How do you design a Hyrox race plan? With a pacing strategy that is both realistic and achievable?

For my world record attempt at Hyrox Rotterdam—where I’m aiming for a sub-60-minute finish in the Open category M50-54—I want to have a perfectly structured race plan. In this blog, I’ll take you through how I’ve put mine together. So that you, too, can start your next Hyrox with a solid, realistic plan. You’ll also get tips and tricks for both your preparation and race execution.

Let’s get straight to the point: a realistic Hyrox plan is not just a thought experiment—it’s a plan you test. You might think you can do something, but actually doing it? That’s a whole different story 😉. This means that before your real Hyrox race, you should do a full Hyrox—at race pace. If you don’t approach it this specifically, you’ll never truly know how the combination of movements feels or what are your realistic split times for each section to help you achieve your fastest overall time.

1. The Benefits of a Hyrox Race Plan

As a triathlete with Dutch titles in both Ironman-distance and XTerra triathlons, I know what it means to race long and hard. Hyrox is a different beast—physically more intense and even more demanding in terms of exercise physiology than triathlon. The combination of running and functional fitness exercises makes Hyrox a true battle of attrition, both physically and mentally. Without a realistic, tried-and-tested race plan, you risk starting too fast and burning out.

Just thinking about Hyrox Rotterdam makes my heart rate rise—let alone stepping into the Ahoy arena, hearing the music, and seeing the Hyrox arena. The adrenaline and race tension can make you go out too hard, only to hit the wall later on.

A race plan ensures you know exactly what your strategy is, with each section carefully mapped out. You decide in advance how to approach each exercise—for example, taking a five-second pause every ten burpees before continuing. Optimal pacing allows you to use your energy efficiently. The difference between executing a steady, controlled race and struggling to survive the second half comes down to realistic planning and smart pacing.

2. How to set up a realistic Hyrox race plan

A solid race plan starts with a realistic assessment based on past races or training sessions. For my own plan, I used my split times from Hyrox Amsterdam, where I competed in the doubles category—different from the singles race I’ll be doing in Rotterdam. That’s why I did several race-pace training sessions with the exact same distances and weights as the actual event.

For running, my pacing is simple: 4:00/km across all runs. Also after the lunges, where most slow down. I managed to maintain this pace in training, so that was also my target in my test Hyrox. I ran on a treadmill, which, of course, makes pacing easier than in the actual race. I’ll get back to that.

For the functional exercises, I used consistent but achievable target times—not overly ambitious, but still controlled and efficient. This led to the following plan for my Hyrox simulation.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Time to test how realistic this plan is. Together with Jeroen van Hooijdonk, whom I’m coaching for Hyrox Rotterdam. We conducted the simulation at De Sportloods, where we had the space and time to execute the test.

During our Hyrox test event, we gathered as much data as possible:

• Lactate measurements after each exercise
• Heart rate tracking throughout the entire session
• Perceived exertion using the Borg scale (how hard did it feel?)
• Split times for each exercise

3. Hyrox Simulation: Testing the Race Plan

If you haven’t done it in training, you’re certainly not going to do it in the race. That’s why I did a full Hyrox simulation. Admittedly, I was pretty nervous before my test event. I set the bar at 57:23 net time, with the Rox zone time still to be added in the actual race.

Based on my test, I not only set a time goal but also developed a tactical plan for each exercise:

• Running: controlled, steady, and not overly ambitious.

  • Target time: 4:00/km, which is 30 seconds slower than my current 10K race pace—allowing me to clear lactate buildup from the exercises.

• Pacing & strategy for the workout stations:

  • Ski Erg: Consistent and steady, at 4:00/km effort.
  • Sled Push & Pull: 10-second rest after every 12.5m.
  • Burpees: Continuous and steady, with a focus on controlled breathing.
  • Row Erg: I hesitated here—this is my strongest station. I decided to go by feel, leave some energy in the tank, and monitor my lactate levels.
  • Farmer’s Carry: Just all in one go.
  • Sandbag Lunges: This was my downfall in Amsterdam—cramps hit after just 5 reps. I’ve trained specifically for this, aiming to complete them smoothly in one go.
  • Wall Balls: The goal: 40-30-30 reps with 10-15 seconds of rest in between.

• Mental focus: task-oriented execution

  • Because I had a structured plan, I could stay focused and approach each exercise with a clear task-oriented mindset.

4. The Numbers of my Hyrox simulation

A while ago, I did a Hyrox simulation with Jeroen and his brother Remon, on which I wrote in this previous blog. I was amazed by their high lactate values and heart rates. That made me really curious about how my own numbers would compare. My aerobic base is stronger than theirs, but they have better muscular endurance.

Before diving into the data, here are a few reference values:

• In my last exercise test, I hit a maximum lactate of 9.2 mmol and a max heart rate of 165.
• During this Hyrox simulation, my numbers were even higher:
  • Lactate: 10.7 mmol
  • Max heart rate: 178

This confirms that Hyrox pushes you beyond the lactate levels of a standard 10-15km run race.

Below is a full breakdown of the numbers. I know—boring, boring, boring 😉—but take a moment to look through them carefully. I’ll meet you at the other side of the table.

5. Lessons learnt

Before diving into the numbers, let’s talk about how it felt. Right after finishing, I was already happy and grateful with how it went. Now, two weeks later, I appreciate it even more.

Here’s how it works for me: only after a race, I truly realize the implicit, undefined expectation I had going in. And most of the time, I don’t fully meet that expectation—let alone exceed it. But this time, I did. That might be the biggest takeaway from this test: I can race the full Hyrox. Sub-60 minutes is possible in Hyrox Rotterdam.

Huge kudos to Jeroen as well. This was his second Hyrox simulation. His first one took 1:27:20—this time, he finished in 1:17:48, with more energy left at the end. Massive progress! Proof that consistent training and test simulations pay off.

The next lesson is that my race plan is already quite on point. For Hyrox Rotterdam, I will still make a few adjustments, but nothing substantial. What’s special is that during the entire Hyrox, I felt like I could push a bit harder. Up until the wall balls, that is. They didn’t go in my planned rythm of 40-30-30, but rather in 40-30-10-10-10. This makes me suspect that the other components were just at the edge of my limit. So, just right.

Now, on to the numbers. My heart rate fluctuates quite a bit: the lowest being 150 after run 1, up to a maximum of 178 during the burpee broad jump. A range of 28 beats—broader than Jeroen’s (152-172).

Another observation is that heart rate, subjective perception, and lactate levels don’t always align with each other. With more experience, you could use your heart rate to determine a range per component. The biggest caveat being that your heart rate on race day can sometimes be significantly higher than in training due to adrenaline. And your heart rate always lags a minute or more behind your effort. Especially in the first minute of an exercise, you could easily go wrong.

The most interesting part for me are the lactate levels. I had expected that during 1km runs, I would be able to process the lactate I built up during the exercises. To my surprise, it turned out the other way around: after each run, my lactate level was higher than during the previous exercise (except in run 6, after the row erg). Honestly, I have no explanation for that. Jeroen, who is weaker in running but better at the exercises, had lower lactate values in all his runs.

This could mean three things:

1. Jeroen runs slower than he could

2. My lactate processing during running is worse than I thought

3. I could do my exercises a bit faster (but I doubt it 😉

If you have a better explanation for this, let me know!

The Borg scale numbers don’t always correspond with the lactate and heart rate values. The simple lesson: you don’t always feel exactly what’s happening under the hood. This makes pacing even more important. Plan the race, and race the plan. The simulation also taught me that I can just push through on the row erg. To my surprise, it took 3 minutes and 32 seconds. And after that, I had less lactate than after the run before. Good to know.

My race plan for Hyrox Rotterdam

With this data and experience, I will further optimize my race plan for Hyrox Rotterdam. I will run with the Stryd to make my pacing even more precise. The Stryd measures stride length and cadence (and much more). This way, you can also monitor your speed indoors on your Garmin or Wahoo. I write down the target split times for each station on the back of my hand. Simple and old-school. This way, I can keep track of how I’m doing and adjust if necessary.

Do you want a Hyrox race plan that works? I’d be happy to help you optimize your strategy with a personal approach and data-driven coaching. Feel free to make an appointment!