Hyrox training log
Week 37: peaking for Saturday's 10 km race
The rest of week 37's (9–13 Sep) training plan after recovering from the flu — aiming for a fresh, sharp running performance in Saturday's 10 km race, under 60 minutes.
Week 36 broke off into the flu from Thursday through Saturday. This week (37) brings a new, concrete goal: a 10 km race to run on Saturday 12 Sep, aiming to comfortably beat an hour — by 5–8 minutes, landing a finish time somewhere between 52–55 minutes. Since it’s already Tuesday today, this update covers the rest of the week (9–13 Sep) based on what Monday and Tuesday already showed.
What Monday and Tuesday already show
Monday (7 Sep) was a run, 43.3 min and 6.99 km — but the whole session’s average pace (6:12 min/km) again hides a structure. The second-by-second data reveals four distinct phases:
| Phase | Duration | Distance | Pace | Avg HR | Max HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warm-up | 5.00 min | 656 m | 7:37 min/km | 132 | 144 |
| Tempo build | 31.50 min | 5,338 m | 5:54 min/km | 161 | 169 |
| Late-run ease-off | 4.25 min | 519 m | 8:11 min/km | 154 | 162 |
| Finishing kick | 2.75 min | 479 m | 5:44 min/km | 175 | 183 |
So this was a long, hard tempo segment (31.5 min close to threshold pace, heart rate climbing to 169) ending in a short but genuinely all-out finishing sprint — 183 is likely very close to max heart rate. That’s a hard stimulus right at the start of the week after the flu.
Tuesday (8 Sep, today) was lighter, a varied gym day: 41.8 min of gym work (average HR 135), a brief 1.7-min row, 9.7 min of easy running/walking (1.04 km, 9:20 min/km — not hard), and 2.3 min of cycling. Overall, a clearly lighter load than Monday.
Why the rest of the week is deliberately light
Monday’s hard tempo+kick combo landed right after recovering from the flu — exactly the kind of stimulus that would be good to absorb properly before the next hard day, not stack on top of. Since the goal is the best possible running performance on Saturday, the rest of this week isn’t trying to build fitness anymore — it’s too late for that to affect Saturday. Instead the goal is to arrive fresh on Saturday: an easy Wednesday, a short sharpening session on Thursday, and as light a Friday as possible.
Week 37 program (remainder)
| Day | Content | Goal | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 9 Sep, Active recovery | 20–30 min easy walk or cycling, low heart rate, mobility | No taxing session | Monday’s hard tempo+kick (HR 183) needs a proper recovery day before the week gets sharpened |
| Thu 10 Sep, Short sharpening session | 20 min easy run + 4–6×100 m brisk strides (not all-out), long recovery | Keep the legs “awake” without fatigue | A short stimulus that maintains speed feel — doesn’t add to total load but keeps movement pattern sharp for the race |
| Fri 11 Sep, Rest day | No programmed session, at most a very easy walk | Full recovery | Two days before the race — prioritizing freshness over everything else |
| Sat 12 Sep, RACE: 10 km | A proper warm-up (10–15 min easy + a few pace pickups), race at a steady ~5:12–5:30 min/km | Finish time 52–55 min (under an hour, with a 5–8 min margin) | Monday’s tempo segment (5:54 min/km, HR 161–169 for 31.5 minutes) shows threshold pace is close to the target pace — a steady, controlled effort the whole way is more realistic than a fast start |
| Sun 13 Sep, Recovery | Easy walk or full rest depending on how the race left you | Recovery from the race | No programmed load — the week ends with the race, not a new stimulus |
Race pacing target
10 km in 52–55 minutes means a steady 5:12–5:30 min/km pace for the whole distance. Monday’s data gives a realistic anchor for this: a 31.5-minute tempo segment at 5:54 min/km kept heart rate at 161–169 — a little slower than the target pace and still clearly in the threshold zone. On race day, the goal isn’t to repeat Monday’s finishing kick right from the start, but to hold a steady, controlled pace the whole way — the reserve gets spent on the last kilometre if needed, not the first.
Follow the journey and training diary here at puhakka.org!