For those unfamiliar, HYROX is a fitness race that has taken over by storm with people who like to train in any type of functional fitness. The race features 8K (or about five miles) of running distance, split into 1000m increments and separated by eight exercise stations. These stations all feature movements that many CrossFitters would regard as highly-accessible for people of all fitness levels, each with their own set of standards and varying difficulty for different athletes. The sport has attracted people from complete newbies in fitness to elite, world-class athletes who compete annually to set records on the race.

If you are wondering about specifics, the race is as follows:

1000m Run

1000m Ski

1000m Run

50m Sled Push

1000m Run

50m Sled Pull

1000m Run

80m Burpee Broad Jumps

1000m Run

1000m Row

1000m Run

200m Farmer’s Carry

1000m Run

100m Sandbag Lunges

1000m Run

100 Wall Balls

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The goal is to finish this sequence as quickly as possible. There are many different divisions aimed at athletes of all levels, and each division has its own standards regarding the weight used for each station. In the partner divisions we were to participate in, partners were set to run together for each 1000m run, but they split the work at each exercise station as they please. 

The challenge.

Back in December, Matt O’Keefe, CEO of HWPO Training, chuckled and told me and a few other team members that we should start training, because we were all doing a HYROX as pairs at the end of the month. After a brief moment of uncertainty, we could tell he was serious. Only about a month away, I immediately thought I should start training for this type of event, as it had been a while since I had explicitly trained for any sort of endurance race or distance running.

Well, life got in the way, and I did not train as I would have liked to.

For this HYROX, my partner was to be HWPO Training coach Jake Marconi, a very fit person, and had been training a little more frequently than I was. The plan was to participate in the PRO Doubles division, which would use the heaviest weights and include the highest level of competition in the partner divisions. Looking at the event for us, it would be all about the running if we wanted to do as well as we could. I planned to start running 3-4 times a week. 

But, even the greatest of plans can hit some roadblocks.

I jumped into a running program, and despite feeling good, after the first week, I injured my foot and had to move all of my runs to a stationary bike for a while instead. This was less-than-ideal. During and after this time, I traveled for some personal and HWPO Training events, and my diet and exercise regimen were inconsistent. Then, after some travel to Miami for TYR WZA, I came down with a sickness and had a fever for five days. Then, it was race day. In over a month, I had run no more than five times on a treadmill. I felt very underprepared.

The race.

Before I knew it, I was in a Corral in Las Vegas to warm up alongside Jake and the other PRO Doubles teams. While warming up, I still felt sick, coughing up phlegm constantly and spinning my head, but I was committed to doing my best. Just before taking the floor to start our first run, one of the HYROX facilitators led all the teams through a meditation and breathing exercise, and I was even more ready to SHOW UP with what I had to give.

Despite decades of competitive fitness experience between us, Jake and I started too fast, and I quickly felt myself redlining and coughing incessantly. The sleds were a huge challenge, and I felt my run affected after the first push. However, I had O’Keefe and other HWPO teammates cheering for us from the sidelines, and I found a way to keep pushing. Before I knew it, we were on the row, and then the farmer’s carry, through the sandbag lunges, and on our last run before the wall balls. 

Despite feeling bad the entire way, we managed to keep going, and Jake and I beat out all of the other teams we knew with our friends on them. 

Thankfully, even though before the race my training had not been optimal, I have a long base (15+ years!) of training CrossFit® and weightlifting under me, and I was able to pull on that and my willpower to get through the race and keep up (somewhat) with Jake. I felt underprepared, but even then, I was still prepared enough to go out and finish the race in a little over an hour with Jake, and happy that I could. I believe we could do better in a different situation. However, we didn’t have a different situation that weekend, and that considered, I still had so much fun doing a race that was different from any other event I had done.

After thoughts.

Anyone who regularly trains functional fitness and has some experience could complete a HYROX, even if they wouldn’t necessarily set records. Anyone open to the experience could derive some value from it and have fun, even if they don’t feel optimally prepared. I appreciated the atmosphere that HYROX provided and the fact that you could run alongside people from all different walks of life and fitness levels. Personally, I found that very motivating. 

If someone was on the fence about doing a HYROX, and even if they were skeptical of the event, I highly encourage them to try it after doing so myself. I love training, and I also love competing, and this was a great way to pull on both of those passions. Even weeks later, I am still fired up to try out another HYROX event in the future and with Jake again to try and improve our time. The event is well run, and if you are into SHOWING UP, WORKING HARD, and MAKING YOURSELF PROUD with physical activity, then HYROX is a great place to do so.