Endurance celebrating being half way done with the Endurance Program!

For this week’s installment of Member Spotlight, we are highlighting a group of people who have put in some serious work this summer. The athletes in The Foundry’s Endurance Team have spent the last 8 weeks running intervals, working on technique, and having a lot of fun along the way! I asked them to share with us about on their time spent in the program and here are some of their insights:

The Foundry: Why did you decide to join the endurance program?

Ashley Baker: I have never been a good runner. Since running is definitely not a strength of mine, I looked at this program as an opportunity to improve my running skills. Also, at the start of this program, I was relatively new to the Foundry, so I was excited to get to know more people.

The Foundry: What has been your biggest accomplishment so far in the program?

Imran Rahman: Running 8 miles which is the farthest I have ever run and I was really happy with my results especially since I had no idea how my body would respond.

Mike McGraw: My running has become more efficient and I am paying more attention to how I run. I’ve seen my times on long runs drop. We did two 8-mile runs a month apart – the first was a straight 8 miles, the second was 8 miles with 10 burpees every 20 minutes. Even with burpees my time dropped 11 minutes from 1:25:32 to 1:14:25. Also, I had never done over 8 miles before this program, so I consider being able to comfortably do 12+ miles now a big accomplishment.

The Foundry: How has the program impacted your CrossFit workouts?

Nikki Gallagher: After running for over ninety minutes in the heat, sometimes with burpees or lunges added into the mix (thank you Rachel and Brad), a twenty minute WOD seems much more do-able. Also, by maintaining at least 3 WODS and 3 runs a week, I’ve been less sore after the workouts.

The Foundry: How would you convince someone not in the program to join in?

Andy Conrad: If you enjoy Crossfit but want to take your conditioning to another level, the endurance class is for you. The smaller group size is a unique way to build a community within the Foundry community. I think the group size also brings another level of accountability as well. If you skip an endurance class when we only have 5 or 7 people, it becomes much more noticeable than inside one of the Crossfit classes that may have as many as 15 people.

Heather MeGuire: I feel like a lot of people tell themselves “I can’t run” or “I am not a runner”, but people will be amazed to see what they can accomplish in this group. The members of the Endurance Team are also a lot of fun and very encouraging. It’s a great way to stay motivated and to not feel so intimidated.

Mike McGraw: Lap them. 🙂

The team has accomplished so much! For everyone who has participated at some point, on behalf of all the coaches, we are very impressed and proud of all of you! Here’s to 8 more weeks of endurance fun!