R*Dawg’s Hungover Total
BS: 110-120-125(f)
SP: 55-60(f)-57.5
DL: 140-150-160 PR!

You get a lot of tongue-in-cheek stuff like Colm’s “what’s his CFT” up there too, but that kind of thing is just a bit of fun.

All the genuine crossfitters I’ve met in real life have been extremely down-to-earth, nice people who I can’t picture sneering at the achievements of any hard-training, dedicated athlete.

Since I have started Crossfit, I can see and understand the menatl toughness and drive that is needed to push yourself through most of the metcons, but I also definitely think there is a fear element in running and there are a number of things that can tackle you mentally and physically….

Sure. A lot of people complete marathons just to say they have done one and may actually walk large portions of it, but to to many others it is the climax to many months of dedication and sacrifice to achieve their PB.

Have I trained enough to reach my target time?
Will I hit the wall?
Is all this running really worth it?
Why the hell am I doing this?

These are all questions that run through your mind, but, I would definitely say running the 2 marathons I have was worth every second of long runs in the Phoenix park by myself . The sense of achievement, The adrenalin produced by the occasion and definitely a menatl toughness that stays with you and has helped me personally get through other aspects of life… Like ‘Fight gone bad’ On my first day at CF…OUCH!

Im not saying running a marathon is any more of an achievment than doing Fran or Cindy in record time, but like Big Shane said the running industry is big, so a landmark event like a city marathon is always gonna get massive exposure comapared to the Crossfit Games for example.

I never said picking shit up was less useful than running but in people’s minds it seems to be that way. Reminds me of a conversation I had with a young lad (man I’m getting old) the other day. He stopped doing the legpress because he feels he has no need to be able to lift large amounts of weight with his legs. 99% of the time this will be true for a lad of his age. Same guy won’t deadlift because he feels he has no need to pick heavy things up. Still benches though, clearly he’s afraid of giant logs falling on him.

It showed me, apart from that he has a bench fetish, that the ability to pick heavy things up is not as ingrained as the ability to run or move. The same guy still uses the treadmill and rowing machine you see. I disagree with marathon running being the pinnacle of fitness but then again we all know my feelings on “fitness” so I’ll leave it out.

On mental toughness. I think how someone views mental toughness is a subjective matter, I played rugby for years and I was able for it so I don’t see it as tough. On the other hand I was never able for long-distance running so I’ve always thought of it as tough. Similarly I enjoy submission wrestling and MMA, both of which could be defined as tough, I don’t see it that way though. See what I mean?

For me a max rep deadlift does not take mental toughness to complete. Mental focus for sure, but when I’m running a 5k the only thing that keeps me from stopping is determination, and to do that for 3 hrs seems much harder than doing it for 20 min.

I think that this whole CF vs. endurance battle rages on because endurance athletes are consistently held up by the mainstream media as the ‘fittest’ people. After all CF’ers don’t attack golfers or baseball players.

To me, I have extreme admiration for anyone that reaches the top of their field, even if it is 10m air rifle shooting. Some I admire for their skill, some for their strength, some for their mental toughness or a variety of combinations. I have no idea if a marathon is harder than a painstorm but I do know that I can’t run one which means all of those people on Monday are better than me at at least one thing.