The Hyrox Chapter
Six Races. One Evolution.
Mileage Game isn’t about winning races.
It’s about learning how to move through life — under pressure, under doubt, under silence — and still choosing forward motion.
Before Toronto. Before the ambulance. Before stillness and heart monitors and quiet mornings.
There was the journey.
Six races. Six environments. Six versions of myself.
Each one pulled out a different lesson — not just about HYROX, but about preparation, ego, control… and the cost of both.
This is the chapter that built the man who later had to stop.
HYROX MIAMI 2019 – THE AWAKENING
My first HYROX race.
No blueprint. No real understanding of the demands. Just fitness, confidence, and the belief that hard work always wins.
I learned very quickly that fitness alone isn’t the point.
My biggest mistake that day was simple: shoe choice.
No grip. No traction. No preparation for the reality of sled work. I had to bury myself just to get the sled moving, and I paid for it early and often.
And yet, I finished:
Overall Time: 1:33:16
Overall Rank: 24 / 52
Age Group Rank (50–54): 1st
Total Running Time: 35:42 (well above average)
It felt like success… but in truth, it was just luck meeting stubbornness.
What I really walked away with wasn’t a podium feeling — it was the first understanding:
HYROX isn’t a running race.
And it’s not a strength race either.
It’s a systems race.
Lesson from Miami:
Respect the format. Respect the details.
HYROX TORONTO 2024 – THE UPGRADE
This time, I came prepared.
Better training. Better understanding. Better intent.
I switched to trail shoes for traction — which solved one problem and created another. The grip was perfect, but the run felt heavy and sluggish.
This was the first time I truly felt HYROX — the weight of it, the transitions, the demand for rhythm.
Overall Time: 1:29:42
Age Group Rank (PRO 55–59): 3rd
Total Running Time: 34:19 (nearly 8 minutes faster than average)
I was stronger, but the race exposed a pattern:
I could run.
But I was still bleeding time in the stations:
Wall Balls
Sled Pull
Burpees Broad Jump
Farmers Carry
Lunges
I wasn’t losing because of effort — I was losing because of efficiency.
Lesson from Toronto:
Strength without rhythm is chaos.
HYROX VEGAS 2025 – THE EGO RACE
This one came with a hidden cost.
I went in with a torn quad — and chose to race anyway.
I tried to out-run the injury. And to some degree… I did.
Overall Time: 1:31:35
Age Group Rank: 6th
Total Running Time: 7 minutes faster than average
But my quad betrayed me on lunges and wall balls. What running gave me back, the stations took away twice as hard.
Vegas taught me something brutal:
Courage and stupidity are separated only by timing.
Lesson from Vegas:
There is a difference between mental strength and self-sabotage.
HYROX ATLANTA 2025 – THE BREAKTHROUGH
This was the one.
The engine was awake. The balance was better. The pain was gone.
For the first time, I wasn’t guessing. I was racing.
Overall Time: 1:26:43
Athletes: 270
Age Group Rank (55–59): 5th
Total Running Time: 4:54 faster than average
Burpee Broad Jumps: 94th percentile
I qualified for the World Championships in Chicago.
Not because I suffered the most — but because I finally respected the process.
Lesson from Atlanta:
When you stop forcing speed, it shows up on its own.
HYROX CHICAGO 2025 – THE STRONGEST RACE THAT NEVER COUNTED
This should have been the one I remember forever.
I felt unstoppable. Calm. Ready. Light. Powerful.
It was, without question, my strongest HYROX performance.
And then I made one mistake.
I missed the rowing station — a simple, devastating error — and was disqualified.
No data. No result. No ranking.
Just a brutal truth:
You can be perfect physically…
and still fail by one small mental lapse.
Lesson from Chicago:
Precision matters more than power.
HYROX TORONTO 2025 – THE MOMENT EVERYTHING CHANGED
This was supposed to be redemption.
It was the best prepared I had ever been.
It was the cleanest blueprint I had ever created.
And it was the race where my body said:
Stop.
Chest pain.
Weakness.
No warning.
No data.
An ambulance ride replaced a finish line.
I didn’t lose that day.
But it changed the entire direction of my story.
Lesson from Toronto:
The engine must be protected before it can be pushed.
WHAT THESE SIX RACES REALLY TAUGHT ME
They didn’t teach me how to race better.
They taught me:
• That intensity without intelligence is dangerous
• That details matter more than motivation
• That rhythm beats aggression
• That calm is not weakness
• That the body whispers long before it screams
• That the bravest thing is sometimes to stop
More importantly:
They taught me that HYROX was never the goal.
It was the teacher.
The next chapter isn’t about racing harder.
It’s about building a smarter engine.
And that is where The Blueprint begins…
COMING NEXT:
Blog #2 – THE BLUEPRINT
The system that got me to Toronto — and the moment I realized it needed to change.