Hyrox Off Season of PBs

I had a very broad but intentional plan for my off season: get faster and stronger. When I initially put that goal out there, it seemed like a given—who doesn’t want to get faster and stronger? But with the goal set and the plan made, all that was left was the application.

While it’s debated whether an off season or periodization is needed in Hyrox at all, I was looking forward to a slight change in training to keep both mind and body fresh and focused. I love the ‘boring’ fundamentals work, so a block dedicated to strength and running endurance was perfect for me.

Why was the half marathon my north star for this training block?

With a Hyrox race being 50% running and covering over 8km, improving my running capability seemed like low-hanging fruit. The half marathon distance was intentional—it’s often said that your half marathon pace should be around 10-15 seconds per kilometer slower than your Hyrox running splits. So it was clear to me: get comfortable running at a faster pace for longer periods, and that skill would transfer easily.

There was no point getting faster without getting stronger

My goal was to get faster and stronger, not just faster, so I had to be very intentional with strength training. It would have been easy to overtrain both running and strength, resulting in little improvement or, worse, risking injury. I had to carefully structure my strength training to manage fatigue while progressing with my running.

I kept it simple: three full-body strength sessions with high intensity and low volume, rarely repping above 6-8 reps with a clear and basic progressive overload plan. This kept the stimulus high while maintaining a more manageable level of fatigue.

Managing fatigue and injury was the most important part of this training block, so I stuck to the basic rules of running and training. I rarely ran more than three times a week and only increased my running volume by 10% per week. I kept it simple and stuck to fundamentals—the term “Keep it simple, stupid” rings true.

Two races to test my work

A few weeks before my half marathon, I had a chance to test my 5km pace and running progress at the “Beat the Sunset 5km.” While I hadn’t trained specifically for a fast 5km, I knew my running had improved significantly over the past 10 weeks, so I felt a personal best was on the cards. My previous PB was 19:27, and at this event I ran a pretty comfortable 18:37. Job done—focus returned to my half marathon.

My goal for the half marathon was sub-1:30, and the whole prep felt on track, filling me with confidence. But there are always bumps in any training block. On my last training run in week 10, just three days before race day, I could only hold a pace 15 seconds per kilometer slower than my target race pace for 6km. This planted a seed of doubt, but I had to trust the process and the result of a long training block, hoping my body would show up on race day.

Dorney Lake Half Marathon

The day was here, and it was time to see if all the hard work had paid off. Of course, race day doesn’t come without its hiccups. After an hour-and-a-half drive, I parked in the wrong car park on the wrong side of the venue and had to walk around and jump a fence with only 15 minutes to register and warm up before the start. I managed to get through just in time, and after a classic swing-of-the-legs warm-up, it was time to go.

The gun went off, and I set off at around 4:10 per kilometer. My body just clicked—I settled in, and it was time to hit 21km. One hour and 27 minutes later, I’d crossed the finish line with a huge personal best, smashing my 1:30 target.

Off season complete.

Next up: Hyrox Rome

Back to work it is.