The Dark Side

In the CrossFit Universe, I am a Sith Witch. The Dark Side. I'm an endurance athlete. Love it. Absolutely love it.  In my universe, I'm a competitive age grouper who has qualified for our national championship race, twice.

And no, I'm not the stereotype that CrossFit loves to sell. Few endurance athletes fit that mold but that side of the story doesn't make good press.  And it's another post all together.

For a while, I drank the Kool-Aid. Took the blue pill. While I was able to make CrossFit programming work with endurance work in my younger days, it was always an awkward relationship. I had to be very choosy about which days I would attend, often taking a lot of time off during heavy build weeks or near big events. Not Ideal. Costly, for sure, Looking back, I was paying for a gym that only fit into my training 6 months out of the year. But it was fun and the strength gains were both useful and impressive.

What went wrong? Injury. Just as many had predicted.

Then there was the recovery issue. I aged up. My 40+ year old body does not recover as it did in my early 30s.  Since my CrossFit injury (kettlebells), it's been a downward spiral for all sports. CrossFit Solo may be the only way to save my long term athletic and health goals. And a visit to a PT but that's also coming.

So why even cling to CrossFit? Because unlike many, I see benefit to both styles of training. There is value in the combo of strength and interval training that makes Crossfit what it is. Efficient.  Effective. I will always love it.

But to be effective for someone like me, it has to be applied carefully. Heck, forget about me. Look at the athletes who qualify for The Games. They don't follow the HQ WODS.  They need more than standard programming designed for 100 people at your local box. Individual planning within a multisport framework doesn't fit into the culture. Can they help me scale it, yes?  But what if that workout is just totally wrong for me? Crickets.  And let's not even talk about scheduling.

So where does that leave me?  CrossFit Solo.  Time to find my own way.  I'll never be able to go back to 4-5 days of CrossFit a week but I still love the old school WODs and strength training. There isn't a lot of information about combining these sports, particularly in older athletes. This type of stuff falls way outside the expertise of the CF trainers I know right now.  They are experienced, awesome CrossFit coaches but my goals are bigger.  So I'm going it alone.