April’s CFE Athlete Spotlight, Mandy Spigle!
“You Won’t Be Able to Run Again.”
Those were the words my doctor told me after a knee injury back in October 2012. She told me I might be lucky and be able to run with a knee brace at some point. Trust me, this is not the thing you want to hear as a 31-year old female who has just tried CrossFit via Groupon and fallen in love with it (CF, not Groupon, just to clarify). I am a married HR professional with two dogs and a cat…my life ahead of me…and I don’t like to be told I can’t do something.
I’ve always wanted to be a runner, but I’ve never really liked to run! So, you can imagine my surprise when I made the spur of the moment decision back in January to train for the Go Girl Half Marathon. I will admit to a slight panic attack when I realized I had told a CFE Coach, Jen C, that I was going to do it…because that meant I couldn’t back out! So I showed up for the first training day on January 19th and have been attending CFE ever since.
That first day, a 5k, I realized I was so nervous that I forgot my knee brace, my patella band, and my mind. Luckily, I had been WOD-ing regularly since February 2013, so I had been building up my leg and knee muscles without even purposely thinking about it. I sucked it up that day in January, knew I couldn’t look like an idiot in front of people I barely knew, and ran the 5k. Wonder of wonders, I had no knee pain! So here I am, just a couple of weeks out from my half marathon, and I’ve been successfully piling on the miles without pain (other than the agony of mile after mile!). My goal is to finish the half in under 3 hours – ideally around 2:30 – 2:45.
I usually CFE WOD on Monday and Thursday evenings, but sometimes have to do it on my own early due to a busy schedule. I also do the prescribed long runs each week (well, I missed one due to illness). I love the drills we do as partners. It is nice to work together on an individual sport. I really dislike doing push-up sprints. My favorite CFE workouts are the ones that vary. I know it sounds weird, but I kinda get bored with repeating the same meter run over and over…I would much rather do a 200, 400, 600, 800, 600, 400, 200 type workout.
Long term, I have no clue what my goals are. The farthest out I know is October, when I have signed up to do the Dogwood 15k. I plan to check out trail running to see how I like it. I do enjoy running a little more now than I used to…partly because I kinda actually KNOW how to run and partly because of the people. As with everything CrossFit, everyone is encouraging, celebrates with you, and sympathizes with the length of the long runs. I do know I plan to keep doing CFE and am going to try to do at least a 5k a month. From there, who knows! But I do know I will be able to do whatever I decide to try. My results may not be as great as everyone else, but I will be out there doing it!
Congratulations, Mandy! We’re very proud of your accomplishments, and your commitment to CFE! Best of luck on your BIG RACE!
–Coach Chad, KT, Leslie, and Jen C
Announcing the Dirty Bird Adventure Race!
Save the Date for 6/7/14! More Details to Come…
This Week’s WODs
Short Interval (Mon 5pm, Tues 10AM): 6 x 400 with 3:00 rest (hold 3-5 seconds)
C2: 6 x 500m Row with 3:00 rest (hold 3-5 seconds)
Long Interval (Thurs 10AM, Thurs 5PM): 5 x 1000 with 3:00 rest (hold 3-5 seconds)
C2: 5 x 1000m Row with 3:00 rest (hold 3-5 seconds)
Congratulations to CFS Coach Allison Muller and Adam Irvin for completing the 2014 Paris Marathon today! 50,000 runners! Having completed his 50 States marathon journey, Adam’s now moved on to the Seven Continents! AWESOME accomplishment, Adam and Allison!
Announcements:
1. CFE Napoleon Dynamite T-shirts are nearly complete! Stay tuned to the FB page for more details!
2. “Like” our Facebook page, CrossFit Running, for weekly WOD updates and announcements!
Proximal Endurance 