CrossFit isn't all about seeing who can lift the most weight or who can do the most push-ups, as explained here by Rob and Kara running is an essential element of CrossFit.

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TRACK YOUR PROGRESS

Kara: “Run somewhere measurable, on a track that you can familiarise yourself with. Get comfortable with it, and then monitor your progress. I would also include a few different locations – for example a track with some hills, one that’s flat, and maybe a trail run to mix it up.”

Rob: “If you’re running laps, I think it can be harder mentally. But if you’re running one big loop, it’s easier because you have different scenery and it doesn’t seem to drag on. I always have some sort of stopwatch going while I’m running – if I know where my markers are at one or two Ks, I can keep track and stay consistent.

“If you’re just starting out, keeping things low-impact can be better, so you can choose a grass track around a park maybe. But as you get stronger and more experienced you can pretty much run anywhere and you’ll pull up pretty well. There’s a great running site called mapmyrun, where you can map out a course before you head off and it’ll tell you exactly how far you travel. So you know exactly how far you’ve run and what time you did, if you’ve got that stopwatch going.”

RUNNING MACHINES

Rob: “At the recent Regionals we ran on running machines for the first time in competition. I find them a very different feeling to running cross country. It was almost like pushing a  sled – when you’re pulling back to drive the  belt, your hamstrings are more engaged, and  it’s almost like you’re doing a hamstring curl.  It was a little bit different, but not anything  crazy. But I would much prefer to see people running normally – even a treadmill does a lot of the work for you, but it is certainly a good starter for someone.”

Kara: “On the running machines you need to maintain a solid body position even though the belt is turning over. Keep your eyes forward, chest tall, feet under hips, and pull away from the belt.”