Hyrox Part 1

I did a Hyrox - Part 1

So the first thing I'll answer real quick is the basic logistics:

What the heck is "Hyrox"? It's an event that they host all over the world that combines 8 stations of physical movements with a 1k run in-between. Think of it like you're local 10k race but every 1000m you have to do a challenge. In order, the challenges are 1k ski, 50m sled push, 50m sled pull, 80m burpee broad jump, 1k row, 200m Farmers Carry, 100m sandbag lunge, 100 wall balls.

I did this as a doubles event with my buddy Mark. In doubles, you both run together and split up the movements however you'd like amongst the partners.

Normally Part 1 would be the start, instead I'll lead with the results and then tell you about the journey.

Overall Time: 1:06:28
That was good for 13th in our age group (35-39) and 103rd overall out of over 1400 teams. We did pretty dang good for a couple of dads out there doing our best.
We spent 38:55 running (Average 4:51 per 1k)
22:45 on the workouts
4:52 in the "Roxzone" (transition between running and workout)
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The Race Experience:

They did a GREAT job at setting up the event. As an engineer, I'm a big detailed logistics guy and they crushed it. It was very well ran and even for our first ever race, I never felt confused on what to do or where to go next. The volunteers were all very knowledgeable about what was actually going on. We were able to check in easily 90 minutes before the event and the warm up area was large enough and stocked enough with equipment to get the exact warm-up we needed.

Our warm-up was:
5-10 minutes VERY easy on a bike. Trying to calm down the adrenaline from all the people and music.
5-10 minutes mobility flow. I focused on my hips, shoulders, and core.
We messed around with the sleds a little bit since we'd never trained with their exact model.
HARD 800m on the assault runner. Got the sweat on and juices going.

The Race Itself:

Let's call it what it is, Mark is a better athlete than me. He's also a go-getter. I basically told him he's not allowed to lead on any of the first 3 runs or else I'd burn out at the end. We had him start and finish most of the working stations so our runs together would be more productive. We split most of the work 50/50, he just had a disadvantage on rest. Except burpees, a nemesis I'm completely fine not conquering... Mark did more of those.

We spent the last 4-6 weeks meeting twice a week with our friend Sadar doing Hyrox specific training and hired Coach Kenya to set-up a Small Group to benefit our specific goals. To say we were prepped for the movements is an understatement. The 8 stations were absolutely cake compared to what she put us through. We were training at heavier weights and longer durations than the race itself and there wasn't a single time in the workout portion of the event I felt overly challenged. Kenya turned this entire event into basically just running. I mean, it is 5 miles total. I specifically remember coming into station 6, the Farmer's Carry, knowing how fast we would be and lamenting that we would basically be running again almost immediately. The entire event for me was just a threshold run with some crap in the middle of them for recoveries.

My strategy of not dying early actually worked as our fastest 1k runs were 5, 6, and 7. While everyone else was slowing down, we were speeding up which left the fast lane open for some smooth runs on the back side. Although I swear we dropped the hammer on that last run and it felt like we were MOVING, the timing chip disagreed. Maybe it's because we put up the 35th fastest time on the lunges out of all 1400 teams. (Again, mostly Mark... and Kenya making us do significantly more weight in training made the lunges feel like bodyweight).

In my years of competing I've adopted a pretty decent mindset. My #1 goal is purely to be able to look back at an event and not feel like I could have given it any more effort and any point in time. Basically to not give up when it gets tough, could I be proud of my effort. I came away 100% knowing that our time was as good as I could have done that day, an accurate representation of my fitness. Once again, not too bad for a 35 and a 37 year old who are just trying to live a healthy lifestyle.

Part 2 - What does Hyrox mean for the fitness landscape, Will I do another one, and where does CrossFit fit in

Part 3 - My biggest takeaway from the weekend