Issue #20: Fueling for HYROX Race Day

✍️ Author’s Note

Welcome back to The Threshold Lab! I’m Stephen Pelkofer, an aspiring HYROX Elite 15 athlete and research/data nerd. We have a lot of new subscribers this week. This post is a bit more personalized then usual since I just raced in HYROX Boston – Typically I choose a training topic, dig into the research, and translate it into practical strategies. I’ll get back to regularly scheduled programming next week but today I’m going to tell you everything I ate leading up to running a 59:09 HYROX pro time. You can find a brief race recap from me here: instagram.com/stephen.pelkofer.

👨‍💻 Introduction

Topic: Fueling for HYROX

On Sunday night in Boston, I raced HYROX Men’s Pro in 59:09, a 32-second PR and a great start to the 2025/26 season. My travel situation wasn’t ideal (wedding in Milwaukee Saturday, 9 a.m. flight from Chicago to Boston Sunday), but I knew one thing I could fully control: how I fueled.

Race-day nutrition is one of the biggest levers you have on performance. High-carb fueling strategies have been shown to improve endurance, time-to-exhaustion, and recovery, and HYROX is no different. So for this race, my priority was simple: keep glycogen topped off and energy levels steady, despite the hectic travel schedule.

I’m going to break down hour-by-hour what I ate (spoiler: a lot of carbs and sugar). There’s a reason for that → fast-digesting carbs are the most efficient way to refill glycogen and keep your body primed for a hard effort. My wife likes to joke that shopping with me at Costco feels like shopping for a child, but I promise, those “kid snacks” are elite race fuel.

🍩 The Food Log

6am (wake up in Milwaukee)

• 2 english muffins with peanut butter spread (1 serving total)

• 1 serving of grapes

• 1 packet of electrolytes with water

8am (driving from Milwaukee → Chicago)

• 1 Strawberry Bobo

• 1 Chocolate Chip Zbar

10:30am (on flight from Chicago → Boston)

• Airplane snack → Chocolate Quinoa Crisp

• 1 packet of electrolytes with water

At this point, here is what my totals look like:

• Calories: 1,000

• Carbs 134g

• Protein: 28g

• Fat: 38g

12:00pm to 1:00pm (still on the flight)

• 1 more Strawberry Bobo

• 2 more Zbars (yes that’s 3 now)

• 1 Rice Krispies Treat

At this point I’m landing in Boston with ~1,600 calories and 224g loaded up.

3:00pm

• Half pouch of a ready rice packet (jasmine)

• Ideally I add some honey to this, but didn’t have any handy

4:30-5:00pm

• 2 plain bagels

• 1-2 servings of strawberry jelly

That’s it for solid food for the race → now I switch to liquids and gels until post race.

6:00-7:10pm

• 2 scoops of 1st Phorm Ultra-Formance mixed with water - about 45g of carbs (I prefer the lemon lime)

• 1 energy gel about 10 minutes before race time

Pre race, this puts me here for the day:

• Calories: 2,500

• Carbs 440g

• Protein: 55g

• Fat: 54g

7:30pm (20 min into the race)

• Try my best too get down a gel during the race

• Probably only got down half of it after sled push

8:20pm (within 10 minutes of finishing)

• 2 scoops of 1st Phorm Phormula-1 Clear and 1 scoop of 1st Phorm Ignition mixed together

• 1 protein bar

• This is so crucial for post race recovery – you’re going to be sore no matter what after a HYROX, but help yourself out by getting tons of carbs and protein within 0-30min after you finish.

9pm and later

• Jimmy John’s beach club sub

• Another Zbar for fun

Totals for race day (all estimates):

• Calories: 4,000

• Carbs: 600g

• Protein: 175g

• Fat: 107g

🧪 Lab Notes

In every issue of this newsletter, the “Lab Notes” are going to be the protocols that you can apply to your training and routine right away. The goal of this section is to translate the science into actionable steps for the reader, whether you’re a recreational runner/HYROX competitor, or someone pushing the limits of their peak potential.

• You should always practice fueling in training

  • Don’t try something totally different on race day (like a new gel or carb mix)

  • In 2-3 of your hard sessions leading up to race day, try to eat exactly how you plan to eat on race day (or at least the few hours leading up to it)

• Prepare for schedule changes on race day

  • Having quick carbs and hydration available in your backpack or bag is crucial in case the schedule gets thrown off a little bit

• Train with carbs for all hard workouts (before, during, and after)

  • I cover this extensively in Issue #15: Train Harder with High-Carb – give that a re-read

  • Training your body to burn carbs faster and more efficiently allows you to train harder for longer

That’s it for this edition of the Threshold Lab! Are there any training topics you want to learn about? Reply to this email and let me know!