As you know I recently did the Janurary Tough Mudder in Phoenix (and a 1/2 marathon the next day with my crazy friend Kathy). While it's fresh in my head, I wanted to blog how I trained to get in some of the strongest shape of my life!
The idea was to train as functional as I could because most of the race you are running to an obstacle, completing it, then running again. I'll put down what I did and how I am tweaking that for my next one in September.
I set up a three month plan starting mid-October. Each month I trained a little different leading up to the race weekend.
Month One: I used this month to focus on running and strength. Using Chalene Extreme (I was in the middle so I was in the PUSH phase) for my heavy lifting, I lifted M-W-F. I liked her program a lot but really like it because her strength focuses a lot on single leg moves, core and legs. T, Th, and S I would run. One day was sprints, then a 4-6 mile tempo style run, and a long run each week.
Each short run I would end with some kind of bodyweight circuit that had jump roping in it for 20 min., or a routine 3-4x8 sets of Barbell Complexes with 6 exercises (Deadlift, Upright Row, Push Press, Squat, Bentover Row, Push Ups).
On my strength days I almost always did an additional circuit video or ab video from the series (I was testing stuff for my clients).
Workouts were about an hour long except for the long runs which are normally 6-10 miles.
Month Two: I finished the Chalene Extreme series this month. This month was the LEAN stage and it was quite the workout with more bodyweight moves and core work. Again, I did these M-W-F.
I changed my runs this month to be on M and W after the strength workout and I just did 2-3 mile smaller but faster runs.
T and Th I changed to doing a mix of either Insanity or Asylum from Shaun T. These videos focus more on plyometrics and Asylum, especially, has tons of sports drills. He also adds pull ups to the mix.
During my long run this month, I started adding in my own obstacles. For a few miles in the middle I would hop of the treadmill and do 1-2 minutes of a portion of Asylum's Game Time. I'd run and watch the video and when they did something that looked Tough Mudder good, I hopped off and did it with them, then back on running.
Month Three: I started P90X2 Foundation Phase. This backs off the strength and adds in a ton of functional movement. The foundation phase works core, push ups, pull ups, stability ball, and plyometrics. I went with the training as is written except I didn't take but one off day.
I also kept the long run with Game Time from Asylum. On the more recovery type days from X2 I put in my runs. M-W-F was the more functional strength videos (Full Body, Plyometrics, Balance and Power) with misc. stretching DVDs I have), T-Th was Core and Yoga/Mobility and Recovery with running, and S was always long run day with Asylum.
The next TM I will do more long runs with some Barbell Complexes. I will probably group 3 exercises and do those (1 body weight like a pull up or push up variation, 1 compound barbell move, 1 moving plank style exercise). Most of the obstacles have you crawling or climbing.
I will also have one day a week where I do some sprints but also mix in leaping type work. Maybe some long stride work and bounding. You need this! LOL.
This next race I will also train for just 8 weeks as long as my running base for a long run is 6-8 miles.
I hope that helps and feel free to ask questions if you are thinking of doing one these.
