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Post by macdiver on Nov 7, 2023 22:10:58 GMT
Nice workouts.
Alright, now that you posted again I have to ask - What is Hyrox?
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gaz
New Member
Posts: 33
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Post by gaz on Nov 20, 2023 11:48:58 GMT
Nice workouts. Alright, now that you posted again I have to ask - What is Hyrox? Hyrox is a multi-disciplinary fitness race. It's similar to competitive Crossfit, with two key differences: - The movements in Hyrox are much simpler and are aimed at a general gym-goer/fitness enthusiast, i.e. you don't need to have learned any Olympic weightlifting barbell movements or difficult gymnastics
- Every single Hyrox race is the same in terms of the events, meaning you could go to a Hyrox race in the US and directly compare your time to mine in the UK
The format is 8 x 1km runs, with a station after each run (see below). We're doing the mixed doubles. In doubles, each duo has to complete all of the runs together, but can split the stations up however they like. In mixed doubles, all of the weighted stations use the men's weights. In practice, this means that I will likely have to take on most of the workload on the sled push (125kg + sled), sled pull (75kg + sled), and wall balls (only 6kg, but Mrs G is 5'2" and the target she has to aim at is 8' high).
The very fastest in the world complete this in under an hour (I think the men's pro world record is about 53 mins?). "Above average" YouTuber Mark Lewis completes the men's pro in about 1 hour 15. I don't really have a good handle on how long it will take us. We're both strong runners, but when I'm doing the classes in the gym, we can hold our own when running, but are usually amongst the slowest on everything else. I think if we go under 1 hour 40, we'd be very pleased. I think we mainly just want to complete and survive it!
Cautious excitement, I think? It's going to be hard. In isolation, none of the stations or running concerns me - it's the accumulation of fatigue that will cause us issues. The lunges and wall balls at the end are going to be pretty horrendous!
We're also a bit nervous about the logistics of things. In hindsight, I don't think we would have entered this particular race. Hyrox London is spread across two days, and the mixed doubles is on the Sunday. We have to get to the other side of London on a Sunday, and there are disruptions to the train services from our area (because maintenance work is typically done on Sundays). On top of this, we won't know our exact start time until Wednesday evening; we just know it will be between 4pm and 7.40pm. If we are starting at the end of this range, and it takes us 2 hours to complete, we're going to be in a bit of a foot-race to make it back from the competition venue to the train terminus to make the last train home! So we're keeping our fingers crossed that we'll be in the earlier part of the wave...
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Wed 8th Nov: 7.8km incl 4 x 800m / 200m, 43:43 total time Thu 9th Nov: Hyrox class in the gym Fri 10th Nov: tempo run, 8km total in 45:06, incl 3km @ 4:50 mins/km Sat 11th Nov: gym session Sun 12th Nov: easy, muddy off-road run with Mrs G, 10.8km in 1hr 15 4x runs, total distance 36km
Mon 13th Nov: zone 2 run, 7.5km in 55:44 Wed 15th Nov: hill repeats - 10 x 70 secs up, walk back down - total of 6.15km in 48:15 - exploded and discovered a proper hill worth of the name; also added in 3.3km extra easy running later in the evening going to and from the cricket club Thu 16th Nov: played 6-a-side football (soccer) Fri 17th Nov: tempo run, 10km total in 56:56, incl 4km @ 4:50 mins/km Sat 18th Nov: gym, including some very easy Hyrox station practice Sun 19th Nov: easy (easy pace, at least!) run with Mrs G, 13km in 1hr 28 4x runs, total distance 40km
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I have a couple of weeks with very little in the training plan now - just one easy run this week and a gym session to make sure I'm recovered and ready for Hyrox, and then similar the week after to recover from the race itself! On the 2nd December, we're doing an 11km trail race together, so there's another fairly easy week after that to continue the recovery.
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Post by seltzer on Nov 20, 2023 13:47:34 GMT
Thanks for all the details.
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Post by phillydude on Nov 21, 2023 1:51:14 GMT
Great that you found someone who shares your enthusiasm for fitness (and competition)!
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gaz
New Member
Posts: 33
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Post by gaz on Nov 28, 2023 13:33:38 GMT
Tue 21st Nov: zone 2 run, 5.8km in 43 mins Wed 22nd Nov: zone 2 run to & from gym (5km total) + gym session Sun 26th Nov: Hyrox London mixed doubles - 1:46
We completed Hyrox mixed doubles on Sunday in 1 hour 46 mins and change. It was a fun experience. Here's a short recap of how it went.
Run 1 + 1km ski erg: Due to the layout of the arena, the first run was slightly shorter than the others, probably 800-900m or so. I suspect the others were slightly longer than 1km to compensate. As might expect, this was our quickest run, clocking in at 5:14. We ran into the ski erg area and got to work. We'd agreed a strategy of doing two chunks of 250m each, with me going first. We got it done in just over 5 mins, ranked 903 of 906. We were also last out of the station from our wave, which meant we generally found most of the stations to be empty as we arrived. We ran out of the ski erg area, through the Roxzone and back onto the main track.
Run 2 + 50m sled push First full-length run and in good rhythm. For the most part, we found the runs to be fine, so I won't mention them again unless there was something to note. We ran a 6:15 and then ran into the sled push. Our fear beforehand was that Mrs G would struggle with the 152kg weight. The 50m is chunked into 4 lengths of 12.5m - up, down, up, down. I pushed the sled just over half-way down the first length, and handed over when my legs started to red-line. As we feared, Mrs G wasn't able to move the sled at all, so I took a deep breath and got to work again! I didn't find the weight to be too bad, but it was very hard to get my breath in the bent-over position. I completed all 4 lengths in roughly the same manner - going half-way, having a breather, pushing the rest of the way, having another breather, etc. We exited the sled push in 4:47, 905th out of 906! My Garmin showed a HR peak of 194bpm during this section.
Run 3 + 50m sled pull We had to walk out of the sled push because my legs were jelly, but started to run again once we hit the track. It took me a couple of hundred metres to get back into rhythm but I recovered fairly quickly. We didn't really have a strategy for the sled pull. Like the push, it was broken down into 4 lengths of 12.5m. The weight was 103kg including the sled. I pulled it for a full length - it was hard to get it moving as the rope was surprisingly bungee-like, and every time I thought I had tension, it turned out I needed to pull it a bit more taut. Mrs G took over for length 2, but also struggled when the rope was at full-length. We figured out that she could get the leverage once the sled was close enough to us (you have to stay inside a small box at the end of your lane while pulling). So I pulled it just over half-way, then she pulled it the rest of the way. We finished this one in 6:31, 886/906.
Run 4 + 80m burpee broad jump Continuing the trend from the last workout, and setting the pattern for the rest of the race, we walked out of the workout station to recover our breath and legs a little, and then started running again once we hit the main track. By this point we had started to stop at the water station on our way in or out of the Roxzone (the "no man's land" between the running track and the workout stations). The burpee broad jumps covers 80m and was broken down into 2 lengths of 40m, with a u-turn at the end. We applied our strategy of doing 5 reps each and then swapping. Not much to add here - this wasn't as hard as you would think it would be. Mrs G got us over the line with an unbroken 10 reps or so, finishing in 5:41 (867/906 - getting higher!).
Run 5 + 1km row Our strategy for this was the same as the ski erg - 2 lots of 250m each. In hindsight I think this cost us some time because the change-over on the rower takes a fair bit longer than the ski erg. I went first, we set a steady-ish pace and walked out in 6 mins flat (901/906).
Run 6 + 200m farmer's carry (24kg kettlebell in each hand) The farmer's carry was divided up into 6 lengths of approx 30m with a u-bend joining each length up. We chalked up, I picked up 2 KBs, and started jogging. I had to set the KBs down after 2.5 or 3.5 lengths (I forget how far) because I was struggling to get my breath. Mrs G took over, managed a length or so, then I picked up again and finished up in 2:06 (743/906 - our best placing for an individual station).
Run 7 + 100m sandbag lunges (20kg sandbag) By this run, Mrs G was developing a side stitch, so our pace started to drop a little. I was feeling pretty good, considering! The 100m of lunges was divided into 4 lengths of 25m, with a u-bend at each end. Like the burpees, and unlike the farmer's carry, the u-bends did not actually count as part of the workout. So, 25m of lunging, walk around the corner, 25m of lunging, etc. We divided this neatly into 2 lengths each, with me going first. I felt like we did this one pretty well, we weren't stopping to rest at any point, although our sandbag changeovers were a bit sloppy (you're not allowed to put the bag down at any point). We finished it in 6:01 (854/906)
Run 8 + 100 wall balls (6kg ball) I was ready to full-send the last run, but the side stitch was still bothering Mrs G so we had to keep at a steady rhythm. This ended up being our slowest run, at 7:08, but was our only run over 7 mins, and we were generally pretty consistent, with the middle 4 runs all being around 6:30 mark. For the wall balls, men aim at the 9' target, women at the 8'. Mrs G isn't very confident at these, especially with the 6kg ball, so we weren't sure how we'd manage this one. I was feeling relatively good and managed to rip off 25 unbroken reps to kick us off. Mrs G struggled to throw the ball high enough, and had quite a few "no reps" that missed the target completely. She did manage to piece together a few reps which hit the underside of the target, which the judge kindly let us have! So it was basically a case of me doing as many as I could, then Mrs G trying to add a a handful of reps on while I got my breath, then we swapped back again. I finished with a set of about 15 reps, and we finished the wall balls in just under 10 minutes (899/906).
We ran over the finish line in 1:46, 868 out of 906 in the mixed doubles, and 203 out of 217 in the 40-49 age group.
Our run total was 51:24, which ranked 717th overall, which does show just how much our workout times slowed us down (especially the first few). We also spent 8:43 in the Roxzone (824th). If we were to do it again, improving Mrs G's confidence and technique at the wall balls, and reducing our time spent at the water table / in the Roxzone in general (e.g. getting fit enough to be able to run immediately out of each station), would be relatively quick wins and could see us go under 1:40.
I think I'd like to do another one at some point: definitely with Mrs G again, but she may take some persuading! If not, I may consider a men's singles, or a men's doubles if I can find a mate who is up for it. But either way it probably won't be until the back-end of next year.
Overall it was a good fun time and I'm proud of our achievement. When we signed up earlier this year we genuinely thought we'd go over 2 hours and find ourselves struggling to complete the last few runs. As it was, we went comfortably under that mark, and did not spend a single moment walking on the running track (and we overtook quite a few walkers and slower runners, even on our later laps).
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I have another relatively low-key training week planned, to allow for some recovery - still feeling a bit sore from Sunday, and my Garmin "training readiness" score is only 20-something 48 hours later. On Saturday we're doing a hilly 11km trail race, so that will serve as my main and longest training run of the week. Should be back to more normal training intensity and frequency next week. After Saturday, the next event is a 10K in mid-January.
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Post by phillydude on Nov 28, 2023 13:43:56 GMT
Thanks for the recap! It sounds like you were both excited about your accomplishment, and the fact that you are considering it again says a lot about the experience. Congrats,
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Post by macdiver on Nov 30, 2023 22:46:01 GMT
One of the "influencers" I follow on IG participated in the Hyrox as part of a 2 person female team. She posted some videos of her team. Between your write up and her videos I have a good understanding that it is a really tough event. Just finishing is quite the accomplishment. Congratulations.
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Post by seltzer on Dec 1, 2023 16:32:12 GMT
Thanks for all the details on congrats on your accoomplishment!
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gaz
New Member
Posts: 33
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Post by gaz on Dec 4, 2023 10:09:57 GMT
Thanks all! Mon 27th Nov: 7.25km zone 2 run in 53 mins Thu 30th Nov: 5-a-side soccer Sat 2nd Dec: trail race (see below) I had a pretty low-key week to recover from Hyrox and get ready for the trail race on Saturday. My Garmin gave me a training readiness score of 14 on the day after Hyrox! My wife started feeling ill on Wednesday, and tested positive for Covid on Thursday. Somehow, I have (so far, at least) managed to dodge it. Originally we were going to run the trail race together and take it relatively easy. I ended up going on my own, so I decided to treat it like a race and run it as hard as I could. The race took place around a country estate about 40 minutes drive from where I live. England has a pretty moderate climate for the most part, and it's rarely too hot or too cold, but we had a run of days last week where it didn't go above freezing during the daytime. That was the case on Saturday as well, and I drove to the race village in atmospheric freezing fog with my car telling me it was -3C (26F). I arrived about an hour early, so I kept all my layers on while I did the normal pre-race admin of collecting my bib, using the portaloo, etc, then stripped down to my running gear and joined a huddle around a "fire in a barrel" that had been set-up to help keep stay warm. The race was offering 3 routes: "long" at 23km, "middle" at 11km, and "short" at 7km. I was doing the middle. The runners doing the long route started at 9.45, and everyone else 30 minutes later. I started out perhaps a bit too quickly, but the pace was quickly cut down by the first of 3 hills! The first climb was pretty steady for the most part and I was able to maintain good running pace for the first half, slowing to a jog as I got near the top, and then having to walk the final steep section. With the freezing fog not lifting, and the sun struggling to pierce through the cloud, the atmosphere was really beautiful, and the ground conditions were absolutely perfect after a few cold days, with barely any mud or places where you had to really slow down and be careful where you put your feet. I enjoyed a fast downhill, then started on the second climb. This one was pretty long but the gradient was a bit more varied. I found myself alternating power-walking with jogging depending on the steepness, before once again getting giddy with excitement at the fun of running fast downhill. The third and final climb was the steepest, but also the shortest. I power-walked all the way up it, then enjoyed the last few KM downhill back to the start. I finished in 1:02:44, 52nd out of 150-something men. My Garmin measured the course at 10.6km (6.6 miles), giving me an average pace of 5:55 mins/km (9:33 mins/mile). There was 288m (945 feet) of elevation gain. I had quite a few splits where I went under 5 mins/km (8 mins/mile), when it was flat or downhill. I'll do this race again next year; hopefully I can go under an hour then. All in all it was great fun - I really enjoyed going out and attacking this with no real idea of what a good time would be, or how I'd handle the elevation, or what the terrain would be like to run on, and instead just focused on mindful hard running and enjoying the beautiful surroundings. That's it for scheduled events for the year. I may do a Parkrun or two around the Christmas period, but I'm not sure yet - it will probably depend on the weather and how wet/boggy my local course is. My next event is a flat 10K road race in January where I am targeting a sub-50 minute time. I've then got a half marathon in March. I'm looking at trail race calendars to see if there is anything I can fit in around those, and I'm also considering doing a marathon in the late spring/early summer - we'll see!
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Post by seltzer on Dec 4, 2023 13:12:34 GMT
Thanks for the recap and I'm glad you had such a fine experience.
Also, kudos and a great pace, especially for a trail run.
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Post by phillydude on Dec 4, 2023 21:31:17 GMT
Great pic of you!
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gaz
New Member
Posts: 33
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Post by gaz on Dec 11, 2023 15:47:08 GMT
Mon 4th Dec: 6km zone2 run, 44:43 Wed 6th Dec: interval run, 5x600m, 9km total, 50 mins Thu 7th Dec: 6-a-side soccer, approx 5km running Fri 8th Dec: easy-pace 6km run in 37:06 Sat 9th Dec: gym Sun 10th Dec: 16km (10mi) long run in 1:33:13
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gaz
New Member
Posts: 33
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Post by gaz on Jan 9, 2024 10:11:05 GMT
Mon 11th Dec zone 2 run, 5.8km in 44:13 Wed 12th Dec Hill reps, total of 5.8km in 47:25 Thu 14th Dec 6-a-side football Fri 15th Dec 11km in 1:01:57, including 5K @ 10K pace in 24:13 Sun 17th Dec Long run - 18km in 1:47:32
Mon 18th Dec zone 2 run, 5km in 36:33 Wed 20th Dec 10.24km in 1:04:03 Thu 21st Dec 6-a-side football Fri 22nd Dec gym S&C Sat 23rd Dec Parkrun (5km), went for a PB but it was too muddy and windy, missed by 3 seconds - 24:36 Sun 24th Dec Long run - 16.8km in 1:38:53
Tue 26th Dec 6.45km in 42:11 Wed 27th Dec 6.52km in 45:28 Fri 29th Dec 10.7km hilly road/trail run in 1:17:55, 279m elevation; 7km hike Sun 31st Dec 5.85km road/trail run in 42:01, 128m elevation; 6km hike
Mon 1st Jan 7.17km in 50:45 Wed 3rd Jan 10km run, incl 3K @ 10K pace, 59:35 Fri 5th Jan Interval session (4 x 800m with 200m recovery), 8km total in 45:57 Sat 6th Jan gym S&C + 30 mins zone 2 bike erg Sun 7th Jan Long run - 16km in 1:43:46
Mon 8th Jan zone 2 run, 6.1km in 45:42
I had a nice festive period, with just over two full weeks off work. My wife and I got away to the Lake District for the long weekend over NY, where I was able to get in some running in a different place, and we did a few nice hikes.
I got a decent amount of running in while off work, but the majority of it was at easy paces (I had no training plan after the 17th Dec until this week). The first harder run on 3rd January really took the wind out of me! I felt a lot stronger in the next session on the 5th.
I've got my first goal race of the year coming up on Sunday. It's a road 10K and I'm aiming to go sub-50 for the first time. I think this is a realistic target, and if I'm having a strong day then I may be able to get close to the 48 minute mark.
On Christmas Day, I signed up for the Stockholm Marathon. This will be my first full marathon. It's on June 1st, so I've got a fair amount of time to train. Between now and then, I've also got the Bath Half on 17th March. I'm aiming for sub-1:50 for the half, and sub-4 for the full.
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Post by seltzer on Jan 9, 2024 12:53:32 GMT
Happy New Year. Looks like you have some solid running goals for the year ahead.
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gaz
New Member
Posts: 33
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Post by gaz on Jan 15, 2024 10:18:57 GMT
Happy New Year to you too, seltzer! -- Mon 8th Jan zone 2 run, 6.1km in 45:42 Wed 10th Jan track session, 30 mins of 200m fast/200m walk, plus warm-up and cool-down - 6.44km total Fri 12th Jan easy run, 5km including 3x100m strides Sun 14th Jan 10k race - 47:52 Yesterday we headed to Dorney Lake (the rowing venue from the 2012 London Olympics) for a 10K race. It was organised by a company called RunThrough, who run a series of fairly low-key, chip-timed races in large outdoor spaces across the UK. At Dorney Lake, they offer a 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, and some Duathlon options every month. As DL is only about 50 minutes drive for us, it seemed like a good option to go for for a race early in the year to help keep us honest in our training over the festive period. My 10K race/TT history is something like: 2007 - first ever race (chip-timed, measured course), 54:30-something 2015 - same 10K event 8 years on, 53:50ish 2022 - same 10K event again! 59:20ish 2023, August - 52:52 in a TT with a friend (GPS-measured) 2023, October - 54:xx - but the course measured 10.6km on my watch! I hit the 10K mark at around 51:30. The last effort was a frustrating day as I thought I was set to set a big "official" 10K PB in a chip-timed race, but the 10K was really just a shorter option compared to the main event on that day, which was the Henley Half Marathon. The 10K followed the second half of the HM, and there was no way for the course to be shortened by the requisite distance. I was mainly frustrated that they didn't advertise it as "approx 10K". The route also included a big hill that slowed me down quite a bit in the first half (although the second half was basically all downhill, so have to bear that in mind). All of that is to say that my fastest time in a chip-timed 10K race was still the 53:30ish I ran in 2015, and my Strava "best effort" was about 51:30 from October, and I was confident going in to yesterday that I could take a big chunk off that time. I run all my "tempo" sets at a notional 10K race pace of 4:50/km (48:20 pace), a pace I'd run at up to 5KM in training and found comfortable over the last couple of months. The course was absolutely perfect for going for a PB, and the weather was favourable too. The route consisted of two out-and-back, pancake-flat loops along perfectly groomed tarmac on the NE length of the rowing lake. It was cold but dry and the wind was mercifully very gentle - I imagine with stronger winds you would feel very exposed and could be in a headwind for a lot of the time. I set off and quickly settled in to the 4:50 pace that I'd practiced in training. I'd reasoned beforehand that while I might feel fine for 3-4KM at this pace, it would start to feel a bit more difficult from that point. So, my strategy was to divide the race up into chunks: the first 3km (the easy cruise); the rest of the first lap (get to half-way and re-assess); the 5-8km grind; then the dig-in-and-hold-on part. I spent most of the first half just trying to concentrate on staying relaxed and feeling the rhythm of running, and I reached half-way in about 24:20. The second lap began, and I started to reach that point where I could feel myself having to increase the effort to maintain the same pace. I kept saying aloud to myself "rhythm, rhythm" to help me focus on staying relaxed and rolling along. Before I knew it, I was at 7km and still averaging 4:50 pace. It's funny how the mind works - I spent 7km coaching myself into staying relaxed and worrying about how much further I had to run at this uncomfortable pace, but as soon as I hit the "3km to go" point, my focus switched to thinking about how *little* I had to go. I squeezed a bit harder and ran the 8th km in 4:45. I still felt pretty good, so squeezed a bit harder and ran 4:39 for the 9th. I picked up my cadence further in the last km, and while I didn't quite have a sprint finish, I think I was accelerating all the way through the final km, which I ran in 4:25. My final chip-time was 47:52, so a big, chunky PB! According to Strava, I also set PBs for: 1KM, 1 mile, 2 miles, and 5KM (the second half). My splits were: 4:50, 4:49, 4:51, 4:50, 4:49, 4:50, 4:52, 4:45, 4:39, 4:25. While I'm delighted with the final time, the thing I'm most pleased with is the way I managed the race and applied my strategy, and I think this shows in the consistency of my splits. I have never run a hard effort with such consistent pacing *and* a negative split like this. A great start to my running year! Mrs G also hit a big PB, which was a big surprise to her as she hasn't done a huge amount of training over the last six weeks or so. She clocked in at just over an hour, although her Garmin beeped for 10KM at 59:xx, so she's taking the latter
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