S. Check out this month's issue (Feb. 2011) of Triathlete Magazine. Find the Crossfit article.