My training for Hyrox is now gaining pace now that it is only 10 weeks out.

It’s 3 months since I signed up for Hyrox. Back then it felt as if I had all the time in the world to prepare. It now feels as if time is running out. The biggest challenge apart from the suppression of ’whatever have I done’ is modifying my training to be event ready.

The last time I trained for an event was back in 2018 when I started training for the Great North Run. Unfortunately a few weeks out I sustained a hamstring injury so had to cancel my place. A couple of years earlier I had successfully trained for and completed a half marathon.

So I’m not completely new to focusing on an event. But this feels very different. I need to do more than put one foot in front of another. Hyrox requires running, pushing, pulling, jumping, carrying and, of course, the dreaded burpees.

I’m also that bit older. Not that I ever want to use that as an excuse. But age has brought health challenges. My heart is ‘not completely normal’. But I’m a long way of having restrictions applied by my cardiologist. And my training, hopefully, will maintain and possibly improve this situation. I’m already seeing improvements in my VO2 Max and heart rate recovery time.

I’ve ‘distal interphalangeal predominant psoriatic arthritis’ (a bit of a mouthful) for nearly thirty years. This is well managed but deterioration is inevitable. The grip in my left hand has declined. And I can only hope that no long term damage was done by my overactive thyroid last year and the ongoing need to have my metabolism controlled by medication.

I’m sure many would just throw in the towel or be advising me to do so. But that’s not going to happen. I’m up for the challenge.

Getting the intensity and volume of training right has taken some trial and error. I’ve moved from not doing enough to doing too much. Hopefully I’ve now got it right. Rest and recovery becomes even more important as we get older.

Last week I recorded a podcast for a personal trainer who is recording a series of podcasts on women and exercise at different stages of their life. She was finding it difficult to find a women in her 60s until she mentioned it to a friend of hers who is also a friend of mine. ‘I know just the woman’ my friend replied.

It was great fun. I was able to talk about how I got into exercise later on in life. I use to bunk off PE at school. How I wasted a decade going to the gym but not really knowing what I was doing. And how everything changed when I got a PT and joined a gym that encouraged you to go push past your comfort zone. That’s where strength and stamina resides.

But back to my Hyrox training. I’m still slow. But not as slow as I was. I’ve been practicing doing step through burpees. These seem more energy efficient.

And I’ve increased the amount interval training I was doing. Putting it all together my week looks like this:

So my Hyrox preparation is progressing in the right direction. I’m sure there will be a few bumps in the road but I’m up for the challenge.