Last weekend I finished my first sanctioned HYROX event and it was a total BLAST. Actually it was totally nasty but the experience was fantastic. I can't wait to get back for #2. Excellent experience overall and a type of fitness that I'm looking to improve. Be strong enough to move things but light & lean enough to be able to run fast intervals. Coming from the Ironman world, I found the training for this and the actual event to be much more in line with health and I actually felt good doing it. Sore, yes. Debilitated, no.

Lessons learned

#1 Compete how you train. I'm used to training with a relatively empty stomach and for this I decided to eat which was a dumb move. My race slot was at 11:30 am which is a weird time for me to workout. I was hungry so I had a big breakfast with Brit at 9:30 not really thinking too much about how my heart rate would be at 180 two hours later...  Live and learn.
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#2 Get there early (as they recommend). I cut it way too close (cherry blossoms were happening in DC so everyone and their brother was in town) so barely had a chance to hit the bathroom, let alone warm up. Not recommended. The warm up area is pretty epic and I would have loved to take advantage. Next time for sure.

#3 Sign up for something. It doesn't have to HYROX but having this on the calendar really helped keep me focused the last couple months and I'm ready to book the next one. I enjoy the fact that the event itself is only ~90 minutes and doesn't take up your whole day so you can experience the city you're traveling to. Plus the food you enjoy afterwards tastes way better.
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#4 Perhaps most important, the spectator experience is incredible. My crew was easily able to follow me around from station to station which was the motivation I certainly needed. Most of the time the stations are all in order so it was easy for them to see me run, do a station, and then see me run the next lap. It went by quick for them and I had something to look forward to on each lap (much different than a marathon or a triathlon).

**And here’s one anecdotal piece I noticed. The people all look really good. As vein as that might be (why do most of us really workout anyway..?), both the ladies and the fellas all looked very balanced of strength vs. conditioning. 

Overall 10/10 experience, 7/10 performance 🙂 and I'm going to do another one the next chance I get, after some focused training aka spending a little more time running and continuing to get stronger. That, and not going on vacation before the race - save that for after! 

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