Capitol Endurance

I think everyone on the East Coast is ready for the Fall. We had a crappy winter with the Snowpocalypse and Snowmmagedon, summer and her 90 degree starting in May, and wicked back-to-back-to-back storms in a matter of weeks knocking out power and flooding streets.

Needless to say, cooler temps and lower humidity can come annnny day now, but it’s not keeping us from training. We’ve got a 10 miler, half-marathon, iron distance triathlon, and 100 miler trail. We’ve knocked out some 60 min runs on the trail, 200m repeats, 800m repeats, and death by 10m. Seeing plenty of improvement across the board.

Speaking of improvement, the website is going to be getting a little make-over over the next few weeks. Look for an easier to read and navigate website with more content. I will also be posting the CrossFit Endurance workouts from the CFE mainsite for others to follow along.

If your race season is winding down, keep Capitol Endurance in mind to help you with your training plan for 2011. As well, check out CrossFit Capitol Hill for group workouts held in the morning at Garfield Park. One-on-one training is also available.

I would love to run a 6:30 mile, have a sub-5 minute Fran, and deadlift 2x my bodyweight, but right now that’s not a reality. Heck, I’m still working on stringing together 5 kipping pull ups, pistols, and more than 20 consecutive double unders. I’m definitely chipping away at my goals – mile after mile, pull up after thruster, and more weight on the bar each pull.

What is really cool is seeing the satisfaction and pride in someones face when they finally break 9 minutes for a mile, or move up to 1 pood KB swings overhead from 30# at shoulder height, or finally graduate to a strict pull up with a red band instead of the blue. Simple tasks for some, but a struggle for others.

They “get it”. Yes, it takes time and probably longer than they had hoped, but they realize that at the beginning. Something finally clicked; they feel the clutch and know when to apply just enough gas not to stall out. And now that they know that feeling, they can keep chipping away at their goals trying to find that next gear.

My last two weeks of training have consisted of 400m repeats, 9 minute time trial, 4 x 5K repeats, 3 x 7 minute repeats, and a 10k time trial.

10 miler training? Half marathon training? Marathon?

Close.

On tap this weekend is the Catherine’s Fat Ass 50K – a no fee, no t-shirt, limited aid kind of race. What it does include is a lot of crazy trail runners and a rockin’ post race party in the parking lot. This year we’ll also be graced with a temperature over 100 degrees. Let’s hope this no frills race has plenty of water for the aid stations.

I’ve also put in the hours doing CrossFit, focusing on squats, cleans, deadlifts, and box jumps. Upper body strength has not been neglected either. This is my first race since dropping out after 16 miles of the Bull Run Run 50 Miler, so I’m just looking to get in some miles even if it means cutting it to 21 or 25 miles due to the heat. I prefer to be running back to the finish and not Death Marching it along the trails.

I’ll be taking a 25# kettlebell with me to throw in a few swings, front squats, cleans, snatches, and windmills as a warm up and cool down. My guess is this will be the only kettlebell at the race.

Here’s to spreading the word!

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The temps have been in the low 100s with the heat index making it feel 5-8 degrees warmer than that. Brutal! As we train for road/trail runs in the coming months, it was nice to get in the pool this week for a 2:1x 6 swim workout. However, it’s always interesting when you walk onto the pool deck with a couple kettlebells in tow for SDHP and snatches. Isn’t this how everyone relaxes poolside?

Today – Wednesday, June 30th – is the last day to enter the lottery for the VHTRC Women’s Half Marathon. If you’re new to trail running, this is a great event to get you out there kicking the rocks. The Virginia Happy Trails Running Club (VHTRC) usually hosts races 50K or longer, but including a shorter trail run limited to women is a great addition to the calendar.

The course is run on the “out” portion of the Bull Run Run 50 Miler; between Wolf Run Shoals and the infamous Do Loop.  There are a few rolling hills and a couple climbs, but a very runnable course.

If you don’t get in or are late to sign up, there’s usually a wait list. The chances of getting off the wait list are pretty good, too.

The VHTRC does host training runs to get you familiar with the course, but Capitol Endurance hits those trails from time to time as well. If you’re interested in the race, let us help you get to the finish line!

Sorry for the delay in posting. Things should be posted more regularly now.

Summer is officially here in Washington, DC. Temps are supposed to be in the 90s every day, humidity near 100%, and there’s a chance of thunderstorms every day. Does it get any better than this??
A couple runners participated in the Father’s Day 8K over the weekend and posted good times on a hot, flat course. Training is going well for everyone and we’re going to take it easy the next few weeks to get acclimated to the heat and humidity. Sure, others might suck it up and train through it to toughen up. But it’s going to be a looong summer, and we’re in it for the long haul.

Stay hydrated!

A few weekends ago, I attended the Crossfit Endurance certification at Rare Crossfit in Fredricksburg, VA. This was my second time participating and I learned so much more the second time around. The coaches were very grateful in answering my numerous questions about nutrition and  programming. We’re all students and can always learn something new from those around us.

Keep asking questions and keep training!

We hit up Capitol Hill for some repeats up the south side of the Capitol. It was a good night of baseline testing as we didn’t do too many nor did we go too far up the hill. That’s not to say that we didn’t go all out each repeat. We made sure to get plenty of rest between each repeat. Full recovery on the walk back down before the next one.

5 x 300m hill sprints.

Average was 1:30-1:32 on each rep.

We’ll definitely come back to The Hill and repeat this workout to see how we improve. Future changes will include shortening the rest period and then lengthening the distance we run.

Always a good time!

We used Monday as a recovery day after a weekend of racing, so it was a good chance to spend more time on the drills. We usually spend about 20 minutes of each workout doing drills, but we spent about 45 mintues working on pulling and falling before spending the last 15 minutes (and some extra time) getting in a good stretch.

Wednesday was more about pulling and cadence before ending with a nice 10 minute workout – 80m sprints every 30 seconds for 20 rounds (10 minutes). If the sketchy alley wasn’t so sketchy and didn’t put the 100m mark in the path of oncoming traffic, we would’ve upped it to 100m. Give us a few weeks to build up our shorter endurance and we’ll knock this one out again to every ones excitement.

Sunday’s location is still TBD. An email will be sent out to the usual suspects before then, so keep an eye on your inbox.