Last night, Alex and I went for a run around Town Lake. It was an easy 4 miles, untimed. We wanted to hang out, and rather than get froyo or a drink, we decided to do it the healthy way (ok, so we didn’t actually talk and make this decision, it was more along the lines of: alex: wanna hang out? me: yeah, wanna go run? alex: awesome). Since I’m all gimped out still with the shoulder, I’ve gone running more often in the past weeks than I had probably in the past six months. It’s nice to get back to it.
While running, Alex and I were talking about running and its benefits beyond calorie-burn. The conversation centered around two types of running: one, the long, slower run that gets you out of the house, enjoying the sunshine, people-watching around the lake. An enjoyment run, for relaxation, for thought. The second running is sprinting, in a WOD from point A to point B, in suicides, in shuttle runs, in speedwork. This running is for training, for fitness, for speed. I think we need both, just like we need to balance strength and cardio, we need to balance enjoyment and training. Too often, CrossFit errs on the side of training and you lose sight of the enjoyment. CrossFit is really freakin’ fun. I’ve been saying this a lot recently, but I think we all need to let it be fun more often.