CrossFit Athletic Group

"If everyone pr'd on every race, the world record would be zero"

Matt Fecht uses that quote often when talking about how many different factors go into getting a pr in a race. For example, Matt qualified for the 2020 Olympic Trials after his race at Cal International in December. He was running with a broken bone in his hand, he didn't have good training leading up to the race, and he wasn't even mentally planning on hitting a top time. So then he ended up not only hitting a qualifying time, but also set his all-time pr by (I believe) 45 seconds.

Sometimes things just happen.

Yesterday's workout gave us a chance to examine what really goes into setting a pr. The workout we retested was done just about 2 weeks after it first came up. Is it physiologically possible to improve your overall strength and conditioning in two weeks? I don't know. Probably? Like a little bit I'm sure. But the pr's were coming by the 1 and 2-minute time range. Is Cecilia two minutes and thirty seconds better than she was on June 29? From a biological perspective, although I have virtually no background in that field, I would find that hard to believe. Why did she pr? I sure don't know.

I'll take it though, and I'm sure she will too!

Here are some factors that might go into a pr that are in your control:

1. What you ate the day before
2. What you ate the day of
3. How well you were hydrated the day before
4. How well you were hydrated the day of
5. Sleep two nights before
6. Sleep night before
7. Technique improvement
8. Mentality

Here are some factors that might go into a pr that you can't control:

1. Who is in the session with you
2. What the weather is like
3. The equipment that is available
4. The workout the day before
5. The workouts the week before
6. The coach's instructions and execution
7. Having a previous compare-to time*
8. Transition time
9. Mood of the session

*I could see this one going in either but since the workouts are not quite random but incredibly varied, it's really luck of the draw which one comes up that you've already done.

In no way are either of those exhaustive lists, but you can see there's plenty of things you can control, and plenty you can't. Last time the workout was done on probably the second-hottest day of the Summer (next to SpongeBob the following day). The previous workouts were GHD sit-ups, mile run, tons of thrusters, and more GHD sit-ups. This one was coming off a rest day, and had the toughest workout leading up to it being the hill. It was very muggy in the morning, and Shakes and V pr'd by a ton. It was pretty nice in the afternoon, and everyone still pr'd by a ton.

Kroll pr'd by 5 minutes at the 11 o'clock. I'm not sure what to make of that.

Erika Banet missed a pr by 40 seconds. Does that mean she got worse? Hard to know for sure, but I don't think so. In fact, I think she's at her top form I've seen from her since Summer 2015. Maybe she just had a mental lapse in the middle of the second round. Maybe she didn't sleep well, or eat well. 40 seconds in this long workout is close enough where you almost look at it as negligible. If anything, she maintained. Same with Jesse, who was 20 seconds off his time two weeks ago.

In training the way we do, chasing pr's is not the way to go. They will come with a combination of controlled and uncontrolled things. Just do your job that day as best as you can. Training is a process and despite the laid-back approach to the results we take, we still don't hand out participation trophies. Erika has been with us for over 5 years now! In the next 5 years, do you really think she's not going to come across a workout or two that she does not pr? It would be impossible not to. Especially when she gets into her 40s and 50s. Over the course of our lifetime training in CrossFit, you have to be able to see that and, more importantly, be okay with it. On days you have it, go for it! On days you don't, make it a challenge to see how close you can stay to your pr. When the time is right, and you've been doing your job consistently, it will happen.