Live, Run, Grow

I have to admit I’m not big on trying new things. Once I find something I like, I am more than happy to just stick with it, and yes…this applies to my workouts!

Since I began running, my workouts have really been limited to running, the elliptical and yoga. And it worked for me. I got through all of my races feeling great and yoga really complimented my training, why fix what’s not broken??

Well, after seeing my friend Jenn PR the Disneyland Half Marathon in September while doing tons of CrossFit and minimal running, and my sister Christina completing her first half marathon with me (at a great pace!) after having only done a handful of runs, but working out with her personal trainer, I began to think maybe I should try some strength and endurance training and see if it helps my running! Plus there would be the added benefit of giving me a break from high milage weeks and adding a bit of variety!

So, this week I stepped out of the box and into a box! (Ok, ok, I know, bad CrossFit joke…a CrossFit gym is called a box…) And not only did I try CrossFit, I tried a new Bootcamp class too!

So, here’s the 411 on my CrossFit and Bootcamp experiences:

CrossFit

This is definitely the new workout that scared me the most, I was being a total baby and didn’t want to go alone because I had no idea what to expect! Luckily I had a friend who was being just as big a baby as I was (just kidding Dan!), so we went together! We decided to go to the box that was closest to him since he was really hoping to sign up and continue going, for me it was more of a scouting mission.

After signing my life away (you know, in case the Workout of the Day killed me)…

…we met our coach for the day, Coach Kasey, who honestly didn’t look all that scary! She told us a bit about CrossFit in general and then went over our Workout of the Day (WOD):

10 minutes AMRAP (as many rounds as possible)

10 pushups, 10 sit-ups, 10 squats

Easy enough, right? My arm strength is pathetic so I was definitely feeling those pushups, it got my heart rate up and towards the end I definitely broke a sweat.

The Verdict:

This short WOD wasn’t really a great “taste” of CrossFit, the workout was pretty easy compared to a “real” WOD…

Ok, I totally get that you can’t just jump into using all of the equipment and doing a “real” WOD before you learn how to do/ use everything, that’s why they have foundations classes you need to sign up for. Am I signing up? Not sure.

I may go to the free intro class at the box in my town this weekend to check it out again, but if I’m being totally honest while I’m all for weight training and am definitely looking to get stronger I don’t really have any desire to do the Olympic style weightlifting that’s part of CrossFit (To my CrossFit friends, don’t hate me!) – that being said, I’ve never really tried it and I don’t think this free intro really gave me enough to make a judgement on, so jury’s still out on this one!

Bootcamp

LOVED bootcamp! I mean check this place out!

This was a full 60 minutes of high intensity training that totally kicked my butt! And I loved every second of it!

Our warm up was 5 minutes of jumping rope followed by 3 rounds, 30 second each of jumping jacks, high knees, pushups, mountain climbers, sit-ups and superman…followed by a crazy rotation of stations and then core work. I am definitely going to feel it tomorrow!

The Verdict:

I bought a 10 class Groupon for this place so I’ll definitely be back. For some reason I like lifting sandbags and moving tires and stuff like that better than actual weights. The cool thing about this place is that they also have some other fun classes I can try (arial yoga anyone??).

Overall: I’m not ruling CrossFit out, I’m going to try again this weekend, but I think I may be more of a Bootcamp kinda girl! I’ll be sure to report in as I (hopefully) begin to see some benefits!

So, there you have it, a running yogi tries CrossFit and Bootcamp! But how cool is this – just the other day I was contacted by Taylor of Lifting Revolution who owns a women’s bootcamp business and she just recently began doing yoga and is really seeing some of the benefits, so we’ve agreed to swap posts about our experiences since we’re basically coming from opposite places! Stop by tomorrow to see what Taylor has to say about the one form of exercise she always avoided!

Have you done any strength or endurance training that you feel has benefited your running? Are you a CrossFit or Bootcamp type of person??