Elspeth and Kev Compete at HYROX Dallas

Our President Elspeth and former 67th St Location Leader Kev are set to compete in the Mixed Doubles division at HYROX Dallas on 11/23. For those not familiar with HYROX, it is a fitness race that combines both running and functional workout stations. Participants run 1km, followed by one functional workout station, and repeat this pattern eight times. Each race is hosted indoors where family, friends, and spectators can cheer you on and watch during race day. We spoke to Elspeth about how they decided to compete, how Fhitting Room prepared them to take on a fitness competition, and what their race day training looked like. Go El + Kev!

Why did you decide to participate in HYROX?  
A local gym started to do some weekend HYROX training sessions and we decided to check them out.* The endurance + functional training focus was our speed and after attending a few workouts and talking to people who had competed before, we decided, why not? Plus, the opportunity to compete together introduced an additional layer of strategy, which sounded like a fun challenge.

Is there any connection between Fhitting Room and HYROX?
One of the things that really drew me to HYROX was a focus by the organization to make race day accessible and supportive. You can compete as young as 16, there are no ability requirements, there is no time limit, and continuous heats make it impossible to discern how quickly or slowly participants are finishing. It’s really about besting yourself and Fhitting Room is very similar. At Fhitting Room, we strive to be a place for all bodies and we want to meet you where you are. Maybe your goal for being in class is to improve your overall health, strength or cardiovascular endurance. Maybe your goal is aesthetic. Maybe you enjoy the energy of group fitness and its 50 minutes of protected magic where you get to focus on you. We don’t judge – we’re just glad you’re here. 

How did Fhitting Room classes help you prepare for a competition like HYROX?  
Fhitting Room’s focus on good form and technique have made preparing for a race like this much easier. Once you are comfortable with proper movement execution, adding weight and/or reps becomes easier and more fun. Additionally, the knowledge we have gained over the years became incredibly valuable. For example, we don’t have access to a sled or SkiErg most days but we know how to target the muscle groups that are being recruited during a sled push or when using the SkiErg machine. While having access to the equipment is always great, there is no sense in letting that be a limitation to your training.  

How did you train for the competition?  
The gym where we started training closed several months ago so we took our training into our own hands. We programmed for ourselves and also borrowed workouts from HYROX. They have some really helpful Instagram content and they provide countless free workouts as well. We also completed the race in its entirety a few times over the course of the last several months so that we could test out handoffs and how best to strategize for our weakest events.

What part of the competition are you the most excited for? 
Kev would say, the brewery down the street after we cross the finish line. In seriousness, he crushes the sled push/pull, farmer’s carry and the rower. I’m actually pretty excited to tackle the events that I know will be the toughest for me – namely the sled push/pull which both happen pretty close to the beginning. I have some healthy anxiety about the prescribed weights, but I know I will feel so incredible once we can cross them off the list. No one is looking forward to the running.  

What division will you be competing in?  
We are competing in Mixed Doubles. At a minimum, we both have to run and we have to run together. For the other events, we are allowed to break up the work based on preference. For years I have joked with El Capitán that ‘strength is not my strength’ and evidently the joke is on me because the required weights for Mixed Doubles are also the men’s weights. Using those weights has been a real challenge for me. That said, there is so much strategy to figuring out how to maximize our strengths and make up for our weaknesses and that has been a very fun part of this process – I could talk HYROX strategy all day.  

Do you have a morning-of routine for race day? 
We’re both extremely routine-oriented when it comes to fitness. Kev will be dry-scooping pre-workout. I’ll be on the coffee & banana train. Our heat doesn’t start until 2PM so we’ll have some time to kill. For The Office fans out there, Kev keeps joking about the Fun Run episode and consuming pounds of Fettuccine Alfredo. We will not be emulating Michael Scott’s race prep.  

Will Kai be cheering you on?
Yes! We are so lucky to have grandparents who are willing to travel with us and the 3 of them will be in the spectator section. Kai (2yrs old) knows we have been preparing for this and he knows it’s a “competition”. Whether he can compute preparation + execution or not, I am excited for him to witness the event, our teamwork and all of the other athletes that have worked hard toward this goal. 

*Elspeth and Kev now live in Texas but Fhitting Room remains their LIVE! workout platform and NYC workout home whenever they are in town.