Why I’m Combining HYROX and Ultra Running — And Why It’s Exactly What I Needed

There’s something particularly humbling about knowing what it feels like to be fit… and then suddenly feeling very, very far away from it.

After a long off-season, I was in a proper funk.

Mentally. Physically. All of it.

I’d lost fitness, which I could deal with. Fitness comes back.

What bothered me more was that I’d lost my why.

Running had always given me something bigger to work towards. A ridiculous distance. An adventure. A finish line that scared me just enough to make me curious.

But after some time away from structured training, I couldn’t seem to find my way back into it.

I knew I wanted to run ultras again.

I knew I had a 110 km race on the horizon.

I knew, intellectually, that the sensible answer was simply to start.

And yet every time I thought about starting again, another thought appeared:

Jesus, I’m so unfit.

Then another:

I used to be able to do so much more than this.

And underneath all of it was something I don’t think we talk about enough:

I was embarrassed to start from scratch again.

The weird embarrassment of becoming a beginner at something you used to be good at

Starting something completely new is one thing.

Starting again at something where you remember your old numbers, distances, paces and capabilities is different.

Because every little run can accidentally become a comparison.

Not against somebody on Instagram.

Against you.

The version of you who ran further.

The version of you who was stronger.

The version of you who seemingly didn’t have to negotiate with herself for 45 minutes before putting her trainers on.

And that comparison was sucking the fun out of the comeback before I’d even really started it.

So I did something slightly sideways.

Instead of trying harder to force myself back into running, I messaged a friend who did HYROX.

“Can you please do a tester session with me?”

The following week, we did one.

And that was pretty much it.

I was hooked.

Enter HYROX: cruel, exhausting, glorious fun

If you’ve never tried HYROX-style training, I can describe my first impression in four words:

Powerful. Exhausting. Amazing. Cruel.

Okay, five:

Fun.

Proper, slightly unhinged fun.

There was something immediately addictive about moving between running and exercises, pushing, pulling, carrying, lunging, throwing things around and wondering whose terrible idea this had been.

It was hard.

But it was a completely different kind of hard.

And that mattered.

Because for the first time in a while, I wasn’t comparing myself with the athlete I had been six months ago.

I had no HYROX version of myself to compete against.

No old PB.

No previous race result.

No voice saying, You should be better at this.

I was allowed to be shit at it.

What a relief.

Sometimes you don’t need more motivation. You need something new.

I think this was the bit I had been missing.

I kept trying to find motivation for exactly the same thing I had done before.

More running.

More miles.

Another training block.

But motivation isn’t always something you can bully back into existence.

Sometimes novelty creates the spark.

HYROX gave me a playground where I could be a beginner again.

Instead of feeling embarrassed about how much fitness I had lost, I suddenly felt excited about what I could build.

That is a very different energy.

Four weeks later, I’m still hooked.

And interestingly, it hasn’t replaced my ultra running.

It has made me more excited about it.

So… HYROX and ultra running? Aren’t they basically opposites?

Pretty much.

Which is partly why I love the combination.

Ultra running is patience.

It is hours of relatively repetitive movement. It is pacing yourself when every impulsive part of your brain wants to go faster. It is eating when you don’t fancy eating, moving when you’re tired, and learning how to stay calm when there is still a frankly offensive number of kilometres left to go.

HYROX feels completely different.

It’s punchier.

Messier.

Louder.

There’s sled work, carries, lunges, rowing, SkiErg, wall balls and strength-endurance work that makes my trail-running legs wonder what exactly they did to deserve this treatment.

One asks me to keep going for hours.

The other asks me to work hard now.

And at this point in my training, I really like having both.

HYROX has become my strength training for ultra running

I’m not suddenly swapping trails for wall balls.

Ultra running is still the main event.

But instead of thinking of HYROX as another sport competing for space in my week, I’m currently using it as part of my strength training.

And for me, that makes a lot of sense.

Trail and ultra running isn’t just about being able to jog for a very long time.

You climb.

You descend.

You stabilise yourself over uneven ground.

You carry kit.

Your legs gradually turn to mashed potato and you ask them to continue functioning anyway.

So I like training my body in more than one way.

Carries.

Lunges.

Squats.

Pulling.

Pushing.

Running under fatigue.

General strength.

None of this means I think everyone preparing for an ultra suddenly needs to sign up for HYROX.

They don’t.

This isn’t a training prescription.

It’s simply something that, right now, is working incredibly well for me.

Running tired is also a very interesting teacher

One thing I particularly enjoy is the constant shift between running and strength work.

Running feels very different when your legs have already been doing something unpleasant.

Which is, conveniently, quite familiar territory if you enjoy running ultramarathons.

You learn to settle back into movement.

You learn that heavy legs can still move.

You learn not to catastrophise every uncomfortable sensation.

And you practise doing the thing again after your body has loudly suggested that perhaps sitting down would be nicer.

That mental skill feels very transferable to ultra running.

Because there will absolutely be moments 70 kilometres into a race when my legs don’t feel fresh.

Shockingly.

The biggest benefit so far has actually been psychological

This is probably the most important part.

HYROX got me moving again without making movement feel like a punishment for losing fitness.

It gave me curiosity back.

And once I started feeling stronger, sweating, laughing and doing something that made me think what the actual fuck several times per session, running began feeling exciting again too.

I stopped thinking:

Look how far I’ve fallen.

And started thinking:

Okay. Let’s see what we can build from here.

That tiny shift has changed everything.

Maybe the best way back isn’t backwards

I think when we return to something after a break, there’s a temptation to recreate the person we were before.

The old mileage.

The old routine.

The old body.

The old performance.

But I don’t actually want to rewind.

I’m not trying to recreate an old version of myself.

I’m curious about the next one.

Maybe that version lifts heavier things.

Maybe she pushes sleds around for absolutely no sensible reason.

Maybe she runs ultras and does HYROX.

Maybe becoming a beginner at something new is exactly what helps her become better at something old.

Right now, my training looks different.

And after feeling stuck for quite a while, different feels bloody brilliant.

A little note: This is my personal experience of combining HYROX-style training with ultra-running preparation, not a training recommendation or claim that this combination is right for everyone. Training needs, recovery and injury history are individual. I’m simply sharing what I’m experimenting with and how it’s making me feel.