The Warrior Dash is an elite athletic event held at various regions throughout the United States. This 3.7 mile long race is held on some of the most difficult terrain in the United States and encompasses 13 intense challenges. Every year hundreds of athletes spend endless hours training to participate in events such as fire leaping and mud crawling. of course, they each have their own unique reason for participating.
Some participate for the free beer and comradeship. Others prefer the thrill of such events. Whatever their reasons may be, these athletes enter the race at the peak of their physical fitness and come out of it with the pride of knowing they’ve participated in something few would dare to participate in.
Josh Boxer, a friend of mine, is currently amongst the hundreds of men and women throughout the country training to participate in this year’s Warrior Dash race. The following is the story of Josh’s journey, told in his own words………
“Having grown up in the Hawaiian Islands on Maui, I have always had a very active lifestyle from a very young age. From BMX at age 7 to learning how to surf by age 9, I learned at a very early age that you can’t jump into the jungle without training your body.
In 1983 we had moved from upcountry Maui down to Maalaea Bay, which boasts some of the fastest waves in the world. We had private beach access and I could paddle from my back yard out to the Maalaea Pipeline in which broke 20 plus foot waves in about 2 feet of water.
Being that I had started surfing several years earlier, I had trained my body to be able to withstand a wipeout and sometimes be held underwater for 20-30 seconds while being tumbled out. Then I had to paddle back out beyond the break past monster waves coming for me. A normal surfing session usually lasted anywhere from 3-6 hours, so as you can imagine, fatigue can set in multiple times throughout the day. Over the course of time, your muscles develop in places you didn’t even know existed and every day you surf you are able to do it better, harder and longer.
Fast forward a bunch of years, I had moved from the Hawaiian Islands to upstate New York and found myself in the gym 5-6 days a week. I have been training for 22 years, however never really trained for a specific event. Just about a year ago, I became tired of the same old workouts and started working out with a trainer doingHigh Intensity Interval training or Metabolic Conditioning. This challenges not only your cardiovascular system, but your muscle groups as well. You will reach your max heart rate during these workouts and yes, you can get sick and you can pass out.
This was all new to me and forced me to change a lot of things to train successfully. I had to start running more often to handle the ½ hour of constant, intense work that is involved in a metabolic workout.
Just last week, the group of guys that I currently work out with were approached by our trainer to compete in “The Warrior Dash”.
Warrior Dash is the ultimate event for thrill-seeking athletes. This running series is held on some of the nation’s most demanding and unique terrain. Participants conquer extreme obstacles and celebrate their feat with music, beer, warrior helmets and muddy shorts. This is navy seal kind of stuff. 3.2-4 miles of some of the roughest terrain on the planet.
Being that this event is on May 22nd of this year, I knew that I had about 3 months and change to train for this event. I have never ran a marathon, triathlon or any other sport event other than wrestling and surfing.
The cool thing is, I have been training for the past 22 years and this is going to be the pinnacle of everything I have been working towards over the past couple of decades. I train 6 days a week.
Monday
I do 40 minutes of Cardio (10 minutes on stair climber/10 minutes on elliptical and Treadmill for 20 minutes.) Then It’s 45 minutes of a heart wrenching leg workout with abs.
Tuesday
1/2 hour of Cardio and ½ hour of high intensity interval training (Upper Body and abs)
Wednesday
45 minutes of Biceps, Triceps and Abs and then 45 minutes of RPM (Spinning)
Thursday
½ hour of Metabolic Conditioning. Very High Intensity 30 second breaks between work for ½ hour.
Friday
45 minutes of upper body and abs and then 45 minutes of RPM
Saturday
40 minutes of Cardio and then Biceps and Triceps Training.
Sunday is a day of rest.
Mind you that my day starts at 4:45am and workouts at 5 Monday thru Friday and On Saturday 7:30. No guts no glory.
My gym partners and I plan on finishing in the top 20 of the Warrior Dash out of thousands of people. To some we are crazy, to us, this is just life…
Josh Boxer
http://www.JoshBoxer.com
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July 21, 2010 at 10:23 PM
sounds like a monster of a run!! well done!!
July 22, 2010 at 10:05 AM
Incredible dedication! Hope all goes well.
April 15, 2011 at 1:49 PM
I’m signed up in Michigan in July. Good luck to you, I hope you make your goal of being in the top 20. Me? I just hope not to completely embarrass myself.