Griff
A Hero WOD honoring USAF SSgt Travis Griffin, killed in Afghanistan in 2008. A purely running workout that alternates forward and backward 800m and 400m runs.
- Format
- For Time
- Level
- advanced
For Time
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Open in FizGriff is a for time workout by Fiz, built from 4 movements. It is set at advanced level.
About Griff
Griff is an eight-hundred-metre run, a four-hundred-metre run backwards, another eight hundred forwards and another four hundred backwards. It is a hero workout honouring United States Air Force Staff Sergeant Travis Griffin, killed in Afghanistan in 2008, and it is the only benchmark in common use built entirely out of running.
Running backwards is not running slowly
The retrograde four hundreds are the whole point and they are far harder than they read. Running backwards recruits the quads and calves much more heavily than forward running, offers almost no stride efficiency, and raises your heart rate at a pace that would be a jog going forwards. It is also disorienting: you cannot see where you are going, so athletes drift, slow down to check, and lose more time to hesitation than to fatigue.
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Pick your line before you turn around
Run the backwards segments somewhere you know is clear and flat, and glance over the same shoulder each time rather than alternating — a consistent look keeps you straight. Shorten your stride and stay on the balls of your feet; reaching back for a long stride is what causes both the calf soreness afterwards and the stumbles during. On the forward eight hundreds, resist the urge to make up time. This workout has no movement to hide behind, so a fast first eight hundred shows up immediately in a backwards four hundred that turns into a walk.
What's a good Griff time
Under eight minutes is a strong Griff and elite athletes go under seven. Eight to eleven is a good competitive time and most consistent athletes finish between eleven and fifteen. Expect your calves to be sore in a way that no forward-running session produces — that is normal, and it is a reason to do this workout when you have not got a hard running session scheduled for the next day.