AceInMySleeve

It's definitely possible, I'm living proof, I did an Ironman (Swim 2.4 miles, bike 112, and run 26.2) in November and PR'd my deadlift about 2 weeks before the race. Could I have performed better in the race if I'd focused on only it? Probably. But my overall goal was just to finish in a reasonable time, and I had far more fun training than if I would have otherwise. The key is actually not to overtrain and clean up your diet. I'll explain what I did/do for both: Training - I'm a crossfitter, so I kept doing my normal routine at my gym about 4x/week throughout my entire training plan. No matter where you are from a beginner lifter perspective, just follow your current plan. Become stronger and more generally fit should be your goal. For endurance work, in your case running, I slowly added more workouts as the race got closer, starting with 3 and finishing with 6-7. The key here is to stay away from long runs (anything more than 60-90 minutes) and focus on making shorter workouts more intense. Research High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and I highly recommend reading Power Speed Endurance by Brian MacKenzie. About a month out from the race, do one or two long runs to get your nutrition dialed in. For Ironman, my longest run was an 18 miler around 2 months out, but otherwise I never did more than 10. Instead, "long" days would be tempo days, where I'd try to run as far as possible in 45 or 60 minutes. By doing it this way, you will get the best of both worlds without killing yourself. Food - I eat about 80% paleo, because I feel better working out if I add a bit of bread or rice into my diet, especially with my training. This is something you just have to play with to see what works for you. To start, go 100% paleo (or whatever you choose) for a few weeks, then try adding things back in to see how it effects your performance. Feel free to ask any questions, I'm a nut for this stuff. My 2014 goal is to do a muscle-up, dead lift 400#, and do a crazy endurance event in the same week.

Duality/Bolson nailed it. The only thing I would add is try to be as consistent with your diet as you can on a daily basis. Don't worry about increasing protein on "lifting" days, just focus on getting the 150-180g per day that Duality recommended. Once you figure out what your daily caloric intake should be using a TDEE calculator, you can start playing with your diet and see what the results are.

I go away for a month and this thread has been taken to a whole new level. I <3 Ruck Girls. For staying warm, I cannot recommend Merino Wool enough. It stays warm while wet, which is amazing. My Merino Wool long-sleeve sweater and Nike SFB got me through Ft. Bragg Heavy. You will get cold, it will suck, its part of the challenge. There's only so much you can do, mentally just accept it and mediate as best you can. I always keep a couple extra pairs of gloves and socks in dry bags. You may or may not get the chance to change, but it's great to have them if you do. Practice changing socks, your feet/socks/shoes/boots will react very differently when soaked and raw. I might be in for the April Philly Heavy, but time to throw the real gauntlet, Selection 2014.....

I've been MIA from the forums for a bit, immersed myself in Ironman training for the last two months after finishing the 9/11 challenge. Trek was really, really cool. If you get the chance to do it, I highly recommend it. There's not much you can't learn online with enough digging, but like a lot of GoRuck things, but hanging with the people is the highlight. I'm sad I'll be missing you guys in Atlanta, have fun!

This thread is too quiet, did anybody make it to Nasty? I had to bail at the last moment. On the positive side, I'm high-mileage now, I need a new hobby....

We just did this, 25:18 Rx'd, wall balls and knees to elbow own me, they took so long

So I suck horribly for not updating, but had some setbacks to work through over the last couple weeks, but I'm back with a vengeance now. So first of all, the race: Eagleman was tough, it was another scorcher (90+ by the time I started the run), and I had my first mechanical issues on my bike. The glue that attached my gel pads to my aerobars melted, leaving me riding on plastic for 20 miles until I found a mechanic to help me tape them back on. Finished up in just under 3 hours, about 10 minutes slower than last year. On the run I couldn't overcome the heat, especially the back half, which lead to a disappoint "run" of 2:43. I was shooting for a 2:15 or better, so not great. Overall, just a rough day, I'm happy to have finished, but I need to figure out how to deal with heat better. Hopefully this will continue to motivate me moving forward. The biggest negative from the race though was injuring my left hand. I have a compressed ulnar nerve from riding on the plastic handlebars for so long, meaning my left pinky and ring finger feel like pins and needles or are asleep all of the time. Frustrating for training, I had to take almost two weeks off until my doctor could get the proper tests done to make sure there was no permanent injury. For better or worse, I now have a 4-6 month recovery in front of me, but no training limitations other than pain tolerance. I got this news last monday, so last week I made it to Crossfit 5x, CFE 3x, and went for 2 rucks (a 13 miler and a 5 miler). I'm happy to be back, now I need to rededicate myself for the rest of the challenge.

Yes, to all of the previous ones too....I need sponsors, my wallet is empty from race fees again

I ended up skipping the CF workout on Wednesday night and just doing CFE, I was feeling wiped and the workouts were very similar. Thursday was a light jog to test out my running shoe laces (had to put new locklaces on instead of the standard ones). It's still pouring outside, so I'm going to have to stick my bike on the trainer for one last equipment check tonight. Saturday is travel day down to Cambridge, MD and race day Sunday.

So this week started off pretty good, CFE + CF on Monday, good grinding workouts, CF on Tuesday, 1+2 clean + jerk work up to 155# and plank hold (3min front, 2mins each L/R). Another CFE+CF tonight, then equipment checks leading into this weekend. Discovered an amazing hummus+ jerk chicken recipe, can't stop eating it, luckily its good for me.

On Bricks, bring 6 bricks, whatever kind you like. To quote the Cadre "A brick is the size and shape of a brick, don't overthink it." We had some guy show up with a giant rock instead of 6 bricks on one of my challenges and got our collective ass handed to us for that one. It's one less thing to worry about. I wrap mine in 3 sets of 2, heavily duct taped to keep water from leaking in. I like having the bricks on either side of my back rather than digging into my spine, but to each their own. My schedule is nuts, I'm hoping I can keep up with it. The 3 main events are Eagleman (this weekend!), Selection, and IM Florida, the rest kind of builds up to those events. Need to keep training hard whenever I can. For WTM, I think it's a good move. The endurance requirements/mental toughness of moving continuously for 24+ hours versus sprinting a single run is wildly different. They'll get more top athletes this way, plus more people out there just to give it a shot. I'm in for whatever people want to do. I might not do the CMC this year with the official GoRuck team (don't worry, I'll still have plenty of beer), but I haven't decided yet.

It's GoRuck-itis, Day 1 is the why the f- did I do that, Day 2 is that wasn't so bad, Day 3 you find yourself back on the site with dollars being thrown at them. Just wait until 5-packs start becoming cost savers. Look at Nasty, it should be a blast. My schedule this summer/fall, pick one with me!: 6/9/2013 - Eagleman 6/14/2013 - Princeton, NJ 9pm 7/13/2013 - Team Farm Hoboken 10pm 7/26/2013 - Long Beach, NY 1am 8/8/2013 - Boston Selection 8/30/2013 - Charleston, SC 9pm 9/8 2013 - NYC 1am 9/14/2013 - CMC NYC Urban Assault 9/21/2013 - GoRuck Nasty 10/10/2013 - Jacksonville Trek 11/2/2013 - Ironman Florida 11/16/2013 - World's Toughest Mudder

I'd like a buddy, I have a slightly crazy workout plan over the next 6 weeks involving lots of rucking, crossfit, yoga, and biking, but I'm down for anything that gets me moving.

So I've participated in a number of 6-week challenges so far, all have been pretty good at pushing me towards my crazy goals. This time around it's pretty simple, GoRuck Selection is coming, time to get serious. I have a half-ironman Tri on 6/9, after that, 2 months until a bunch of special forces guys hand my @ss to me. So none of these goals really kick off until middle of next week (depending on recovery time), but training gets kicked into high gear then. Fitness Goal #1: 3x Rucks per week, increasing weight as appropriate. I need to continue toughening my feet and getting used to moving with weight. Goal #2: 10x workouts per week. Sounds crazy, but I'm already in the 6-7 range, now I just need to add on the rucks without getting hurt and try to make it to yoga more consistently. Goal #3: Weigh 170 lbs by July 14th - Currently approximately 180 lbs, need to focus on eating clean and the weight should come off pretty quickly. Life Find 3 cost saving methods in support of training/eating healthy. Pretty simple really, just need to fully commit and see what happens.

So much badass in those photos. Congrats! I estimate you've passed the 48 hours after point, have you signed up for your next one yet?

Do it, I'll definitely be there, just not sure if I'll be rucking or doing it with my Crossfit Box

Thanks, To add to my awesome week at the box, did Grace today Rx'd for the first time, 5:46, not too shabby

So I did Fran for the first time at Elements (My Box's intro program) almost 11 months ago to the day. For the non-crossfitters, Fran is 21-15-9 of Thrusters and Pullups for time. The first time I did it I used 65lbs for the thrusters and a green and black resistance band for the pullups. I barely finished in the 10 minute time cap. Fast forward to yesterday, 11 months later, fully as prescribed, 95lbs thrusters, kipping pullups, 7:17. I'm pumped. Limiting factor was by far the pullups, but I did sets of 3 the entire way.

So I did Fran for the first time at Elements (My Box's intro program) almost 11 months ago to the day. For the non-crossfitters, Fran is 21-15-9 of Thrusters and Pullups for time. The first time I did it I used 65lbs for the thrusters and a green and black resistance band for the pullups. I barely finished in the 10 minute time cap. Fast forward to yesterday, 11 months later, fully as prescribed, 95lbs thrusters, kipping pullups, 7:17. I'm pumped. Limiting factor was by far the pullups, but I did sets of 3 the entire way.

I'm a huge fan of Crossfit Endurance/Crossfit training for endurance athletes. My background is in triathlon, and last year 50+ mile rides were a common workout for me. Due to some nagging injuries, I switched almost entirely to Crossfit for a few months late last season, adding in CFE and a few longer workouts since about February. My results have been incredible. I have a 20mile time trial I do that would take me about 61-62 minutes (great mix of climbs, flats, and a technical section) last season. I rode it for the first time a month ago since last fall and dropped almost 7 minutes while only having been on the bike a total of 450ish miles since October. I also PR'd my half marathon this past weekend with minimal long runs (it was my longest run since a marathon in December). I'm getting ready for Eagleman (a half ironman) in two weeks, can't wait to see the results in a longer test.

So I've used both, and they are honestly for different things. A waterproof/Goretex shoe is not really waterproof, they are water resistant. Once they are soaked (meaning fully submerged), they will be wet for a very long time. This is fine, just make sure to wear good socks (I wear injinji toesock liners and under armor boot socks) and be prepared that they are significantly heavier. This type of trail shoe/boot is great for hiking or events where you won't be fully submerging your feet. They'll keep your feet dry if its simply "wet" out. Also, if its cold out, the goretex will help keep your feet warm, even if completely soaked. Non-goretex trail shoes/boots are superior when you know your feet will be soaked. They are designed to dry quickly, which will limit the weight on your feet. They are also more breathable, which is important when its hot out to keep your feet cool. For a regular challenge, you'll be fine with either. I did heavy 001 in a pair of Goretex under armor boots and was fine, my feet looked like death afterwards though. My feet were soaked for 18+ hours though. I've switched to Nike SFB recently and plan on wearing them for Selection in August.

I think I signed up before my mind realized what I was doing, but I'll be there for sure. I'll be camping and drinking many $1 ACRTs before, during, and after. On another note, Class #7 complete, 4/27 DC 1am, #8 this weekend, Baltimore 1am. I need to figure out how to shoehorn in 1 more before July despite my race schedule, it'd be hilarious if the Team Farm Hoboken event was #10.

GRHQ has been training a new batch of Cadre over the last few weeks, I've had the pleasure of being in a few of their first classes over the past few weeks. I use a single carabiner on my shoulder to hold my water tube, that way its quick to adjust or unhook to push out of the way for low crawls or similar. Side note, for any GRTs, it's looking more and more like the Team Farm I <3 bewbs challenge in July will be my 10th GRC, I'd love to see any of you there

Great job, the squats sound perfect. If the last rep is a struggle, you win. Starbucks Coffee.....blegh Keep killing it, it sounds like you have the intervals down, now to get faster!

So 13.3 sucked, must have been norepped 50 times on the wallballs. Managed a 143, not as good as I hoped, but not awful. Went to Crossfit Mon/Weds, Yoga Mon/Tues, and will be doing 13.4 tomorrow morning (135lbs clean+Jerks and Toes2bar, should be a great test). I'm going to take it easy tonight, my Crossfit coach had us doing horrible front squats last night. We would go as deep as possible, pause for 3 seconds, rise to parallel, pause for 2 seconds, then "bounce" back down to a deep squat and stand up. It was rough. On the plus side, I worked up to 205, which is more than my back squat was when I first started crossfit 8 months ago. The WOD involved 2x100 double unders, which finally started clicking a couple weeks ago, and I managed to complete (as long as the rope went around my body twice per jump, I counted the rep). I'm not going to hit 20 yoga sessions, but I should be somewhere in the teens, which isn't bad. I need to prioritize 3x per week though. Triathlon season is approaching and I need the flexibility. On the food front, I solved my lunch breakdowns. On one of Steve's posts, he mentioned keeping steamfresh bags in his work freezer, so I grabbed a bunch and now keep them at work. If I forget to bring meat, it's vegetarian lunch for me. Thanks, I need to accept that, I've been pushing myself too hard at times, need to take rest days more and relax. The good habits are much more important than anything else.