remember that hyrox fitness race trend I wrote about it? Well, looks like I’m going for a run. I’m teaming up with our resident marathon runner Meredith Dietz to tackle Heroux NYC in the women’s doubles division. you can read here How she’s been training and what she sees as her strengths and weaknesses. As a lifter, let me explain my perspective.
I can honestly boil down the question of “how should I train” to one word: running. Everyone tells me that sprinting is the most important skill of highrocks racing, it’s the thing you’ll spend the most time on on race day, and it should be part of the majority of your training, especially if you’re someone like me who has a good strength base but lacks endurance.
What do I need to be prepared for?
As I’ve written, Hyrox is a structured fitness race. We would run eight kilometers (about five miles), one kilometer at a time. Meredith and I have to run together, but we can share the work when we get to the stations that fall between running segments: there’s a ski erg machine, a sled push, a sled pull, burpee broad jump, a rowing machine, a farmer’s carry, lunges, and wall ball.
My biggest frustration when researching race formats is that none of them really match the strength of the lifter. Getting stronger will definitely help, but it doesn’t have to be the case that max deadlifts are in the mix. i need to gain good strength Patience– 100 wall balls are essentially 100 very light squats.
my strength
I’ve been checking the rules of the race for things I could be good at and I’m coming up short. I know from Strongman competitions that I’m really good at pulling a sled while sitting, but in a Highrocks race the sled pulling is done standing, and I don’t feel particularly confident about it. Still, it’s possible that I’ll find some of the heavier stations a little easier than Meredith.
There are some little things that work in my favor. I can easily sit “down to the grass”, which means I won’t be one of those guys who gets no-reps on wall balls (your hips have to sit below your knees every time). I have a pretty good grip, so the farmer’s stuff doesn’t scare me. I have better upper body strength than the average woman, so I can use it anywhere, which is a little bonus.
Apart from physical powers, I also have mental powers. I like participating in competitions where I get a chance to improve my technique and strategy. I have beaten people stronger than me in strongman and odd-lift competitions simply by knowing the exercises better and making better decisions on race day. I also get a strange thrill from carefully studying things through which other people will find their way. how much will this be In fact Help me on race day? Maybe not at all, but it’s my only source of hope.
my weaknesses
As we’ve already discussed, my weakness is: running. Luckily, I’m not starting from scratch. I already have running shoes and know the principles of running training. But I didn’t run at all last winter, so I need to increase my mileage from almost zero and also build up my cardio fitness. If I’m not careful, it’s a recipe for disaster, so I need to make sure I don’t increase my mileage too quickly. We don’t have a lot of time to train, so it’s a bit of a balancing act.
What do you think so far?
How I’m training for Hyrox
I identified three priorities at the beginning of training, and now that I’m trying different workouts and learning more about the sport, I’m more committed to these. In order:
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Get into the habit of running.
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Increase my endurance so I can continue to work for the 90+ minutes it takes to race.
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Learn the activities and techniques I will need for the stations.
Note that there is nothing about strength in my preferences. I think that’s the least of my worries. That said, my training always involves strength work, so it’s in the rotation. As I mentioned this instagram videoI’ve been paying attention to my heart rate to pace myself in workouts. One or two workouts each week can be tough, like a HiRocks class or a tempo run. The rest of my work out consists of easy cardio like Zone 2. and 3 Let’s go.
To avoid overuse injuries, I’m making sure I don’t run. Very excess. Hiking and indoor cycling are both in the mix so I can continue to work on my endurance even when I feel I’ve achieved the amount of running mileage I can safely do in a given week.
bottom line
Meredith said it best: On paper, a runner and a weight lifter seem like they should combine to make a complete high-rolling athlete. In fact, the race format favors endurance athletes. I hope Meredith is running at an easy pace while I am struggling to keep up. When we get to the power stations, I might be able to pick up some slack, but honestly it will depend on how tired I am from the race.
A wild card is learning to work together as a team. Meredith and I live in different cities and we won’t be able to meet in person unless I get to New York for the races. If we want to practice a skill like handing out sandbags, we have to do so independently with gym buddies we meet at our home gym. On race day, everything must come together – or perhaps fall apart. I have a feeling this will be a learning experience for both of us, whatever the outcome.
