Issue #31: From Joe to Pro in 31 months

📈 Training Update – HYROX Elite 15 qualified

About 31 months ago, I remember complaining to my oldest brother:
“I really just wish there was something for me to compete in again.”

A couple days (or weeks) later, he sent me a link to hyrox dot com. Not long after that, my other brother texted something like, “I hear we’re all signing up for a HYROX.”

What followed was a lot of research, following the top HYROX athletes on Instagram, doing the HYROX PFT, and eventually signing up for HYROX Dallas in November of 2023.

Fast forward 31 months, 14 races, 9 podiums, and a shit ton of training and research later – on January 30th, I’ll be racing in the Phoenix Elite 15 Doubles Major. I’ll be racing alongside Dylan Scott, someone who was probably one of the first HYROX athletes I followed back in May of 2023.

Elite 15 was not the goal in the beginning. But race after race, training block after training block, it became clear that it was at least possible. The addition of Doubles Elite 15 last year, and the fact that I happened to move 10 minutes down the road from one of the best in the world certainly helped. But it’s still surreal to look back at what’s been built over the last 31 months.

I am not a runner, but I have been training my entire life. I think I started 2-a-days back when I was 8 or 9 years old on the basketball court. That training, dedication, and mental edge for 14+ years probably gave me a bit of a head start jumping into HYROX and running. Diving deep into the endurance and running world has been a change of pace, but one that I have embraced. I don’t know how many HYROX athletes out there read as much about training or exercise science as I do, but I’m guessing it’s not many. The consistency that I apply to training, learning, and documenting everything is what I attribute my success to.

The ultimate goal is still to reach the Singles Elite 15 on the world stage. That will require me to keep outpacing the field, a lot of trial and error in training, and probably some luck along the way. Even if I don’t reach that goal, the pursuit will be worthwhile to me.

The last 31 months brought me back to who I am, an athlete and competitor. As I said yesterday on Instagram: I care deeply about results and the goals – it’s impossible not to when you put this much time into something. But my real love has always been, and will always be, for the process. Showing up, stacking work, failing a lot - but always coming back better, and pushing the limits of what’s possible.

🥼 Training Science this Week

The Some Work, All Play podcast is what I listen to most these days - David and Megan Roche are the ones that got me hooked on high carb fueling. They recently released an episode called – Our 10 Most Important Training Studies of the Year. I covered a few of these throughout the first 30 issues of this newsletter (heat training, what causes injury in runners, high carb fueling). If you’re interested in learning more about the recent breakthroughs and trends in exercise science and training theory, these two are always on top of it (from the endurance perspective).

🧃 1st Phorm Phormula-1 Clear

📈 Work with the Threshold Lab