Tough Mudder 2011: Wisconsin

The Tough Mudder Wisconsin is the next B.A. event I am training for. For those of you unaware of said event here is brief description:

H-E-Double Hockey Sticks

Mission Accepted.

I typically describe it as a adventure race. The Wisconsin event is a 10 mile course through Devils Head Ski Resort. Along the route are 20 obstacles to overcome. These road blocks consist of natural hills ( its is a ski resort ), muddy slick hills, low wire forcing you to crawl through the mud, greased monkey bars over freezing water, fire you have to run through, electrical fields you have to run though ( no joke ), and lastly a surprise obstacle they don't release until the day of. Oh yeah, our (Wis.) race in July - so its going to be hot! Muy caliente!

When contemplating to do this I was thinking of exactly how to train for it... the race itself requires strength, power, aerobic capacity, and lots and lots of fortitude of all kinds - testicular...mental...

So - I am doing it all in hopes of not burning out to soon

3 (4) week phases

Phase 1
3x wk -lift
3x wk - run
1x wk - rest

Mon, Wed, and Fri - Lift
Mondays are lower body, Wednesdays are upper body, and Fridays are full body. On Mondays and Wednesdays I am using a modified 5/3/1 template for front squat and incline bench. My core lift on Fridays are going to be of strongman nature and I started with Farmers Walks. For 3 weeks I kept the total distance the same but each week increased the weight per hand. I actually ended up walking 230 per hand for 20yds. Not bad for me seeing that I use to train with a buddy in La Crosse and I had to do timed holds with 200 a hand, I could barely walk with that then. Thanks Lance ;)

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I would run for 30min on the treadmill about approx. 5.0-5.5mph. I was getting anywhere from 2.5-3.0miles. The reason for running on a treadmill was weather related as well as postural. The last time I tried to start running I was running on the side of country roads that were banked. Not so good on the outside leg due to the uneven ground. So I developed my base on a flat controlled surface. For those of you that are still reading this your probably saying to yourself that's only 2x per week and you said 3x earlier. That's because on Saturdays I would run outside back at home. On Saturdays I am doing a distance run. For the 1st phase I have just been doing 3 miles. Now that I am in phase 2 I will bump of the mileage every other week. (4,5,6,7; phase 3 8,9,10,5; competition)

So far phase 1 has been successful. I have not burned out after 4 weeks. I still feel my strength has diminished to much and the most improved are my lungs. One definite draw back is that my body comp sucks even with improved nutritional habits (but not ideal). I need to be more consistent...ps I totally just ate 6pc of pizza a client brought it. Running is becoming a lot easier and it doesn't hurt AH much. Now that I am into phase 2 my times are increasing in my weekly runs, my distance on the weekends are increasing, plus on my lifting days I also have some extra HIIT and shorter steady state (10-20min).

I will take the time graph it out a little better in the upcoming posts but that is it for now. An updated graph and more info on phase 2 to follow. plus some video from phase 1.

Lift smart Lift strong