The Truth about Cross Fit Endurance?

So, a few posts ago I wrote about switching to Cross Fit Endurance. And then a friend from the forums at Runners World gave me a few links to reading material and some insights. Take a look for yourself:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/p90x-and-crossfit/

http://greyskullarticles.blogspot.com/2009/10/recently-ive-received-lot-of-emails.html

http://cathletics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5888

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_investigative/the_truth_about_crossfit

And my favorite: http://joshsgarage.typepad.com/Crossfit_White_Papers_--_Timeline.html

Heat Acclimatization

It is obvious that athletes who train in a colder environment and race in heat will suffer negative side effects if precautions such as heat training, proper clothing, correct nutrition, and proper pacing are not taken. The fact that many athletes do their training in the mornings/evenings rather than in the middle of the day with the sun high above also makes heat issues more likely to occur on race day.

Heat acclimatization fully develops after 7 to 14 days after training in heat. Any method to induce an excessive rise in body temperature during exercise will suffice, either by training in the highest heat of the day and/or wearing layers of clothing.

Heat acclimatization can be fully retained for about a week after the training ends and can last in some degree for up to a month.

The changes that occur during acclimatization are heart rate, body temperature, metabolic rate, rate of muscle and blood lactate accumulation, and sweat salt all decrease during exercise. The sweating rate increases due to the increased secretory capacity the sweat glands develop during training.

My 50 mile race on October 29th of 2011 will likely not be a terribly hot race. Being during the fall and at a very northern area of the United States. However, there is no doubt that the physiological changes I mentioned in the previous paragraph are a huge advantage whether the race be in a warm or mild environment. Unfortunately it will be rather impossible for me to tell if the heat training I will be participating in during the next couple weeks actually make a difference, but I suppose it can't hurt.

Pre Production SKORA Shoes!

My new shoes from SKORA! These are the final pre-production models. Compared to the wear testing pair I used at my 100 miler, these have a softer midsole and EVA, and wider toe box, and MUCH stronger velcro. 

One complaint I had was the heel loop was so small I actually never used it to get the shoes on and I recommended they remove it or make it larger. I do not know if it was just because the first pair was an earlier test pair or if they now consciously made the loop slightly larger, but with this pair I can get my finger in the strap and actually use the loop to pull the heel on.

I removed the insole and that reduced the amount of material between my feet and the ground by a few mm. I kept them though. If I were to do an ultra on gravel again, I would probably put them in to offer a bit more protection from the rocks.

The silver also looks very cool, I'm really loving the available colors Skora has. The shoes just look really good. If you visit their Facebook page or website at www.SkoraRunning.com you can see a few other color variations. I really like the white!

Thanks again to Skora for providing me with these shoes. I get to keep these and I'm hoping for at least 1000 miles out of them, including 50 at the Surf the Murph 50 miler at the end of October.