Warrior Dash is a short, down and dirty mud run obstacle course race that will get your heart pumping, push you out of your comfort zone and send mud into places you never knew mud could go. While it is by no means easy, Warrior Dash is more of a fun mud race than a hardcore athletic endurance challenge like Tough Mudder.The Warrior Dash course is fairly consistent between race locations. Typically it is 3 to 3.5 miles with 10 to 12 obstacles. Challenges along the course include climbing cargo nets, scrambling over walls, jumping over junkyard cars and fire pits, crawling through mud under barbed wire, walking strangely shaped boards and trudging through cold water while avoiding large, heavy logs.The key to this course is not necessarily building strength or stamina for the obstacles. Most of the Warrior Dash obstacles are more of a mental challenge than a physical one. The key to Warrior Dash is in preparing for the hills.The majority of race locations are chosen based on terrain. Event organizers look for a hilly, easily muddied course with a natural body of water like a creek or a pond.The Logan Ohio course for example is full of hills, some of them purposefully pre-treated with an extra layer of mud. Running 3.5 miles is fairly easy on a flat course, but try doing it with steep hills on grass, trail and muddy surfaces.In preparing for Warrior Dash, I would suggest focusing on developing a good cardiovascular base and place a secondary focus on incorporating some balance, plyometric and agility training.
Sample Warrior Dash Workout PlanThis sample training plan assumes that you already are up to a 3 mile run or 30 minutes of continuous cardiovascular exercise.DayWorkout TypeExercise1Pace-Tempo TrainingRun at least 3 to 3.5 miles at your race speed on a trail or on a treadmill set at random inclines no higher than 5 percent2High Intensity Interval TrainingPower through a 40-60 minute total body circuit workout concentrating on exercises that combine callisthenics and plyometrics peppered in between toning exercises3(off)---------------------------4Pace-Tempo TrainingRun at least 3 to 3.5 miles at your race speed on a trail or on a treadmill set at random inclines no higher than 5 percent
5Fartlek TrainingRun 3-3.5 miles at varying speeds and at varying inclines up to 15 percent6High Intensity Interval TrainingPower through a 40-60 minute total body circuit workout concentrating on exercises that combine callisthenics and plyometrics peppered in between toning exercises7Fartlek TrainingRun 3-3.5 miles at varying speeds and at varying inclines up to 15 percent
Warrior Dash Workout ResourcesDesigning cardio circuits is an art. If you're not familiar with how to build a circuit there are some really great resources that illustrate what to do. For help on how to design a total body circuit workout for Warrior Dash, check out the Jillian Michaels' Hot Bod in a Box workout cards or Martin Rooney's Ultimate Warrior Workouts.You could also easily replace the High Intensity Interval Training workouts in the training plan with something like P90X or INSANITY. If you're looking for an aerobics class, try substituting the HIIT training with a cardio kickboxing or high intensity boot camp class.If you don't know what to expect race day at Warrior Dash, check out this Infobarrel article on How to Prepare for a Mud Race. Do you have any Warrior Dash training secrets or any little words of wisdom for mud runs? Log-in or join for free to share your tips.