Similar, yes. It seems Crossfit, to some people borders on a "cult" like thinking, but I love it. Crossfit focuses on body weight and funcational exercises. It kinda goes hand in hand with the Paleo diet/mindset. Movements that you would do when hunting for food or trying to out run a saber tooth tiger! lol
If you are interested in checking it out, you can go to
www.crossfit.com to get the workout of the day (WOD) and then go to
www.crossfitbrandx.com to get the scaled workout. Generally, what you do is 5-10 minutes of warm-up activties (walking lunges, rowing, jump rope, lots of leg stretching stuff), then some midline work (thinks abs and back), practice a little strength/form, then the WOD, and a 5 minute cool down. Crossfit.com only provided the WOD, as the rest of it you do what gets YOU ready!
When I run, I kinda run with the same mindset as you. I run at a pace that I enjoy, and it just so happens to be fast enough to complete a half. Have you been to FleetFeet in The Woodlands? They have been awesome in finding shoes that make the distance so comfortable!
My boyfriend is doing MudMaxx in Humble on June 9th. It is an unofficial, charity (Shriner's) run, but fun. Unfortuantly, it is 3 days after my surgery, so I won't be able to run with him this year, or even go watch it! :-( If you're interested the website is
www.mudmaxx.com