How to Improve Your Running for One of the Most Demanding Events in the World
No matter how you rationalize it, a Hyrox event is more than half running. It’s eight runs and eight stations. The time breakdown will always lean toward running. The top athletes who run under 60 minutes still have a run plus rox zone of over 30 minutes.
Plus, when you factor in that the stations will only be 1:30 – 4:00 mins (for most) per zone of one domain, the scales tip heavily in the running direction.
So, to complete your absolute best Hyrox, you need to be a better runner.
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This article will teach you how to improve your running while staying healthy, how much to run, what kind of running to do, and how to integrate your running into Hyrox-specific workouts.
**Disclaimer – Running is Risky**
RMR Coach and Hyrox Elite 15, Rich Ryan
In the running world, there is a principle that 80% of your running should be done at an easy pace, and 20% of your running should be for quality. This principle exists because running is very destructive to your muscular system. It is one of the easiest ways to get injured when exercising. Because of this, you must be cautious when building a running program. Athletes experience injuries through massive jumps in volume without appropriate recovery. If you run 20 miles per week but then make a 100% jump to 40 miles per week, the chances of getting injured will exponentially increase. For this reason, you must make slow and deliberate jumps in volume, give yourself enough time to recover between running bouts, and work as efficiently as possible when you are running.
Pacing and Zones for Hyrox Training
This article will refer to a few factors around how to pace.
I prefer rate of perceived exertion (RPE). RPE is perfect for Hyrox because your true pace and perceived pace will vary once you hit the stations. A 7-minute mile pace in training may feel like a 6-minute pace during a race. So, if you can be dialed into your RPE, you won’t need to worry about the inconsistency of pace.
The RPE scale was based on the “Borg Scale” which is 1-20. The training world has shortened that to a 1-10 scale. 1 Being a walk and 10 being a sprint. For most runs, RPE will start at “5”, which would be an easy aerobic effort. So, RPE “8” is something you could hold for about an hour of racing. “9” is closer to 5k/10k pace and “10” is 5k and under.
Heart rate zones are another good measurement for Hyrox.
I personally use heart rate in conjunction with the RPE and pace. However, many factors lead to faulty heart rate data, including weather, caffeine consumption, and differing hardware. Plus, these zones are based on your maximum heart rate, another metric that could be more challenging to find based on the previously mentioned issues. (220-age is not an effective way to find an athlete’s max HR – it is highly general and is meant to give nonactive people a general idea of where their max heart rate could be. For you, the athlete, that equation is basically worthless).
That said, most heart rate zones are on a 1-5 scale. Zone 1 would be a brisk walk or light shuffle of a run. This is where ultra-endurance athletes would live or if you were doing a leisurely bike ride. Better Running for Hyrox
Zone 2 is 60%-70% of your max HR and is considered your aerobic zone. Z2 is a pace that would allow you to have a full conversation.
Zone 3 is 70%-80% of your max and is around your aerobic threshold. It would feel like a comforatble but hard pace that you could race at for 45-60 minutes.
Zone 4 is 80%-90% of your max and would feel closer to your 5k/10k pace.
Zone 5 is 90%-100% and is not sustainable for over 90 seconds.
A more effective way to use HR is to base it on your Lactic Threshold HR. This is a topic for a completely different article – but it could be a useful tool if you want to go the HR route. Better Running for Hyrox
I would not recommend using HR alone as your key metric for training and performance.
Use the HR as another piece of data to compare your running pace and your RPE. Many demands in Hyrox will put different strain levels on your aerobic system. Your HR on the sled, rower, or ski will differ from your running HR based on positions and exertion levels. So, using RPE will be your absolute best bet.
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Ideal Running Volume For Hyrox Training
Volume is the best way to improve your running in general. Aerobic fitness responds very well to volume, whereas strength training responds well to intensity.
Easy miles and time on your feet will be the low-hanging fruit for you as a runner. This is unfortunate because it is the most boring and can often be challenging to keep your pace in check to ensure you get the appropriate volume.
Many run coaches will harp on keeping your pace low to increase volume. If you allow yourself to drift into the zone 3/4 territory for your running or an RPE of 7/8, you will fatigue much quicker. You can cover more ground if you stay in zone 2 for most of the run.
Again, because the volume is the most important measurement to guide your running progress, you must keep the pace in check while doing your easy run.
I know running slow feels less productive, but the more time you spend on your feet, the more efficient you will become in that position; the more efficient you become, the less energy you will need to spend running and the more energy you have, the faster you will eventually be able to go. But you need to jog before you can run.
It takes discipline to run slow miles. It is easy to go out and run hard every day. Running is counterintuitive to much of the training that we do for Hyrox. But if you do not allow yourself the time to build an efficient running base, then you will never reach your potential, and it will be because you are stubborn and impatient.
If you think you can’t run slow, you are unwilling to do the work needed to make it happen. Better Running for Hyrox
So, if I’ve already lost you in this article, you need to work on your mindset and ask yourself if you really want to get better at Hyrox or just want to feel like you are getting better at Hyrox.
When building your run volume, adding 10% of your weekly volume to each is a good rule of thumb. This is a very approachable and sustainable way to improve. These jumps should be short and attainable. But you will find yourself in a perfect spot over the long haul. This journey should be several weeks/months, so adding a small amount of volume each week will guarantee you are staying in a doable progression for volume.
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Running for Hyrox
Running Efficiency
Running efficiency is how much energy each step will cost. It is less definable than pace or HR but is essential to your running improvements. The more you run, the more muscularly efficient you will become in running positions, and you will tax your aerobic system less.
This is how running volume helps you improve your running speed.
RMR Coach and Hyrox World Record Holder, Meg Jacoby
It just costs less for you to run at any given speed if your musculature and aerobic system are dialed efficiently.
The caveat is that your running form will go a long way to make you more mechanically efficient. Running more will still make you more efficient in a less-than-advantageous position; running with good form is like perfect practice. Better Running for Hyrox
If you shoot 100 free throws in basketball by pushing the ball from your chest, you will definitely improve your shot from your chest. But if you practice with a balanced elbow and follow through from your strong hand, you will be more accurate, and your ceiling as a shoot will become higher.
So, working on your form is a big step to improving your ceiling as a runner. Again – form is a much bigger topic than this article can contain.
But, if you need 2-3 cues, here is what I suggest.
1) Aim to have your foot land as close to directly under your hips as possible. This can be accomplished through a quicker cadence and shorter forward step.
**Reminder – your stride length should not be increased or decreased through hip flexion (raising and extending your knee in front of you). It is directed by extension (pushing behind you). So, if you are concerned that a shorter stride will make you slower, you are correct – but if you are accomplishing the stride length by reaching in front of your body, you are doing more harm than good.**
2) Forward lean – leaning forward slightly from your hips (not your shoulders) will allow you to capitalize on gravity for forward momentum. Shortening your stride may feel like you don’t have anywhere to go if you can’t reach and pull yourself there – but leaning forward will allow you to move at a better speed without inefficiently taxing your musculature.
3) Fluid and forward arm swing. Everything with running should be forward. Too often, runners will reach their arms across their body. This can be fixed through a shorter stride as they are tied together – but a focus on keeping your hands, wrists, and shoulders relaxed while swinging everything forward.
So volume will help you become more efficient – but perfect practice makes perfect, and focusing on your running form will raise your ceiling to new heights.
Run Pacing For Hyrox Training
Now, there are a lot of places to go when it comes to running to help yourself improve. When preparing for a running-only race, you may need several factors or gears to help you improve your top end, running strength, efficiency, and capacity. Better Running for Hyrox
For hyrox, I like to keep things very simple.
Easy Running
Easy running should make up much of the volume work we discussed above. There is no clear-cut answer to how much easy running you should do. More is better, but you must listen to your body and fit in all the other work that will help you improve your Hyrox ability. I suggest at least two easy aerobic running efforts per week. These can be stand-alone or part of an easy aerobic effort that includes machines and station work. The pace should feel easy. You should be able to hold entire conversations or breathe from your nose. A solid metric to follow is your max aerobic function (MAF), 180 minus your age. MAF works very well for people new to running and needs a ceiling to shoot for so they don’t overdo things on their easy runs. More developed endurance athletes may be unable to hit their MAF on easy runs, so being more intuitive or pace-based will also work. Better Running for Hyrox
Aerobic Threshold Running
Your aerobic threshold is the point where you create an anaerobic response in your muscular system to sustain your energy. When your body produces lactate (pyruvate), it is a faster fuel source for your muscles, making it ideal for faster, higher-end running. The kicker is that the byproduct of this fuel creates an acidic environment in your blood, which will create fatigue in your muscles if it is not cleared effectively. When you train yourself to sit directly under your threshold, you will develop adaptions in your mechanical efficiency that will allow you to run faster without the byproduct of lactate (raise your ceiling). Your aerobic system will allow you to more efficiently clear lactate during exercise. Your “threshold” running can be a range of paces based on rep distance, rep intensity, total volume, and rest periods. This makes threshold training a versatile tool that every Hyrbid racing athlete has in their tool belt. It is increasingly scalable if you give yourself appropriate recovery.
There is a range in which you can sit to allow yourself to benefit from the training. In a lab, it has been shown that when you have 2-4 Millimoles of lactate in your global blood system, you can continue to work for roughly 45-60 minutes at that same effort.
But generally speaking, when you get beyond that level of blood lactate, the clearance rate will not be able to keep up. A spike in your levels will result in a wave of fatigue that will force you to run closer to your zone two so you can get the required amount of oxygen into your system. This feels like in the last 800 m of a 5k or during all our hard 400 or 800m or assault bike sprints.
The most effective way to understand if you are within this range is to test your blood DURING training. This is expensive and not practical. But because it is a range, you can use a pace, heart rate, and RPE. The RPE should be around an 8. It shouldn’t feel hard upfront, but the fatigue will build as you go.
You will know if you are in this zone if you can hit a consistent pace on your intervals with short rest. You don’t want to go as hard as you can on the intervals and have prolonged rest. Chances are you will be above your threshold, and the long rest will clear all the byproducts out of your system. Short rest is critical, and a general rule of thumb is that it should be 1/4 of the duration of your intervals. Better Running for Hyrox
Example workouts:
- 16-20 x 400 m 2/ 30 second rest
- 6-10 x 3:00 min w/ 45 seconds rest
- 3-5 x mile w/ 1 min rest
If you want to work on pace, plug your most recent race results into a pace predictor. (add daniels link). These calculators will give you an idea of your threshold pace. If you don’t have recent race results from the past 6-8 weeks, these numbers could be off, so use them with a grain of salt. A good approach to these intervals is to start at a slower and easier pace so you can cut down as you go. As you cut down, you will likely find a sweet spot where you will want to sit. You will know it when you find it.
Another great use of this style of interval is through tempo runs. These long intervals will keep you on the low end of your threshold pace. Because of the duration, keeping a very fast pace is difficult, so you will be reduced to running similar speeds to your Hyrox pace. These intervals will begin to feel very sport-specific and are great for building a base and peak intervals during your final weeks of training.
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Anaerobic Intervals
Anaerobic intervals sit on the other side of that line you want to hover under during your aerobic threshold running intervals, which should be between 1 and 5 minutes with up to 1:1 rest. These intervals will be hard and challenging to control respiration and heart rate. These intervals should be used sparingly in your progress. These could be more specific when it comes to Hyrox. Still, they are appealing to the Hyrox competitor because they are hard and they feel productive. But for the most part, in Hyrox, you want to be able to lean into the volume, and your volume will be capped during these intervals because you will reach physical exhaustion quickly. Use this interval style on the machine or once every 14-21 days during your peaking phase.
Workout examples
- 4-6 x 800m w/ 3 min recovery
- 3-5 x Mile w/ 3-5 min recovery Better Running for Hyrox
- 4 x 3 minutes on Row/Ski erg with 2:30 recovery
Compromised Running
Compromised running is how well you can run under duress. It’s running after doing station work. This is highly sport-specific for Hyorx and hybrid races and is the key indicator of how you will perform. The above running progression will raise your ceiling, and the compromised running workouts will raise your floor. It is easy to get sucked into a sport-specific phase of training throughout the entire year. I recommend against this to ensure you give yourself time to improve as a runner. Compromised running workouts will help you get faster for the race demands but will not help you become a fast all-out runner. Depending on the goal, there are many ways to go about compromised running. For the most part, taxing your breathing, blood flow, and muscular endurance before running.
RMR Coach and Chicago Major Champion Ryan Kent.
This is what makes the sled push the most effective compromise of running. The upper body bracing, the cadence of the leg drive, and the overall weight are hard to match. Heavy lunges, heavy thrusters, and the machines significantly affect your running ability. For the most part, you can be creative with these. During the off-season build and pre-comp phase, I would focus on weaknesses. During your peak phases, I would keep things specific to the demands and sequence of Hyrox. Better Running for Hyrox
How much to run for Hyrox
The easy answer here is to run as much as you can safely. However, it is a bit more nuanced regarding Hyrox because you must ensure you are keeping up with all the other aspects of the event. You must run as much as possible without sacrificing your station work too heavily.
There are exceptions, of course. If you come from a heavy strength background, you need to focus more on running because your strength is already beyond what you need for the event.
It is still important to slowly build when it comes to your weekly volume. Use the rule of thumb of 10% increases week over week with a de-load week every 4-8 weeks. This will help you build your volume safely – a big jump will put you at a high risk of injury. Ensure you are still doing your other Hyrox work to keep your finger on the pulse of your station work and strength. Try to work up to 30-40 miles per week, spread over five days of running. This is a great starting point if you want to be competitive in Hyrox. Better Running for Hyrox
Learn more about how to train for Hyrox in this article
How to Add Running to Your Hyrox Program.
Running works very well with progressive overload, much like strength training. So, having a systematic progression where you are increasing the volume, intensity, or frequency is crucial to improving your running to the best of your ability. No matter how you approach your running, make sure that it does progress week over week or training block over training block. This does not need to be indefinite when it comes to your volume. Still, the intensity, rest duration, or frequency should always vary to ensure you keep improving.
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