My First HYROX Solo: 1:49:34 — When Cramps Took the Plan and Burned It

Four races in. Mumbai Mens Doubles, Yoddha Mixed, Bangkok Mixed Doubles — I'd crossed every finish line with someone beside me. Someone who could row when my legs cramped. Someone who could lunge when my quads gave up. April 12th in Bangalore, there was no one. Just me, 8 km of running, 8 stations, and whatever my body had left to give. Spoiler: it wasn't enough. But I finished anyway.

8 Weeks with Strangers Who Became Crew

This was a whole new challenge. Our preparation was already going well — we were following structured strength training like most people do. Monday to Sunday: Push Day & Z2 Running, Interval Running, Pull Day, Leg Day, Rest, Long Run, HYROX-specific workouts. That was the plan we were working on.

Our gym Clout Fitness had officially registered as a HYROX Training Club and was starting their 8-week program for HYROX Bangalore. We thought we'd give it a shot — maybe we were doing something wrong, and this program would help us stay consistent and work on our specific weaknesses with the help of coaches. So we signed up for a semi-private batch of 6 people. Our coach had also signed up for the solo race himself.

The group was intimidating at first. A Malaysian couple — we literally called them "the Malaysian Couple" until we got to know them over 8 weeks. A guy named Abhay — older but stronger than me. Arti — felt a bit fragile at first, but I was wrong. Our coach Amul — a Haryana guy, proper build. And then there were Shubhangini and me, coming from our own fitness journey. We were the most experienced in terms of HYROX races, but not the fittest in the group.

Training began, and we got to know each other's strengths and weaknesses. Every single person gave me something to envy or learn from. We followed specific programs designed to prep for HYROX — a mix of strength training, circuits, and 2 to 3 running sessions per week.

The full HYROX Bangalore training crew — 8 weeks together

Learning from Each Other — Karen, Gary, Abhay, Arti, and Coach Amul

Eight weeks is a long time to train alongside the same people. Long enough that you stop seeing a group and start seeing individuals — and every individual in this batch had something that made me either envious, humbled, or both.

One day we learned that Karen was a running coach herself back in Kuala Lumpur. So we asked for her help with running techniques and decided to meet on a Sunday to learn from her. A skips, B skips, C skips — basic running drills that look deceptively easy until your legs try to do them for the first time. We couldn't get a hold of them at all. Small thing, but it said a lot about how much our running preparation had missed.

Karen and Gary invited us to their home for Chinese New Year. We got to experience their culture, got to know them as people. That's when we saw their wedding photos — on bicycles, in wedding outfits. Really inspiring. They were incredible runners, obviously — ex-IRONMAN athletes. It amazed me how Karen's heart rate never went above Zone 2 while the rest of us were dying. That's a different category of base.

Gary stood right alongside that. The kind of guy you glance at mid-session and think — okay, that's the goal. Runner's build, athlete's body, the kind of shape that makes you quietly reassess your own life choices while catching your breath. He ran like it too — effortless, consistent, always calm. Never rattled, never rushed. Though Sled Push came close to rattling him. He struggled with it through training, convinced his strength just wasn't there. Turns out it was probably the shoes. Gary, if you're reading this — how did race day feel? :P

Abhay was a different kind of humbling. One session I'm grinding through 50 KGs on the bench press — he's loading 30-40 KGs more on top like it's warmup weight. And while the rest of us were on the lat pulldown machine, he'd just knock out pull-ups. Show off. Eye opener, to say the least.

Arti I had completely misjudged early on. Bad knee, mother of a 4-year-old — I assumed she'd struggle. She just quietly lifted weights the whole time and proved me wrong when it mattered.

Coach Amul held the whole thing together. Young and energetic, but serious about technique — worked with each of us individually on our weak points, corrected what needed correcting. It was his first HYROX as a participant, but his coaching experience made all the difference for the rest of us.

The Bangkok Detour — Shoes and a Side Quest

Plot twist: along the way we wanted to buy new shoes, and this led to a trip to Bangkok for HYROX Mixed Doubles and shoe shopping. We finished in 1 hour 30 minutes — our most consistent performance and the best HYROX experience to date. More on this later.

2 Weeks of Fever, Zero Training

We did HYROX Bangkok on March 21st. The next Saturday I did a complete solo simulation in 1 hour 45 minutes — not where I wanted to be, but proof I could finish. Shubhangini couldn't do hers — she had hurt her back and needed physio treatment.

Our Bangalore solo was just 2 weeks away. And then I got fever, cough, and cold. No training for 2 full weeks. I could feel my body slowing down, like it wasn't even activated anymore. I tried a shakeout run to test where I was — it was supposed to be Zone 2, but my heart rate shot way higher than it should have. That's when the doubt crept in. Was I about to show up to a solo race with a body that wasn't ready?

Race Weekend — How the Crew Performed

Karen signed up for a relay race on Saturday — literally on Friday evening — and went on to win the podium. No surprises there, but she beat PV Sindhu's team in the rankings. A professional athlete's team! Felt proud to be training with these guys.

For their mixed doubles, Gary and Karen finished in 1 hour 20 minutes. Pretty damn good for their first race. Our goal timing was their warm-up timing.

Abhay finished his solo in 1 hour 52 minutes. On race day I found out he was in the 45-49 age category — which made his strength and running even more impressive.

Arti finished her solo in 2 hours 1 minute. In her simulation, she had struggled to finish and ended up at 2 hours 45 minutes. See the difference? She proved me wrong by finishing strong on race day.

And our coach Amul — who had been clocking 2 hours in every simulation — finished in 1 hour 30 minutes. The man was fooling us the entire time.

Saturday — Shubhangini's Solo, Sciatic Pain and All

And now it was our turn.

Saturday was Shubhangini's solo. She had sciatic pain in her left leg from a week ago, and it wasn't getting any better as race day approached. We woke up, left the house at 11:30 AM, and took 2 hours to reach the venue. She had pre-registered, which helped avoid the queue. It was my turn to motivate her and babysit our kids — with the help of my mother. My nephew Ishan was the designated photographer for the day.

We had tried needling therapy a couple of days before the race, and IFT too — all of it helped temporarily for a few hours, but nothing stuck. She took some muscle relaxants and ran the whole race.

I truly admire her courage — she didn't even think about quitting. I would have, in her place, to be honest. But she just wanted to run her race no matter what. Her runs were really consistent despite the pain. She ran the last lap the way she ran the first — amazing pain threshold. She finished in 1 hour 53 minutes. I think she got her inspiration from David Goggins. She had been reading his book in the weeks leading up to the race. David did his MOTHERFUCKING magic!

I spent her race running around the venue, trying to motivate her — kids on my shoulder, following her from station to run, run to station, all the way to the end. By the end of the day I was beat. I took a hot shower, soaked my feet in warm water, and slept. But I was feeling a bit of pain and tingling in my calf. I told myself it was just pre-race jitters.

Shubhangini after finishing her solo HYROX Bangalore in 1:53

Sunday — My Turn, My Calves, My Problem

We woke up and left around 12:00-12:30 PM since my wave time was at 4:10 PM. I was feeling good, yet worried about the calves. If only they could support me today, I could target somewhere around 1:30 to 1:35 — that would have been something. But things don't go to plan in life, and life has its own plan for you.

This was my 3rd HYROX and 4th race overall counting Yoddha. I just wanted to finish without any cramps for the first time. My foolproof plan: 1 electrolyte per day for the last week, 4 litres of water every day, and carb loading in the final days.

Race day nutrition timeline:

All through the day I kept sipping water every 10 minutes or so, and had my usual black iced pour-over coffee from 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM.

I did whatever I could to prevent cramps, but the tingling in my calf was still there. At 3:50 I went inside to warm up. Came outside to meet my wife and kids. Went back in. Came back out again. I was that nervous. I knew I had come a long way — but had I reached the level where I could finish a solo race strong?

I had my wife, my kids, my mother, a few colleagues — Tripti, Nitin and his family — and a few people from our gym who came to support me. It was good to have them there.

The Start Tunnel

At 4:05 PM, I entered the Red Bull start tunnel. No matter how many times you've done HYROX, the start tunnel hits different. The lighting, the music, the countdown — everything just pumps you up.

While waiting, I walked up to a few other athletes, and one mentioned he had heard about the HyCrew app for tracking workouts. I felt proud — the app I believed was needed is actually spreading. Not at the speed of light, but slowly and gradually.

And then the countdown started.

On Pace for 1:35 — Until Station 5

My target was to run under 6:00 min/km for all 8 runs, going 10% slower in the early runs and saving energy for the later stages.

The first half went to plan. First run at 5:52, SkiErg in a controlled 4:52. Second run at 5:59. For sled push, I decided to break each lane into three stages with two short breaks to protect my calves — still finished in 3:19. Third run at 6:16, a bit slower but understandable after pushing 152 KGs. Sled pull started showing my weaknesses — I felt it in my hamstrings — but I finished in 5:37, slower than expected but manageable. Fourth run at 6:30, trying to manage the hamstring. Still okay. Still sustainable.

Sled push — the calves that look the part and still gave out three stations later

Burpees went much better than my simulation — 6:00 minutes compared to 8 minutes in practice. (Thanks to HyCrew I was able to measure exact timings.)

Everything was clicking. I felt like I could sustain this for the whole race.

Burpee Broad Jumps Broke Me Open

Taking a very strategic breather mid-burpees. Nitin, Tripti, and Shubhangini had thoughts.

Then the collapse started.

Right after burpees, on the 5th run, I pulled muscles in my right calf. I slowed down, tried to walk it off. I didn't want to stop for a medic or spray because I knew it would cost me extra minutes. So I just kept going — 5th run in 9:04.

From 5:52 on the first run to 9:04 on the fifth. That's not a fade. That's a wall.

Rowing With Dead Legs and Nobody to Tag

Devastated, I kept dreading the next station: THE ROWING. It was my nemesis from HYROX Mumbai, but back then I had a partner to cover for me. Not anymore. I thought my race was over.

I reached rowing, strapped in, and pulled. Cramp hit hard again. I ended up pulling with my arms only, without using my legs at all. I could hear the cheers of my wife and colleagues — "Your back muscles are showing!", "Keep going Naman!" I just closed my eyes, put my head down, and kept pulling.

I could hear my colleague ask my wife: "Kitna lamba hai?" — because she could see my struggle. Everyone could.

I finished rowing in 5:45.

"Go Papa Go" — The Second Half on Willpower

Run 6 was better than the 5th, but I was still hobbling and walking it off in between. My wife and kids kept cheering — I could hear them: "I love you", "Go papa go." Their support kept me going, honestly. I finished that run in 7:18.

Farmers Carry brought some relief — all I had to do was lift and keep walking. Give my lower body a break. Finished in 2:45. Then the next run in 6:50.

And then came the most punishing station: Sandbag Lunges. Every single step sent pain through my calves, hamstrings, glutes, and muscles I don't even know the names of. I felt like dropping the bag and going down. But I could see everyone cheering. Seeing my wife's face everywhere I went kept me going. She reminded me of how she had finished strong despite her injuries — and that we have to keep going for our kids.

One step at a time. I got past the lunges in 7:55.

Last run at 8:54. And then wall balls. I couldn't squat for squat — literally. Every rep was pain. I just kept going in sets of 5. The judge was good — kept motivating and counting honestly. Only 5 no-reps!

The Finish Line — and the Collapse

I dropped on the finish line, but got back up quickly because my kids and wife were waiting. Went to meet them, clicked a few photos — all was good. I finished!

I picked my kids up and went for the mandatory photo in front of the big screen with timings. But as soon as I stepped up, both my legs gave out. I just wanted to scream. I handed my kids to the support staff, who passed them to my wife. Somehow managed to take the photo with just one kid on my shoulders. And then I broke down on the floor.

I could feel the muscles in my calves going up and down — my wife saw it too, like electricity running through a wire in cartoons.

1:49:34 — The Time That Taught Me More Than 1:37 Did

All in all, I finished in 1 hour 49 minutes 34 seconds. Way off my target time.

Want to see your own breakdown like this? HyCrew tracks every station and every run split on your Apple Watch — so after your next race you know exactly where you lost time, not just your total finish.

Station Breakdown

What Solo HYROX Taught Me That Doubles Never Could

Doubles hides your weaknesses. Your partner rows when you cramp, lunges when you can't. Solo puts a mirror in front of every gap you've been avoiding. 1:49 wasn't the time I wanted — but it was the time I deserved. And now I know exactly what to fix.

I need to build my endurance, my aerobic base, and my lower body strength before I can even think about another solo.

So for now — no more solos. The focus is on building a running base. Starting with a 10K in June, my first ever half marathon in September, and then probably back to Yoddha and HYROX again.

The finish line in Mumbai felt like a beginning. The finish line in Bangalore felt like a mirror. Both of them made me better.

Want to track your HYROX splits the way I tracked mine? Download HyCrew free

Race day photos by Ishan — the designated photographer who showed up and delivered.