Against the Norm

A completely different approach to marathon training

By Jessica Wylie

No long distance training.  No carb loading.  No previous marathon experience.

Can an athlete with so few “marathon musts” complete the 26.2 mile feat?

That was just the question Justin Scarsella, 25-year-old CrossFit affiliate owner, posed to himself in October 2009.  According to the CrossFit philosophy, using functional workouts and a zone diet will provide followers with the skills to undertake almost any physical test like the Mercedes Marathon on February 14th, 2010.

“I needed to prove to myself that what I practicing and teaching to clients would be sufficient preparation for such an extreme endeavor,” Scarsella said.

According to a Runner’s World article, “Gradually increasing weekly mileage is the cornerstone of all marathon-training programs. Most plans have you roughly doubling your mileage from 10 to 30 miles per week at the beginning to 30 to 70 miles at the high-mileage week.”

Instead, Scarsella continued his routine of combining 5 to 6 CrossFit workouts and 2 CrossFit Endurance workouts per week.  This averaged fewer than 5 miles per week and the majority of workouts were completed in fewer than 20 minutes.  In fact, the farthest distance he ran was 9 miles, 2 years ago, with a few 10Ks or about 6 miles being his longest since.

In a recent poll conducted to the readers of a major runner’s magazine, “60 percent reported chronic problems.” With minimal training and focus proper run technique, Scarsella was able to avoid any type of running injury.

According to Scarsella, “The majority of distance runners feel the need to do as much distance training as possible. They just run and run, not worrying about technique or strength. I am coming from the stand point of proper running technique first to avoid injury and then becoming as strong as possible so the technique will not break down over the miles.”

Scarsella weighs 160 pounds and deadlifts 410 pounds. He regularly practices Olympic lifts, gymnastic techniques and combines the movements to create an “aerobic-like” feeling with anaerobic work.

His training regimen was not the only thing unconventional.  In fact, the only thing similar between his diet and the runner’s diet was drinking plenty of water.  He took the “typical runner’s diet” and turned it upside down.  Scarsella’s diet consisted of high fat, high protein and low carb, including zero bread or pasta all the way up to the start of the race.  The typical runner’s diet usually consists of a lot of carbohydrates and low fat, according to runningplanet.com.

The hour before the Mercedes Marathon was set to start he warmed up with basic running technique drills and did some stretching. He started the race at an 8:30 mile pace. At the half way point he came in under the 2 hour mark.

Scarsella said he “probably started a little fast. The first half just felt so effortless. It was at mile 18 when the mild mental and physical pain started to set in. At mile 23, I experienced every negative emotion you can think of; anger, sadness, doubt. It seemed like at that point all the runners started to ban together and encourage each other.”

Justin Scarsella crossed the finish line to complete his first marathon at just less than 4 hours and 28 minutes. His atypical approach proved successful.  After the race, Scarsella said, “I give a ton of credit to anyone who completes a marathon. No matter how you train for the run, you need to have some definite internal drive to finish it.”

He went on to say, “I hope that with this run it will open some eyes that they can complete these feats with less training and less injury.”

Scarsella was back to lifting heavy and even set personal records on his deadlift and backsquat in just over a week after the race.

Although his different approach to marathon preparation was effective for Scarsella, he reminds athletes to determine what method of training is safest and fits best into their lifestyle.

“Training for any type of event, especially of this magnitude, should not be taken lightly. Even though I didn’t run much in my training, it doesn’t mean it was easy. You can’t just sit on a couch and expect to be ready to run 26 miles. You do that, you are coming back broken. Any type of training should be smart and designed by an expert in that field for the individual with their goals and abilities in mind. Otherwise you are asking for serious complications,” said Scarsella.

Scarsella hopes to show that everything you do, if it is running, business or raising a family, you search and constantly ask yourself, “Is this the best way?”

Sources

“Run Your Best 26.2 Miler”- http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244–11932-1-1X2-3,00.html

“The Ten Laws of Injury Prevention” – http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-241-285–13413-0,00.html?cm_mmc=Mag_URL-_-2010_March-_-Injuries-_-The_Laws_of_Perpetual_Motion

“Marathon Nutrition” – http://www.runningplanet.com/training/marathon-nutrition.html

5 egg omelet, bacon, fish oil, water, banana, cashew butter, salsa

Tuesday

Weighted 200m run
Weighted Lunges- 20 reps
Weighted Sit-ups- 20 reps

AMRAP 15

Thursday

10 x 2 front squat @ 65% 1 RM
with 30 second rest

400 m farmers walk

for time

50 Push-ups for time to finish

Saturday

“Fight Gone Right”

same time rules as FGB but with

Sledgehammer strikes
Dumbell Burpees
Jumping Backsquats
Ball Slams

Recommended WOD

Do this WOD on an off day from class

Tabata Run

8 rounds of 20 sec on/ 10 secs off

if possible do on a treadmill with 10%+ grade and a little faster than your 5k pace

Tuesday

The Dirty 30 or Fricken 40

If you performed the Dirty 30 in under 20 minutes on 11/9/09 then do the “Fricken 40″

Box Jumps
Jumping Pull-ups
Kettlebell swings
Lunges
Knees to Elbows
Push Press 45/30
Good Mornings
WallBall
Burpees
Double Unders

For time.

Thursday

“Fran”

21-15-9 of

95/65# Thrusters
Pull-ups

Scale as needed

Saturday

Sled warm-up

Press 3×5 (highest weight you can do 3 times in a row for 5 sets)
2 minutes rest

Recommended WOD (do on an off day from class)

Run 6 x 400 m
90 seconds of rest

Sledgehammer Burpee Tabata WOD from CrossFit Scars on Vimeo.

Tuesday

5 rds of

5 Front Squats 165/135#
10 Burpees

Thursday

Max push-ups and sprints for 5 minutes

Deadlift 5×5

Saturday

20 Pistols
40 Double Unders
15 Pistols
30 Double Unders
10 Pistols
20 Double Unders
5 Pistols
10 Double Unders

for time

If you can’t do the movements as is then scale them or just work on the technique.

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Please refer someone you know to come and try CrossFit Scars this week. Have them call or email me and join in  a free class with you.

Congrats to Wende and her daughter for bringing into this world a beautiful baby boy- “Thomas Preston”. Wende is the fittest grandma I know.

The other big news this weekend was the Mercedes Marathon. The big question was could a full 26.2 mile run be done on an average of less than 5 miles a week training done mainly on intervals, low carb, high fat and protein diet and crossfit training. The answer is – Hell Yes. Justin Scarsella did complete the full marathon in 4 hours and 27 mins. Look for the full story of his training and experience  to show up on the site soon.

Abel kicked ass at the marathon as well. He experienced intense cramping at mile 18 in his quads and hamstrings. He pushed through the pain to mile 20 and then had to make the difficult decision to call the race at that point in time. Congrats to Abel for running that far with only 5 miles a week training and wearing the 5 finger foot gloves the whole time. Kick ass job man!

Now for your weekly WODs:

Tuesday

“Broken Angie”

Individual rounds of
100 pull-ups
100 push-ups
100 sit-ups
100 squats

4 min rest between each movement.

Scale as needed

Thursday

20 KB swings
20 Sumo Deadlifts
20 KB swings
20 OHS
20 KB swings
20 Hanging Power Cleans
20 KB swings

20 Push Jerks

20 KB swings

for time.

Saturday

WOW WOD- work on your weakness wod

we will probably be doing a lot of pull-up practice.

Recommended Run WODs

1st half of week do

a light tempo run of about 90% for 2 miles

2nd half of week

10 x 100 m repeats with  5 times rest

Remember the running and endurance class will be on a hiatus for a little bit. Look for some cool changes coming soon.

spring break youth athletics camp from CrossFit Scars on Vimeo.

CrossFit Scars presents…

2010 Spring Break Youth Athletics Camp

March 15th- 18th 2010
9 am to 11:30 am

Cost: $150 (includes a Free T-Shirt)

Ages 7- 14

Activities of camp will include:

• obstacle course
• plyometrics
• light weight strength training
• proper running mechanics
• speed and agility drills
• social time with new friends
• nutrition talk
• fitness games

Please bring a snack each day to camp!

To register please fill out the following PDF  and return it on the first day of camp- youth registration and waiver for camp

To ensure room in the camp please email crossfitscars@gmail.com with your child’s name and shirt size by March 10th 2010.

The new box

Tuesday

3 rounds of:

10 knees to elbows
20 sitting presses
30 lunges

for time

Thursday

Overhead Squat 1×1x1×1x1×1

or work on the technique with PVC

Either way don’t settle for short depth on the squat.

Friday

1 min on, 1 min off, 1 min on, 50 secs off, 1 min on… and so on to 10 secs and then back up to 50 secs off.

No class for Friday- due to possible snow and/or its really fricken cold outside.

Saturday @ 7:30 am (not 8:30)

“Kelly”

5 rounds of

400m run
30 box jumps
30 wallballs

for time

Modify as needed.

Reminder that due to the kids mercedes marathon we will be moving the Saturday class to 7:30 am this week. Also on Saturday is the weigh-out from the challenge. Bring your stats sheet to compare your changes.

Tuesday:
5 rounds of:

95# thrusters
15 pull-ups
15 chair dips
400 meter run

Thursday:
7 rounds of:

7 power cleans
7 squat cleans
7 front squats

Friday:
5k trail run at Veteran’s Park

Saturday:
10 minutes max handstand holds (every 10 seconds is one point)
5 minutes max squats
2 minutes max pull-ups
1 minute max push-ups

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Nice job on the 8k Brenda Ladun Run on Saturday. (Abel, Wende, Steve. Justin)