How to Train for a Race While Doing CrossFit – Part 2

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One of our amazing athletes, Siobhan Lydon, recently completed the Providence Marathon in under 4 hours.  Way to go Siobhan!  Her and her running coach created a unique training plan that mixed runs with CrossFit.  Read about her story and how CrossFit helped her feel her best on race day!

1) How did you balance CrossFit and running to train for a marathon?

I worked with my friend, a running coach at MyStryde in Boston, to train for my race. She put my plan into a Google calendar we shared at the beginning of every week. Even though I had a general idea of what my week would look like (track workout or tempo run Tuesday, short run Thursday and long run Sunday), I still had the flexibility to move things around with my own personal schedule and CFH workouts that looked fun. I would typically do 3 days of running, 3 days of CrossFit and a day of complete rest.

2) Did CrossFit help?

Absolutely! CrossFit has made me both physically and mentally strong. I think running just 3 days a week (as opposed to many marathon plans that have you do 5-6) prevented me from getting injured or burnt out. The gradual increase in mileage was building my endurance, but having a solid CrossFit background helped me get up the hills at mile 25 and across the finish line without any pain.

3) How did you avoid over training?

I really had to get in tune with my body. There were some weeks I needed to take more rest days, and there were even some Open workouts that I knew I physically couldn’t do. Thrusters + legs after 18 miles = a disaster waiting to happen. I felt bad about it at first, but I learned that proper rest is an important part of training. A lot of people say that you can’t do CrossFit and train for a marathon at the same time, but you just have to be smart about it. You might not be able to give 100% to both things, and that is okay. It’s all about figuring out what works for you and what your priority is at that time.

4) Overall how did you feel for the race?

I felt well trained and well rested. Ten days out from the race, I started modifying workouts to keep my legs fresh (like doing push press instead of front squats). The first 22 miles actually seemed to fly by. Those last 4.2 miles were extremely hard (especially the last .2), but I think suffering through WODs like Fran and Murph prepared me to just stick with it and finish strong.

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