I took a solid 6 days off after the Chicago Marathon. I slept in all week, and did no exercise, other than walking my dog. It was glorious! I personally do not like to get back in to the swing of things too quickly. I take a full rest week, and then do various cross-training for the second week. Then, come week three, I’ll start getting back to running again.
Sunday I had the opportunity to catch a free Cross Fit Class, hosted by Lululemon and a CrossFit 813. Lululemon likes to host different fitness events one time per month, and this time happened to be a CrossFit workout – WOD in the Park. We set up in the park by the store, and the people from CrossFit 813 brought plenty of equipment for everyone to use.
First, we completed a quick warmup. Everyone jogged about 400 meters, and then we went through some quick arm swings to loosen up, then did some air squats and pushups to get our blood moving. We were set up with a partner of similar ability, and then split up into groups of 8-12 people. We went around to each station, and learned the exercise that we would be completing. Then, after everyone was taught how to do the exercises injury free, we started the workout. It was set up like this:
- Complete as fast as possible with good form
- Do the exercise for 3 solid minutes
- If one partner gets tired, the other partner takes over
- Count all reps
The directions were very simple. I was happy to have the 3 minutes broken up – it doesn’t seem like a long time, but it feels much different when you are in the moment! Here are all of the stations:
The only exercise that I modified was the situps. The flexion of situps messes with my lower back, so I do not practice any of those. Instead, I did planks for as long as possible for my portion of the abs. It worked just fine! in total, the workout ended up being close to 30 minutes – at least that is what I said when I could get a photo of it 
As my first workout back after the marathon, it was very nice to change it up a bit! I am not a huge fan of cardio machines, so I am thrilled that i didn’t even have to worry about heading to the gym today. I live super close to the location of the event, so I was more than happy to start off my Sunday with a good sweat! Looks like I wasn’t the only one…
Good to see you looked into Dr. McGill’s advice on anti-flexion core work!
Those kettlebells look intense! I’ve never done CrossFit before, but it’s on my fitness bucket list!
Grab a groupon in your area to try it! Even if you only go a few times, it is usually much better than paying the drop in rate
This looks like a fun workout. I love that CrossFit varies everyday so you’ll never get tired of doing the same thing. I would love to join CrossFit, but I’m a bit nervous about doing that and marathon training, as it does look pretty intense. Are you feeling if after doing new exercises?
I would shy away from it in marathon training. I was super sore after it, mainly because I haven’t done strength training for a while. If you are doing long, slow distance, you can prob add crossfit to it. But if you are integrating speed workouts, I wouldn’t put too much more on top of that. You would have a bigger chance of getting hurt.
I do the same, close to a week after a marathon and it’s so odd to actually enjoy the rest. Usually my body is itching to move, but post-marathon is all about recovery for me, too. Glad you could enjoy it! The WOD looks really fun… I’m only done Cross Fit once, but it was just a little intro at Fitbloggin, not the real deal.
You should definitely try a real WOD in a box. It’s much different, and a lot of fun!
Wow! Looks like a lot of fun! I wish I lived near a Lululemon store but somehow I don’t thing we will get one anytime soon here in Northern NH.
I am definitely intrigued by crossfit. What was your favorite exercise? Have you done Crossfit before?
I’ve done crossfit a couple of times, so I don’t have a great feel for it yet. I am way more comfortable doing legs, because my arm strength is definitely lacking!