Adding 'metcons' to my workout plan

Elizabeth Templin McCamic

The last few weeks I've been feeling a little stalled in my progress. I expected to see some changes in my body during my half marathon training, and I did shed about five pounds. But since I'm not in training mode right now, I decided it was time to step it up again.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've tried to add "metcons" or metabolic conditioning to my workout schedule. Metabolic conditioning is a type of workout touted by CrossFit that combines cardio and strength building.

My husband and I have rolled our burpee challenge into metcon workouts a couple times a week, so a metcon workout for us might include sprints and burpees.

One of the first metcon workouts we did was three rounds that included three sets each of wall balls (throwing a weighted ball as you pop up from a squat), burpees and box jumps (literally jumping from a standing position to the top of a box that is about 18-20 inches high).

These workouts are really tiring and intense, even though they can last for as few as 15 minutes. When you're done (or even just halfway through), you feel worn out in a good way. During the second round of box jumps, my legs were so tired I missed the top of the box and did a very ungraceful fall across the box instead of neatly landing atop the box. Clearly, I'm still learning.

I'm interested to see how adding these workouts helps my progress. I'm hoping to get through this little plateau and keep chipping away toward better fitness.

And yes, we're still doing the 100-day burpee challenge. Yesterday was day 66. It's getting really tough. I have to break my burpees into afternoon and evening sets on days that I run because otherwise it's too much. I've missed a couple days here and there, but I'm trying to stick with it for these last few weeks. Can't wait till we hit day 100!