Warrior Dash

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Lisah8969
Lisah8969 Posts: 1,247 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Ok...so I signed up for a Warrior Dash in February. I'm not worried about the 5k part of it, but a little worried about the rest. I started doing upper body strength training twice a week (once with a trainer and then once on my own) about a month ago. Has anyone done this? Any suggestions? Helpful hints on anything related to it i.e. what to wear? THANKS!

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  • ganaz23
    ganaz23 Posts: 42 Member
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    I have done it twice now. I usually run about 10-15 miles a week and the course kills me just b/c of all the obstacles you have to do. You usually run maybe 1/2 mile before each obstacles. It is alot of upper body where you are pulling urself up over walls.
  • slowrunner44
    slowrunner44 Posts: 3
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    Just did one in Michigan. I used it as a fitness motivator at the conclusion of breast cancer treatment. It was a great choice! My suggestions: It really was more about the running. I would make sure to run 4-6 miles (without walking) once or twice a week just to replicate the difficulty and length of the event. The upper body stuff you are doing will be necessary, but don't focus on that at the expense of running. BTW - it was a blast! Challenging enough to give you a real sense of accomplishment when you finished. A lot of really nice people, a good sense of cooperation on the course. Have fun!!!
  • Lisah8969
    Lisah8969 Posts: 1,247 Member
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    I have done it twice now. I usually run about 10-15 miles a week and the course kills me just b/c of all the obstacles you have to do. You usually run maybe 1/2 mile before each obstacles. It is alot of upper body where you are pulling urself up over walls.

    I looked over the course I am doing and there are 13 obstacles. If they are evenly spaced, it should be about 1/4 mile between each. Do they have some obstacles back to back to allow for more running in between?
  • Lisah8969
    Lisah8969 Posts: 1,247 Member
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    Just did one in Michigan. I used it as a fitness motivator at the conclusion of breast cancer treatment. It was a great choice! My suggestions: It really was more about the running. I would make sure to run 4-6 miles (without walking) once or twice a week just to replicate the difficulty and length of the event. The upper body stuff you are doing will be necessary, but don't focus on that at the expense of running. BTW - it was a blast! Challenging enough to give you a real sense of accomplishment when you finished. A lot of really nice people, a good sense of cooperation on the course. Have fun!!!

    Congrats to you both on the race and the conclusion of treatment!! I'm definitely well on my way for the running portion (although there is no time limit, right? They don't throw you off the course for being too slow?) as I've done 4 Half Marathons already. I just know my arms are weak. Did you wear gloves for the race?
  • mulsas
    mulsas Posts: 26 Member
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    My wife and I did our first one this summer. We were in a fairly early wave, but even still ours had some water obstacles, plus we got a decent rain a few days before. The result was that the course was so muddy, that you couldn't even really run all of it, it was just too slick. I had not run in years, and worked up to doing 3 miles runs once or twice a week, and I was over-prepared for the run. I was generally in decent shape from cycling, and lifted maybe once or twice a week as well, so that had me pretty prepared for the obstacles. She hadn't run as much, but was still fine.

    If your course ends up like ours, on clothing I would say just no cotton. Spandex and similar that won't absorb too much water so they won't be heavy and hanging off of you. I never lost my shoes in the mud, but some people did duct tape their shoes on. Also, some also wore elbow and knee protection and gloves. I didn't have any of those, and was OK. Most of the crawling stuff was pretty muddy, so it didn't hurt too bad, and the caked on mud covered my hands for the rope obstacles. But any of those are more sensitive for you, you may want them.
  • ganaz23
    ganaz23 Posts: 42 Member
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    They do have some of the obstacles back to back.
  • WarriorReady
    WarriorReady Posts: 571 Member
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    Wear clothes you don't mind throwing away. Try for wick away materials and clothes that aren't too baggy. It was a blast! Some obstacles are back to back so your actual running can vary for distance. I think prepping the way you are is great - work upper body for sure but it is just important to keep consistant with your running. I had a hard time breathing because my adrenaline was pumping hardcore! :laugh: So focus on breathing!

    Best of luck!!! :drinker:
  • supergr33n
    supergr33n Posts: 69 Member
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    I just participated in my first one, 2 weeks ago! I loved it!

    I strength-trained and cardio-trained for 7 months via P90X, and other various videos available to me at home. It helped, a lot. I did NOT get any running training in (I walk on my lunch hour at work) and did fine. What I wasn't prepared for were all the steep hills @ the Oregon location during the running portion... but I still jogged up them, and did fine- with the exception of the last one, which was the steepest incline, and had me bent over catching my breath for a minute about 3/4 the way up (which was better than the young 'un who was vomiting at the top. lol). The only obstacle that had me slightly nervous was the knotted rope- it took me a minute to figure out how to climb up the dang thing.. get your legs involved on the wall, don't just climb up the rope. Also, I wore cotton work-out pants.. big mistake.. once wet they were heavy and clingy.. wear shorts! Like running shorts, or something similar.

    Good luck, and more important, have fun!!! :D
  • MorganLeighRN
    MorganLeighRN Posts: 411 Member
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    I've never done the Warrior Dash but I did Run For Your Lives with my mom and the Devil Dash with my brother. Looking at the course, Devil Dash is a lot like Warrior. You will be amazed at how many people will help you with the obstacles. The ones where you climb over the wall or down the wall with a rope: Make sure that you keep your legs straight out in front of you (think 90 degree angle with your hips). Practice the military crawl, A LOT! If you have a gym that has a rock wall around, practice there. Most of all HAVE FUN!!!!!

    Wear clothes that you don't mind getting dirty. When I did my races I wore dark clothes and old shoes. Surprisingly they cleaned up pretty well! Make sure that you bring clothes (make sure you remember undies and a bra and clean shoes) to change into. Also bring an old towel to dry off with after you shower.

    Good luck and have fun!!! This one is on my list for next year :)

    I also sent a friend request!
  • Lisah8969
    Lisah8969 Posts: 1,247 Member
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    Thanks all for the advice! I don't have to worry about hills at least since mine will be in FL and I don't see them going to the trouble to actually create hills. I saved my last pair of shoes when they wore out and I will be wearing those so I can throw them out afterward. Someone else had suggested board or surf shorts to wear as they wouldn't get really clingy and heavy when wet. I picked the first wave of the day hoping that (1) the obstacles would have less mud and water on them and be a little easier and (2) to get a better parking spot! I am very excited about this!
  • LoosingMyLast15
    LoosingMyLast15 Posts: 1,457 Member
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    Thanks all for the advice! I don't have to worry about hills at least since mine will be in FL and I don't see them going to the trouble to actually create hills.

    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

    they will and DO create hills. i can't get the pictures to post on here but the hills are the mud. lots and lots of mud

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