S05E173 - Pushing Limits By Transitioning from CrossFit to a New HYROX Adventure with Marissa Liza
Marissa Liza @marissa_1082 joins coach David Syvertsen @davesy85 on the Herd Fit Podcast to unravel the rising phenomenon of HYROX, a fitness trend that’s capturing the hearts—and muscles—of athletes worldwide. Together, we dive into our personal journeys through the adrenaline-pumping world of HYROX races in Toronto and Dallas, where running meets strength training in a perfect blend. We share the compelling reasons behind our switch from CrossFit to HYROX dissecting how these two challenging disciplines uniquely complement each other by enhancing aerobic capacity and mixed modal work, while posing their own exciting challenges.
What ignites the fire in fitness enthusiasts to throw themselves into the HYROX challenge? This episode uncovers the motivations behind these grueling yet exhilarating races, whether you go it alone or team up with a partner. Our conversation takes a candid look at the preparation strategies—both logistical and mental—that ensure participants are ready to tackle whatever the race throws at them. We also delve into the dynamics of the race day atmosphere, from strategic planning to humorous mishaps, providing tips and insights on navigating through the unexpected twists of competition.
Training for such high-stakes events brings its own set of rewards and challenges, especially for those transitioning from CrossFit. Marissa and I reflect on how our CrossFit backgrounds have equipped us with the resilience and mental toughness needed for HYROX, while acknowledging the importance of adaptability and inclusivity in these fitness races. Whether you’re a seasoned athlete or a newcomer looking for a new adventure, this episode offers a comprehensive look at why HYROX is becoming the ultimate fitness challenge of choice, highlighting its appeal to a wide range of fitness levels. Join us for an engaging discussion filled with laughter, tactical insights, and the shared joy of pushing boundaries.
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S05E173 - Pushing Limits By Transitioning from CrossFit to a New HYROX Adventure with Marissa Liza
Transcript
Speaker Names
David SyvertsenHost
00:05
Hey everybody, welcome to the Herd Fit Podcast with Dr Sam Rhee and myself, Coach David Syverton. This podcast is aimed at helping anyone and everyone looking to enhance their healthy lifestyle through fitness, nutrition and, most importantly, mindset. All right, welcome back to the Herd Fit Podcast. I am Coach David Syrvetson. I'm here with Marissa Liza, a repeat guest on the Herd Fit Podcast, and last time she was on we were talking about acupuncture and her practice that she owns in Paramus, New Jersey.
Marissa LizaCo-host
00:37
Rochelle Park. Rochelle Park, I knew it, it's okay.
David SyvertsenHost
00:39
All right, and she actually just came from work here on a Wednesday afternoon, the day before Thanksgiving.
Marissa LizaCo-host
00:47
Thanksgiving Eve. You know, I was thinking like probably 20 years ago. This time I was picking out my outfit to go out partying at Joey's in Clifton. Here we are talking on the Herfin Podcast.
David SyvertsenHost
00:54
What time will you be in bed tonight?
Marissa LizaCo-host
00:56
You know what I'm hoping to make it to 9 pm 9 pm.
David SyvertsenHost
01:00
Live in large, live in large, all right. Well, yeah, live in large, live in large, all right. Well, the reason today we have Marissa coming on is her and I have a lot in common, all right. And when we get to talk about our lives and businesses and all the ups and downs that surround that, the more and more we talk, the more and more we realize, kind of going through the same thing. But we're also high rocks athletes and I forgot to wear my patch.
01:25
I know, seriously, I just got done with a high rocks race in Dallas, texas, this past weekend, the weekend before Thanksgiving, and Marissa, you did one where and when.
Marissa LizaCo-host
01:37
So mine was the first weekend in October and I did mine in Toronto, Canada.
David SyvertsenHost
01:42
Toronto, canada, awesome.
Marissa LizaCo-host
01:44
Now.
David SyvertsenHost
01:44
I guess this is as good a platform as any to let everyone know that I'm actually going to retire from CrossFit competing and I'm going all in on High Rocks.
Marissa LizaCo-host
01:53
So did not? You know one of the things you said to me like the first workout after I came back. You're like, all right, let's see what a High Rocks athlete could do, and I'm like I'm a CrossFit athlete.
David SyvertsenHost
02:04
There. It is what a high rocks athlete could do and I'm like I'm a crossfit plate. There is no I I do want to spend some time. Maybe we could start off talking about this, because the the gap between high rocks and crossfit, like anything, it's already turning into who's fitter, and I've actually got involved in a couple of those conversations as well and I want to. I want everyone to say it kind of is the same thing, like I don't really view that much of a difference between High Rocks and CrossFit from an event test of fitness perspective.
02:34
The professional sport and what it takes to be a professional, high-end, elite CrossFit athlete, yes, is a much higher demand than a High Rocks athlete, but almost everyone that does these, you're not entering that tier, so I don't think there needs to be a CrossFit versus high rocks. There might be some rising affiliates around the world that are high rocks affiliate and then you have your CrossFit affiliates and then there's these competitions that you do. I mean whatever. At the end of the day, there's so much. There are so many similarities between the two because there's a huge aerobic base that is required to perform it at even an average level and there's a lot of mixed modal work, meaning a lot of different things within one fitness test, and that kind of is really does jive with CrossFit. Do you agree disagree that there is a lot of similarity between the two?
Marissa LizaCo-host
03:24
I do think there are a lot of similarities. However, I do think, just because what the component of a high rocks is versus CrossFit, there's still you're still going to have a lot of polarization on that.
03:38
Yeah because you're going to have the CrossFit and you know, I think the truth is that sometimes, as much as I believe in CrossFit we believe in CrossFit it's still like, oh, crossfit, that's a little bit too hard. I don't think I could ever do a CrossFit competition, but I could do a High Rocks Yep, absolutely. So as somebody who's you and I, we've been around we can see the similarities in between them.
David SyvertsenHost
04:02
A lot of carryover, they certainly do feed each other. You can make a case that if you start off your fitness journey in a high rocks world, you will at some point be very ready to at least start your CrossFit journey 100%. Vice versa If you're all CrossFit all the time, then you just want to go start a high rocks journey, whether it's once or twice or forever. You're going to be very ready because of that CrossFit background.
04:26
So, that's where I see the similarities, the biggest difference. So let's talk about what this high rocks race. Most of you guys know what it is. It's probably one of the fastest growing fitness trends in the world right now in a trend based industry. We did do an episode on high rocks when we had Alondra come on. I think it was summer or early fall where she kind of opened up. And Alondra's a member here at CrossFit Bison that has a pretty strong reputation in the sport of High Rocks racing at a very high elite level and we see that carry over into a lot of the CrossFit programming, some of the workouts that we do here.
04:59
But without going too deep into it, the High Rocks race is you know, you sign up online in a city they're all over the world throughout the entire year and you show up and it's basically you're going to run 1,000 meters eight times. After every single 1,000 meter run you go into the floor and you do a different fitness station, just one movement, and I hope I don't get this wrong. But here we go. You got skier, sled push, sled pull. Don't quote me on the order. Burpee, broad jumps, sandbag walking, lunges farmer carries wall balls.
Marissa LizaCo-host
05:40
I'm missing one. Oh wait, ski row and row and row. Yeah, all the things. I wait. Ski row and row and row. Yeah, a thousand meters.
David SyvertsenHost
05:47
All the things I missed that that was like my favorite one. So those are the eight stations. Now I don't want to get into too deep about what. If you really want to look into how much of those things, you are30, somewhere in that range and then you're going to arrive at a fitness station. That takes you about anywhere from two to five, six minutes and basically it's just a very long race, and the fastest times in the world are between 55 and 60 minutes. I think I read that the average time is between an hour 20 and hour 40 minutes, and so you're looking at over an hour of work for pretty much everyone.
06:25
They have singles. Basically you do it by yourself. They have two, they have doubles, which you run together. You do not split the run, but when you get to these stations you get to split it however you want. There is some judging. It's not too tight but it's not terrible. There are people there that are barking out some some standard talk and it is a mass fitness event. Do you know the numbers in Toronto? How many were there approximately?
Marissa LizaCo-host
06:50
So Toronto was a two-day event and there was 4,000 people each day. There was about 8,000 people over the weekend.
David SyvertsenHost
06:56
Wow.
Marissa LizaCo-host
06:57
And they did the same thing Saturday and Sunday. So they had a group going Saturday, a group going Sunday and if I remember correctly they had just had it as a Saturday and then I guess they got high demand and so then they opened up Sunday. But now I've been noticing a lot of them are becoming two-day events because of the registration and number of people.
David SyvertsenHost
07:17
The numbers are out of control.
Marissa LizaCo-host
07:19
They're crazy.
David SyvertsenHost
07:19
I was in Dallas this past weekend and there were 6,500 athletes, athletes, and that was just one day. And they told me that they have one coming up in Houston. That is 9,000 people, and I think that's going to be like the new PR you would call it the most amount of people. And it's just it keeps growing and growing and growing, and we'll get into why I think it's going to keep growing. We'll get into will it keep growing? What is the peak of this?
07:41
But instead of Marissa and I both just kind of reflecting on our own experiences and giving you all that I mean I'm sure we'll have personal stories to share, because that probably is like that anecdotal advice that we can give others we want to kind of reflect on high rocks, because even here at Bison and some of you that are listening that are not from Bison there is right now, or there will be, some interest in you potentially taking this on as your next fitness test, and whether it's a 5K, whether it's going for a long hike up a big mountain or a powerlifting meet or Olympic lifting or the CrossFit Open which is coming up, there is a strong desire to test your fitness and it doesn't necessarily always need to be a competitive environment. It's just a hey an experience.
Marissa LizaCo-host
08:25
An experience and a reason to have.
David SyvertsenHost
08:28
We can say oh to train, for it right.
Marissa LizaCo-host
08:30
To feel inspired, to feel motivated rather than why am I just going to the gym every day? Something, a goal in mind, whatever that is.
David SyvertsenHost
08:37
So that's going to lead me right into. I want to ask you why did you want to try this? What made you look at this, which is a very run dominant fitness race I would say 70 percent running what made you want to do it?
Marissa LizaCo-host
08:52
So I well, initially, the way I found out about it was due to the nature of my business. I get all these wellness emails and it was a list and it said High Rocks Fitness Challenge taking over the United States. So I see fitness challenge and I was like you know, click on it, high Rocks. I remember looking at it and my initial thought was I don't think I can do this. And I remember I sent you a text and I go do you think I could do it? I said, have you heard of this and do you think I could do it? And then you're like, yeah, definitely, I've heard of it. I think you should do it. So it definitely was. I wanted a challenge. I wanted a reason to keep training. I honestly was feeling just a little like loss. I didn't want to do a CrossFit competition. My background is I've done all the races, I've done the marathons, I've done the half marathons. This was a perfect mix of the two.
David SyvertsenHost
09:38
Yeah, so basically, it was a need for stimulation and you were curious. A need for stimulation and you are curious.
Marissa LizaCo-host
09:43
Exactly.
David SyvertsenHost
09:43
Right and curiosity can lead us down a lot of great paths, especially when it comes to our bodies, our fitness and even just like the mental components behind training for something. Yep, and people, in my opinion, will sometimes sign up for them only for the fact that they want something to train for, because they know they respond to that kind of I would even say pressure.
Marissa LizaCo-host
10:11
Yes.
David SyvertsenHost
10:11
And almost like the need to train. It's no longer like, yeah, I want to be healthy, I want to be fit, I like my friends at the gym. That flame can kind of diminish at some points. But when you have something in the back of your head and we've talked about this for years when you put yourself on paper that I am going to do something, it answers a lot of those like questions when you get to the T in the road, like should I do it? Should I not? Should I eat healthy? Should I not? Should I go for the extra run? Should I not? Should I stretch or not?
Marissa LizaCo-host
10:39
It's usually now. It's an easy answer. It definitely keeps you motivated, focused, wanting something to get you out of that rut of the everyday. Like I love working out, but oh man, I'm just going to the gym to, you know, get a workout in Now. It was more something to look forward to.
David SyvertsenHost
10:54
Did you race with anyone in Toronto?
Marissa LizaCo-host
10:56
No, so it's just you. So you're a brave soul.
David SyvertsenHost
10:59
You are. I've always thought that about you. Like you're just going to be, like you know what I'm going to go freaking do it, I see it, I'm like that's it, I just sign up and dive right in.
11:07
Fly to another country by yourself, get a hotel, all that stuff, the financial commitment We'll talk about that in a little bit, because I know that's something that you guys want to know Now. I did the doubles division in Dallas, so I think this is going to be a good back and forth as we get deeper into what it was like, because doing it by yourself is, without a doubt, much more demanding than it is by with a partner, and I think everyone should know there's also different levels to this Not a lot of them and there's basically what I what CrossFitters, would call scaled and RX.
Marissa LizaCo-host
11:40
Yes.
David SyvertsenHost
11:40
We both did the scaled version of it. We didn't do the heaviest ones, correct? They call it pro. So if you're looking at a registration, if it just says high rocks women or high rocks men, that you're doing it by yourself, but it's the lighter weights, ron, is the same for everyone. If you're doing the pro division, you're doing the hardest version of that race and within that race they also have individual and partner. Within the partners you can do same gender or mixed gender. I don't know, I'm a novice to this. I don't know what the logistics are with the weights on the mixed gender division. Do you have any idea what that's like?
Marissa LizaCo-host
12:18
I don't. The sled and the wall balls I don't. I can't. I remember watching a little bit of it. I think it's got to be the same weight because there's too much going on in there to be to be switching weights, unless potentially the wall ball. But I can't imagine the sled changing.
David SyvertsenHost
12:30
Yeah, but like the the yeah, the lunges. The farmer carries, then how do you do a partner farmer carry if it's there's four kettlebells out?
Marissa LizaCo-host
12:35
there, yeah, there's no way.
David SyvertsenHost
12:38
So they have to. They have to have the that weight.
Marissa LizaCo-host
12:40
Yes.
David SyvertsenHost
12:41
Now the actual experience. I want to talk about what it was like leading up to your race, and you know when did. How long did you? What was the gap between you signing up and you actually going to the race? Was it two months, three months?
Marissa LizaCo-host
12:55
It was three months. Yes, it was three months and you know, I felt that I had a good background as far as like conditioning that I could work out for about an hour or a little over an hour, so I felt comfortable with that. I think the biggest thing was I knew I could run for 45 or 50 minutes, but how was I going to feel after lunging, after pulling? How are my hips going to feel? Am I going to be able to continue to run at that point? So I think that was a big part of training and wanting to know how am I going to feel? Am I going to be able to continue to run at that point? So I think that was a big part of training and wanting to know how am I going to feel. That's actually that's what made me the most nervous about it Same same there's.
David SyvertsenHost
13:32
It's one thing. To take on a CrossFit workout that's 15 to 20 minutes, that looks really hard. You kind of already know what you're going to feel like, yeah, and you know it's not going to last that long, because that CrossFit workouts are usually under that. This is an hour plus maybe even an hour and a half, and yeah, it's really hard. I actually think that's kind of what makes it a fitness test from the mental standpoint is how do you respond to something that's unknown?
Marissa LizaCo-host
13:57
Exactly Because you knew, I knew I could. I could keep my heart rate up for an hour and a half, but then to add in the weight component and the station component added a different dynamic to it and that muscle fatigue that you just can't anticipate that you get from running and mixed motor work.
David SyvertsenHost
14:11
What was? Did you change your training up a lot, a little, yeah, in the middle not so much.
Marissa LizaCo-host
14:19
I mean I at that point I really wasn't lifting very heavy. At that point I wasn't coming in and squatting a lot or snatching a lot or cleaning a lot, so I just pretty much kept that the same. I would say, if anything I tried to do longer workouts with, I would always do like try and run fatigued. I remember going to the track and just doing like I would lunge around the track and then run. Okay, you know yeah.
David SyvertsenHost
14:42
I mean, it's a simple way of doing it. We talk about this with lifting at CrossFit all the time. It's like all right, it's cool that you can lift when you're fresh. Can you lift when you're tired. Same thing it's cool that you like to run. Can you run when your muscles are fatigued and your heart rate's high. So you kind of just took that go to a track and do it here. So, would you say, though, did you up the amount of times, or was it more of running per week, or was it a little bit more intentional? It was more intentional.
Marissa LizaCo-host
15:12
Okay yeah. So you didn't all of a sudden start running like 30 miles a week. No Cause I didn't, I didn't want to get hurt, um, and I just thought I'm really mileage wise, I think it's. It ends up being just like a little over four miles that you're running, so I knew I could do that, but it was like how am I going to feel? I wanted to run fatigued. That was the big thing, all right.
David SyvertsenHost
15:28
And once we get wrap up this next part, we'll talk about the race itself, and I think that's where we can kind of circle back to okay, would I have trained something? Would I have changed something up about my training leading up to? But let's talk about some of these things. I actually would want some people to know if you want to do this, because I want to talk about the broad experience and, again, marissa and I we've done one of these. So take some things, what we say, with a grain of salt, but we are, we both did experience it, and I wish I had a few more conversations with others that had done it before that were able to give me a little more detail into like these little things that I care about. I know some others care about just all the simple planning. So the week leading up to so like you're a week away and the races, you did a Saturday, right? Yep, when did you actually get your heat starting time?
Marissa LizaCo-host
16:18
So I got that two days before Wow.
David SyvertsenHost
16:21
Yeah, so Thursday, so Thursday.
Marissa LizaCo-host
16:23
So I had planned, you know, get there Friday, which I got there Friday. Saturday wake up, be done by like one o'clock in the afternoon. That's it. Go to breakfast, go to brunch, like tour the city Sunday, come home. So, because we didn't get that until later on, come to find out that my heat time was not until later on in the afternoon.
David SyvertsenHost
16:42
How late.
Marissa LizaCo-host
16:43
I started at 4.40.
David SyvertsenHost
16:44
4.40 pm on a Saturday.
Marissa LizaCo-host
16:46
So that is, 4.40 is when I'm finishing my work day and hopefully in bed in my pajamas by 7.15 at that point.
David SyvertsenHost
16:53
Unless it's the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Sometimes you go to bed at 7.
Marissa LizaCo-host
16:56
Totally different story. So that was definitely like well, what am I going to do with myself during the day? No, going to do with myself during the day, you know but I had to adapt and I had a similar experience.
David SyvertsenHost
17:14
I actually got, at least got my heats on a Sunday night and our heats were 7 40 PM, my brother and I, and it was a problem. Uh, schedules and logistics, just uh, we had. We went down there, we visited friends and we had plans for that Saturday night because, again, same thing, we just assumed we'd be done at some point at latest in the afternoon and I didn't even know that heats went that late. Probably a shortcoming on my own. I probably could have found out a general time where we'd be going. And they do release. Hey, these are the orders of the divisions in which you sign up, for Our original signup was men pro, so individual men pro.
17:42
The heav sign up was men pro, so individual men pro the heaviest weights, the hardest race there for men, and that that is out there in the public space. And if you're listening to this now, just know you're going to be one of the last heats to go, if you're, if you're in that division, if you're in that. So if you want to go individual by yourself in the hardest kind, doubles or open, you are going to go probably really late afternoon or at night. So if that kind of deters you and you want to go to a different division, that would be useful for you to know.
18:10
But my brother and I, with our travel schedule and the plans that we had, we had to spend I had to jump through a few hoops, had multiple balls in the air for about three, four days. We ended up buying a ticket from someone in the men's doubles division. That was 1140 in the morning, but I didn't even confirm that was a done deal until the Thursday before and I still showed up. Because I'm reading on Reddit online Are you even allowed to buy someone else's ticket and have the name changed and shout out to my phone's, being my phone's recording us right now? But I want to get the name. I have a rep from High Rocks. I got to message her on Instagram. I got her name from Alondra. She was so helpful.
Marissa LizaCo-host
18:49
That's great.
David SyvertsenHost
18:50
She was unbelievably helpful. So that's a big deal. When these things get really big, you need to have staff that are very good at communicating with others, because you probably get bombarded with just complaints and changes and injuries and this and that. She was outstanding, and that made me kind of even raise the level of high rocks in my eyes even a little bit. Did you have any experiences with staff members that you needed help with or anything like?
Marissa LizaCo-host
19:14
that I didn't. I didn't have any. Nothing came up like that. The only thing from what happened was I didn't know that they had originally. On the website it said that the race was 75 wall balls and apparently they made a change this year that they switched it to 100. Shit, which I didn't know and I was like. I saw something on Instagram and it's like 100. And I'm like and I made a comment like is this true? And somebody's like yeah, I'm like. Oh, ok, I mean, at that point, what's another 25?
19:44
wall balls, it's true, and somebody's like, yeah, I'm like, oh okay, I mean at that point, what's another 25?
David SyvertsenHost
19:47
yeah, that's a good point, but still, I would have liked to have known that, that that was a change yeah, but I didn't have any, you know, uh, conversations, any of them, okay stuff, so yeah I I just and like even the help desk out there because I I've run a much smaller, much smaller competition here at bison. It can get overwhelming with the amount of needs that people have and I just felt, like everyone I talked to whether it was online, email or at live at the event very kind, nice, patient and good communicators, that's good so that that's a big deal in terms of, uh, their growth for the future.
20:19
um, why did you do individual like? Did you just want this to be like hey, this is a Marissa thing, this is a me thing. I don't even want to see if anyone else wants to do it.
Marissa LizaCo-host
20:30
Is this a therapy session? Is this a story of my life? Just kidding, I honestly didn't even think about asking anyone. I just thought, like hey, cool, like this is something I can do. I'm sort of used to doing everything on my own, so why not?
David SyvertsenHost
20:46
I mean that's, that's why you're successful. That's a big reason why you're successful.
Marissa LizaCo-host
20:51
I wish now, though, like again. I know we'll get to this, but, but if I do it again, I want to do it with a partner okay.
David SyvertsenHost
20:57
So the reason why I asked you that, one of the main points I want to get out to everyone here that if this is something that interests you but you're not sure about the physical demand, it does make sense to do this as a team at first and then, if you love it, you crush it, you feel great, you felt safe, all right. Maybe the next time you go down the individual path, because when you do the team you're running the full thing. So you're running 8K. No matter what, whether you're individual or team, you have to run together. But then you do get to split some of the work. So I think that really does introduce you to the run capacity, especially those that are not big runners, like some of you might not even know if you can do that. That much running that will show you. But you won't get buried once you're on the floor, having to do everything by yourself.
Marissa LizaCo-host
21:43
Yeah, yeah and I think it. I honestly think it would just be a much more fun experience. You know, working out with a partner, working out with a friend, you're pushing each other, you're laughing, you're joking around, still in that competitive environment. I think it makes it a lot better.
David SyvertsenHost
22:00
Yeah, yeah, I mean, we get asked that all the time here across the competitions what should I do? Should I do partner or individual? And my line is exactly that. Partner is a little bit more like about you, your zone, your fitness test, your result good and bad and you get to control more because it's just you. When you're in a partner, you lose some control, but it's definitely more fun. It's definitely more fun to take it on with someone. So what was the vibe? Speaking of fun, what was the vibe like there?
Marissa LizaCo-host
22:25
I thought it was great. I mean, I didn't know what to expect. So we got up to the convention center in the Uber. I see this giant line outside the convention center. I'm like I already freak out because I have to be there like an hour and a half early. I'm like that's it, I'm going to be late.
22:40
This is so turns out it was for another event, there's like a sneaker event. So at first I thought like oh, this is so poorly organized because all these people waiting outside but come to come inside Very well marked athlete, check-in, athlete here, this is where the spectators go. So it was very and it just felt good. There was tons of people around, tons of athletes around. You know warming, I love that environment. So I just got super excited about it. And they do it at such a big place that you never felt like it was overcrowded. I mean, there was a lot of people, but plenty of room to sit, plenty of room to put your bag down. The line moved quickly, Lots of people checking you in, guiding you where to go. I thought it was exceptional.
David SyvertsenHost
23:27
Did you check a bag?
Marissa LizaCo-host
23:28
I did not Okay, so we did Okay.
David SyvertsenHost
23:37
So it was actually very useful because, like we had a couple of friends come and watch and support us but they weren't there as we were like starting to warm up, so we gave our bag to them and they have a really good clean, clear system of you know, wallet, phone, other clothes that you want to change into, and that's a big use. But I agree, very well marked and I love the aesthetics of everything, just the color combinations. And then again there's a buzz like that. That buzz is really hard to fake, you know, and like sometimes it's, it's in a local jam, like we get to hear during the open, sometimes across the competitions. Like you go in there and like you start almost going numb for a little bit, and then you start warming up.
24:08
What was the warm up area like?
Marissa LizaCo-host
24:10
I thought the warm up area was great. It was lots of machines. There was about four bikes, no-transcript, so that was all you know correlated. They did. I'm sure they had it by you, but they had an um a screen that had everybody's names on there.
David SyvertsenHost
24:47
Yeah.
Marissa LizaCo-host
24:47
That is such that adds to the experience. You want to go and say, look, there's my name up on the board Yep big deal. You feel like you can't wait to go find your name and take a picture next to it.
David SyvertsenHost
24:57
Yeah.
Marissa LizaCo-host
24:57
That is something that they're able to tap into. That mental aspect of being an inclusive environment, yeah, you feel special.
David SyvertsenHost
25:07
You feel special Even during the race and I couldn't find the flow. There was one monitor that every time I turned it you could see a monitor, and there were a few times my brother and I our names were at the top of the list. I'm like is anyone first place for our, for our heat, and like I'm just competitive to a fault. No, but then like, but then I just convinced myself that it was so I'm like Mike, let's go, come on, I'm gonna keep going. And then I, for the last like 30 minutes, like I didn't see it once. I'm like crap, we're falling back. But I guess it's not, that's just, I don't even know what it is.
Marissa LizaCo-host
25:41
So your name comes up on the board.
David SyvertsenHost
25:43
A TV screen.
Marissa LizaCo-host
25:44
Yeah, I think we should talk about when we talk about like the form, because it'll give a better understanding what that is, because I have no idea what that monitor was. So that monitor was telling you where you were in the race, okay, and if you looked, it would say like you know what station you had to go to and how many more laps you had to do on the run.
David SyvertsenHost
26:02
Okay, cool.
Marissa LizaCo-host
26:03
Not first place.
David SyvertsenHost
26:03
Sweet. Yeah, my brother could have used that. He almost got us lost on one of the things. That's a part of the race as well. So we're almost there. So you know what the next one is the race itself. Yeah, so let's do this, let's go right into the race itself.
Marissa LizaCo-host
26:19
I want you to talk about that little hype room right right before, okay, yeah, so, just so everybody knows like you it's.
26:24
You're running around, you know there's basically they set up like a track, so you're around where you do all your runs and then you come into what's called the rock zone, which is where all the stations are.
26:33
So you're always coming in and out and it's always you always come in one part and out the other part Before the race starts. They line you up, you are taken into this covered area with athletes that you'll be in your heat and there is someone there that is hyping you up, getting you really excited, asking you if you've done a race. Before asking you if you're excited. There is a countdown screen on the top there and she or he or she there was a she at my race in a circle has you do some breathing exercises, helps you envision having a great race and you are just so pumped up before you go. And again, great job by High Rock saying we want to tap into this. We were getting that mental part for the athlete, whether whether somebody was going to go out and do it in an hour or three hours, everybody had that experience and it made you feel phenomenal.
David SyvertsenHost
27:32
Like it's really hard, really hard, not to sprint the first 200 meters, if you're just so jest.
Marissa LizaCo-host
27:36
You know. So it's like she's up there and there's like the screen like three, two, one and boom and you're coming out of the shoot like you're coming out like a pro athlete.
David SyvertsenHost
27:43
Yeah right, and everybody got to experience that, yep everyone does, and you know you join this track Like, if you want like a visual I know you guys can find it online, but it's like a football field, like a track around a football field, and you're running around the track and then you go onto the football field and there's different zones within that football field that you have to go to. But when you start, we had 80 people in our starting heat and you're joining hundreds of people that are currently on the floor, so it does get a little bunched up a few different times on the runs.
28:16
Yes, so it does get a little bunched up a few different times on the runs. Yes, I experienced a few runs where you really couldn't get by anyone for a while. It was really hard to weave in and out, not that it mattered that much. You said you didn't have that many issues with that.
Marissa LizaCo-host
28:25
I didn't have that many issues, didn't really feel it was crowded. I will say by my competitive nature, like I wanted to try and keep up with people in my heat where I was, yeah. And you just get lost. So you know, I was kind of like whatever. Yeah right, whoever I was, next to I was kind of like I'm going to try and beat this person.
David SyvertsenHost
28:44
That's smart. That's smart.
Marissa LizaCo-host
28:45
You know you lose the people that you start with.
David SyvertsenHost
28:55
My brother and I did not go into it with like a competitive goal. We had like, hey, we want to break x time, right and and he got really into like the percentiles, like hey, we ranked 25th percentile, that's pretty good. Blah, blah, blah. And but what one thing I loved about the competitive side to it. I actually had probably like a five to ten minute like, oh, this is that that feeling is coming in, even though I told myself it was not.
29:09
It's just for fun if it, yeah, just for fun, like the uh, then you throw an elbow to someone's ribcage because they're ahead of you, but anyway, I didn't do that. You go to your first. After your first run, you go to the skier. That's the first station. Because it's the first station, you go there and it's completely empty because the heat that was previously in front of you 10 minutes and the heat behind you, who hasn't even started yet, they're either gone or haven't gotten there yet. So you get there and there's probably I don't know 80 skiers available and they tell you like, come on down, all the way down, all the way down. You got people helping you out there and there was only two other teams on the skiers when we started. I think it was two. So that right there tells you like, oh wow, we came in third place on that run.
29:53
And then you start getting after the ski. You're looking at third pace, you're looking at third pace and you go, we do another run. We get to the sleds. There's two stations of sleds sled push, sled pull. After the sled pull, we were the first ones onto that fourth run and like, immediately you just had that feeling of like, all right, you know exactly where you stand competitively. And then we got passed from there multiple times from there on out. But I liked that element to it, even though I wasn't competing, it gave you a little extra like motivation and excitement that, when you got to a station, like were those people there yet because you lose them?
Marissa LizaCo-host
30:25
on. You lose them, yes, but yeah, it's nice and again, they do a great job. You never, you're not waiting for a station, you're constantly, you're constantly. There's plenty of equipment there. It is um you're, you're moving, you're not. None of that stuff is holding you back.
David SyvertsenHost
30:40
I asked that to you multiple times. I asked that to Alondra. I was like what happens if you get there and there's, there's like not kettlebells available and like, just at both times, like Shregas, it's not even, not even close?
Marissa LizaCo-host
30:51
Yeah, not even close.
David SyvertsenHost
30:52
Like they have a very mathematic, scientific way of when they send heats out, how many people are going the average, Like we do that on a smaller scale here at Bison and what they do is a really impressive job of hey, when you get to a station, you will be working because of X, Y, Z, yes, and that's probably part of what makes it a very costly operation. The operation Now, what was the station? Were there any stations for you individually that you were just like, ah, like that wasn't enough or it's like man, that was too much Like. Were there any ones that really stand out in your mind, that just like stood out good or bad?
Marissa LizaCo-host
31:27
Yeah, so actually funny story, because when I initially looked at the site, everything's in kilograms and meters. So I'm, like you know, asking Alexa like how long is this? And then doing it in the gym not really sure. Yeah.
David SyvertsenHost
31:42
Yeah.
Marissa LizaCo-host
31:42
And they didn't actually tell you how many times you had to push and pull the sled back and forth.
31:48
So, they, they, they. They did not review that with you. So on the sled pull, which was my hardest and again there's people there watching you. You're not necessarily having an individual judge at that point, counting how many times you go back and forth, so fast forward we finish. And I look at my results later on and I'm comparing myself to where I was and I was like, wow, I came in first place in the sled pull. Well, it's because I missed two.
David SyvertsenHost
32:17
Don't try anyone. Don't try anyone, sam. Delete that, delete that part.
Marissa LizaCo-host
32:23
I was like wow, I did really good. Oh yeah, back ones okay. I only went down and back once. Yep, I was not trying to cheat. It just was in my head. I'm like, oh, this is, this has got to be it, and that was really the hardest part, though, for me that's an interesting.
David SyvertsenHost
32:36
Yeah, I want to talk about some of the hard concentration parts as well, but that is, you know, I wonder if that is different when they are competing at like the higher level, like if there's a pro division, because I know there's like a qualification process to meet, reach the world, right, like where. I wonder if in those divisions you would have your own judge at every station, no matter what, because that does not show up as a penalty. We have time chips. So basically, if you skip a lap which is possible, that you accidentally skip a lap you will get penalized because your chip can tell that you did not run the full length. Yes, and they just give you, they slam you, I think, with a penalty.
Marissa LizaCo-host
33:13
And that's why what you were talking about earlier with the screen.
David SyvertsenHost
33:17
Yeah.
Marissa LizaCo-host
33:17
So the screen up there and it's hard because the names are changing.
David SyvertsenHost
33:20
Right, You're running, so yes you do.
Marissa LizaCo-host
33:22
You do actually have to do a lot. I found mentally to make sure that like, OK, how many times am I, am I running? And I will say at the beginning they do a good. The hype person also says remember, you're going to pass it twice on. The third time is when you go in, and I just had that in my head about that. But they do have the screen up there telling you how many laps you have and then what station you should go to next. But I did find that very hard to follow.
David SyvertsenHost
33:49
Yeah, there was a couple of like, just like I'm like trying to do math on the fly, look at my splits on the clock I'm like wait, there's no way I'd wait, Wait, no, it's just really hard to do. And if you want to kind of like I wish someone had told me this prior to like a better explanation of what these runs and when you go in, when you go out, if you want to look at the entrance and exit from looking at where people are going into the workout floor and you're looking at where people are coming out, you're always going to go in under yellow for us and coming out under the black. Okay, the yellow is on the right, the black is on the left. Again, if you're looking at it from the front, all right, where people are actually going in, and in most cases, after you go through that yellow gate if you want to call it that in gate you're turning left and kind of going back to the floor, almost like the opposite direction of where you were running, to find your zone. It's all labeled, but you got to know what.
34:43
I just finished five. I'm on six. I just finished six, I'm on seven. You have to do that when you go out of black, all right. So now you're back on the track, you're starting, you're passing that yellow tent, that yellow tent, that yellow entrance right away. That's number one.
Marissa LizaCo-host
34:56
Yes.
David SyvertsenHost
34:57
And then you pass it a second time and then, as you're about to pass it a third time, that's when you go in and my brother and I did have a brother fight in the middle of the race. So he's saying that's three. I'm like no, no, no, that was only two and he was pretty adamant that it was three. We keep running and then for the next one and a half minutes I'm running behind him and he keeps on kind of looking at me and I'm like crap, I think I just blew it, like I think maybe we are on our fourth lap and it ended up not being the case.
Marissa LizaCo-host
35:26
But you were right, we were right.
David SyvertsenHost
35:28
But that is confusing. I think. Going into the race, I would tell anyone that's doing this start playing around with how you're mentally going to do that. Like people lose track of their counting here at Bison all the time.
Marissa LizaCo-host
35:39
Yes, and you don't think. You think it's going to be easy. I thought it too.
David SyvertsenHost
35:42
It's like oh, your mind's all over the place, but you really, I really had to think about it. Yeah, like each time I was like one two go in.
Marissa LizaCo-host
35:51
Go to station five go to station six.
David SyvertsenHost
35:53
Did you say it out loud? I did that's like my biggest go-to. Yeah, I had to say it out loud, just when you pass it, say out loud, like here at the gym. I did it on Mondays and I work out, I said out loud what round I finished.
Marissa LizaCo-host
36:11
And the memory, the way it works. I think that that's a big deal. That's a pieceondra, yeah.
David SyvertsenHost
36:15
Alondra, alondra, tip right there.
Marissa LizaCo-host
36:16
Yeah, that's awesome.
David SyvertsenHost
36:18
Yep, so the the anything else. On the race itself, here here's a question. Did you there are? There is water and I think, gatorade or Powerade, whatever it is, it's available before again every time if you want it. You do get out of your way a little bit sometimes and it does slow you down. Did you eat, drink anything during the race?
Marissa LizaCo-host
36:40
I did. So I did have one of those goo packs, and then I had a couple of these shot blocks or whatever. You know, just simple carbs.
David SyvertsenHost
36:50
So where did you hold it during the race?
Marissa LizaCo-host
36:53
I just stuck it in my pants.
David SyvertsenHost
36:54
Okay.
Marissa LizaCo-host
36:54
Yeah, because you're not allowed, nobody's allowed, to give you anything so you can't have any of your spectators giving you anything.
David SyvertsenHost
36:59
Okay.
Marissa LizaCo-host
36:59
I will say, just as advice for anyone that is going to do one is it's easy when you're in the zone, I mean in the rock zone, when you come out of the stations, where the water stations are, before you go out to run. That's where it's easy to be like oh, I can take a little time, I can walk a little bit, like let me take my time before I get out there. Now, of course, by all means, if you need time, to rest, go out there.
37:24
But that's where it's easy to be like, where 30 seconds can easily turn into a minute. So that was sort of like I remember when I used to do a lot of races I would. So my plan was I would run to the water station Okay, Out of the zone, drink my water, as I was like walking towards the door yeah, Typically there's a garbage can there, which there was and then start my run.
David SyvertsenHost
37:45
Yeah.
Marissa LizaCo-host
37:45
Otherwise it's like let me stop at the table, yeah, and that you know that can add time Again if you have a time going on.
David SyvertsenHost
37:52
If you don't care, who cares? If you have a performance school, I would try to tell you either do what Marissa did put something in your pants or your sports bra or something in your shirt and just have a quick gel thing, or just don't do anything. I don't know how much a water or sip of Powerade is really going to help you out, and it does turn into a long rest.
Marissa LizaCo-host
38:12
I do think you need something though. I do think you need something. Yeah, I do think you need to take something.
David SyvertsenHost
38:18
I mean, I personally just feel like you're just you're depleting so many carbs at that point, the preference would be something that you have on you yeah, something you have on to quickly have something, and not do I mean, unless you're doing it an hour Right, it's maybe not, but the fatigue that built up. What was the number one fatigue for you? Was it mental, was it breathing, was it muscles? And specifically, where?
Marissa LizaCo-host
38:41
I think for me it was not breathing. During my run, I was more focused on maintaining a heart rate that I knew I could maintain, like zone three for me. That's one thing I did focus on while I was training, but it was the muscle fatigue. It was the muscle fatigue for sure Legs it was my legs and my hips.
39:01
Muscle fatigue, it was the muscle fatigue, for sure. Legs, it was my legs and my hips. That was a big thing. And again, you know, could I have built more strength? Would that have made it better? I don't know. I think it was balancing that fine line of not building too much muscle. I mean not that I was going to put on that much muscle at this point, but you know, what I mean, like in that training time.
39:19
But I think that's probably something I would have done a little bit better, as maybe up those weights a little bit, cause you don't realize in the row you're getting fatigued, the lunging is a lot, the burpees are a lot and that was a lot hip and quad dominant that even though it's heart rate it's still, they're still using that.
David SyvertsenHost
39:36
Yeah, you're jumping off the front of half your foot.
Marissa LizaCo-host
39:38
And a broad jump.
David SyvertsenHost
39:38
You're stopping with all like knees and quads there. Yeah, that that was, I agree Like my hips, low back and just lower body in general really just started to like kind of flame out towards the end to the point where I actually noticed on one of the last runs I'm like I noticed this a lot with myself running. I'm not breathing that heavy, I just can't open it up.
Marissa LizaCo-host
39:59
I just can't go.
David SyvertsenHost
40:00
I just can't move my legs fast enough, I can't open up my stride.
Marissa LizaCo-host
40:04
And one thing I was always hoping I wanted to not get to the wall balls and be totally depleted.
David SyvertsenHost
40:09
Yeah, those are staring you in the face the whole time.
Marissa LizaCo-host
40:10
Yeah. So you know, you have 100 wall balls coming at you and in the open division the wall ball is only 10 pounds. So I sort of was like oh, it's only 10 pounds, I can do this, and I trained with a heavier wall ball, but still it was still a lot of muscle fatigue at that point.
David SyvertsenHost
40:26
I want to touch on the spectator experience because I think this is actually something that people should know, that have an interest in doing one, and if you have some friends and family that want to watch, or you're going to go watch some friends and family, or you're even going to go do it in the morning and watch in the afternoon, I thought the spectator experience was very friendly.
Marissa LizaCo-host
40:44
Excellent.
David SyvertsenHost
40:45
Like just you know, I've been to CrossFit competitions over the past and like you do it to go support people. So it's not about you when you're spectating, but I will say spectating is rough sometimes. Like you could be there for eight, nine hours straight and you're watching people work out for eight minutes and they disappear for three hours. And this is I go watch someone, I want to watch someone. They're done in basically an hour 15, hour 45, I'd say somewhere in that gap, and it's you're constantly. It's very well marked. You're constantly going to a new station waiting for them to circle back from the run. You can watch them on the run if you want to give them some support, and then they're there. It's almost like every five to six, seven, eight minutes. They're doing something different that you can support them on, and then you're in and out if you need it to be pretty quickly.
Marissa LizaCo-host
41:29
Yes, it's a great spectator experience. They also had people monitoring if you had to leave the convention center. There was somebody there saying, hey, now it's time to cross, cause you essentially would be crossing where the runners are. Um, but they did a great job of that and again kudos to them for having it designed that way and thinking that and saying, hey, how are we again?
41:51
Because you know what, when you're out there, you want somebody being like hey, great job, have a sign, have this. Like. That's just going to add more to the experience and touching that mental side of why somebody would want to want to do this.
David SyvertsenHost
42:03
Yeah, I mean shout out to Ryan and Nicole Ratcliffe, former members at Bison, and Karam was down there Like it. That when we have we've all experienced this when you hear that familiar voice just saying, like good job, like it, it, it's a huge help because it is such a mental grind, that whole thing. I actually give you credit that you were. You didn't have us up there cheering you on. I bet you'd be like 15 minutes faster if you had us on at your mid-workout.
Marissa LizaCo-host
42:27
Well, I had you in my head when I told you that I was under wall balls. You're like better go unbroken. I was like okay.
David SyvertsenHost
42:33
That sounds like a Dave line.
Marissa LizaCo-host
42:35
But also too, in the middle I don't know if they had this on your event Like they had food. There was like a food area where you can get drinks and food, and like a shop set up where you can get gear, yep. So again, that was great.
David SyvertsenHost
42:47
Was that inside the thing that was Inside the actual floor?
Marissa LizaCo-host
42:50
Yeah, ours was like in the hallway, yeah, no, Ours was inside, and then they also had, like bleachers, set up that where you could watch the last um the wall, the wall balls.
David SyvertsenHost
43:00
Yeah, yeah, that's awesome.
Marissa LizaCo-host
43:02
Yeah, which was, which was really cool.
David SyvertsenHost
43:03
I bet little things like that might change based on where they're doing. I'm like some some. Some of the places are just a little bit bigger than others, I bet. So like ours all that.
43:10
A lot of that stuff was outside in the hallway, so it made a little bit more like traffic in and out, but you find a way there, I would say. We did notice. I was like man, I wish there was a different way to get out of the building. Like if I was spectating and I waited on the long line it could have taken a half hour to get out. Yeah, because they only go in so many times at once and there's like 100 people that want to get out at once and let's say they're doing 15 to 20 at a time every two, three minutes. Like you could have waited for a half hour, maybe even an hour, to get out if you played by the rule or you could have snuck out, but I don't know anyone that did that. But looking forward to Marissa, here's the number one question, because I've gotten asked this a few times already. Would you do it again?
Marissa LizaCo-host
43:52
Absolutely Hands down. No, no question, no question. So that means you're going to do it again.
David SyvertsenHost
44:01
I will do another one. Will you do one? What I like about this, too, is like you can make a trip out of this. Go see a new city you've never seen, international or domestic. If there's one in New York, it has not been released yet. There was one last year. I'm assuming there will be another one at some point spring, summer. Is that the one that you would want to do, because you probably would have a bigger cohort from here, or is it something that you really kind of want to make a trip out of?
Marissa LizaCo-host
44:20
uh, that's a. That's a really good question. I think I like to travel and do these things. I think it's just a cool way to experience the city and get some, you know, do it. So I would probably look to go to another foreign city and do it okay, foreign city, but I'm domestic. I would like to do, but it is nice to be close to home yeah, there is advantage to that as yeah.
David SyvertsenHost
44:39
I mean, it's not like you can only do one again.
Marissa LizaCo-host
44:42
You could do multiple.
David SyvertsenHost
44:43
You know like this could be a nice. I'm actually already thinking about a couple of my friends outside of CrossFit, outside of Bison, that it would be fun to maybe meet up in a different city every year.
Marissa LizaCo-host
44:52
Yes, it would be fun. I just met somebody recently that they travel like six or eight of them.
David SyvertsenHost
44:57
I do them as partners and they go different places.
Marissa LizaCo-host
45:00
I think that's really cool. That is really cool.
David SyvertsenHost
45:01
There's some crazy people out there that do the partners in the morning and the individual at night. Get out of here. It's crazy. Try hard. No, just kidding. It's like those people that work out twice a day. It's just losers. No, any of those people. No, no, no, no. Who do you think? And be honest about this, don't give me a PG answer, I won't. Who should do this and who should not do this? Let's be positive first. Who should do this?
Marissa LizaCo-host
45:30
I mean, I really think everyone could do one.
David SyvertsenHost
45:33
Yeah.
Marissa LizaCo-host
45:33
I really do. I agree, I can say that there's. Unless you really hate running, don't do it.
David SyvertsenHost
45:38
Yeah.
Marissa LizaCo-host
45:39
If you don't like running, don't do it. If you don't like running, don't do it. But, because of the no time limit. That's a big thing, Anyone can do one Agreed.
David SyvertsenHost
45:53
And I mean just so you guys know, there's people that walk.
Marissa LizaCo-host
45:55
Yes, I found that very annoying.
David SyvertsenHost
45:57
I did too. But most of them say to the outside you don't have to go out there and run fast and you don't even have to go run. You should run most of it. But if you really need to walk a lap, you're not going to be disqualified or penalized. I know, we'll just talk about you on a podcast a few months later.
Marissa LizaCo-host
46:15
I don't want to get controversial on the podcast, but I get a little annoying because I'm like all right come on yeah, Put a little effort in. Yeah, Like I know everybody wants to sort of like I did it thing.
David SyvertsenHost
46:23
Yeah, yeah. But that being said, that's not really pushing yourself, that's not really pushing, and that's not the point of this.
Marissa LizaCo-host
46:30
I know, but that's also why they're getting 8,000 people in a day sometimes.
David SyvertsenHost
46:33
Okay, good point. Low, low entry point.
Marissa LizaCo-host
46:36
You know. So that's part of the inclusive.
David SyvertsenHost
46:39
Yeah.
Marissa LizaCo-host
46:39
You don't really can't train that hard. You can still finish this. You can still have your name on the board. There's nothing wrong with that.
David SyvertsenHost
46:45
Right, I agree with you. You know that's a good fair point, fair point.
Marissa LizaCo-host
46:49
But I do think anyone I honestly think and maybe I'm just saying this because I'm Not love CrossFit but this was a perfect way to have that competitive side but not feel like I'm beating myself up in CrossFit.
David SyvertsenHost
47:06
That's a great one, I will say as a CrossFit owner and CrossFit competitor getting back into it now that December's here. It is a much safer way to put yourself in a competitive environment. I just got done talking to Bobby about it, a buddy of mine, he's been working out here at Open Gym lately and a competitive environment. I just got done talking to Bobby about it, a buddy of mine, he's been working out here at Open Gym lately. It's if you have a desire to compete and you have some mobility restrictions or some previous injuries, like CrossFit could lead you down a pretty dark path. I don't feel that way about High Rocks at all, unless those issues pop up with running.
Marissa LizaCo-host
47:42
Yes.
David SyvertsenHost
47:42
Like you can't not run and go, do this.
Marissa LizaCo-host
47:44
Yes, it's just not going to work.
David SyvertsenHost
47:45
It's not going to work and if you get hurt when you run, then I think we have to have a conversation. But you're not snatching. You're squatting a little bit, but it's a very light squat. You're not walking on your hands. You're not doing anything above your head like holding weight, so you can.
Marissa LizaCo-host
48:03
it's a safer approach to putting yourself in a competitive environment than crossfit? Absolutely yes, but I said to you I'll say this, like because I love crossfit, like the best shape I was in, even though I worked out for did hyroxid whatever time. There's nothing like being a crossfit.
David SyvertsenHost
48:16
Oh yeah, no no, there's no question about the fittest you ever will be if you're on a pretty lengthy, extensive, quality and dedicated CrossFit program. The debate that Sam and I talk about all the time on the podcast and in private conversations with a lot of people is the risk reward factor. It's like, hey, if you are going to achieve that high level of fitness, there might be not definitely there might be some negatives that come from it. But do you feel? I mean I think you already answered this, but I want you to reflect a little bit more on the fact that you've done CrossFit. Hey, I'm trying to sell CrossFit. That is really the reason maybe 90% of the reason why you really could get through this at a pretty decent rate. Yes, definitely, definitely Because of the reason why you really could get through this at a pretty decent rate.
Marissa LizaCo-host
48:59
Yes, definitely, definitely Because of the CrossFit background.
David SyvertsenHost
49:03
Mentally too.
Marissa LizaCo-host
49:04
Absolutely.
David SyvertsenHost
49:04
Yeah.
Marissa LizaCo-host
49:05
The mental part, the knowing that, like I can handle this amount of volume, like if anybody had not done CrossFit before, you'd be like oh my goodness, I have to do this. X. You know you're doing a lot of lunging, a lot of the farmer's carries long, you know, even a thousand meter row.
David SyvertsenHost
49:20
Yeah.
Marissa LizaCo-host
49:20
That's a lot.
David SyvertsenHost
49:21
And ski and ski. Yeah, those are.
Marissa LizaCo-host
49:23
That definitely the CrossFit background prepares you for that, for sure.
David SyvertsenHost
49:27
Yeah, like any like negative emotions are like like oh man, this is getting nasty. Like I felt that a million times over the years. Where it's like I know I'm going to get through it, where someone does not put them through the blender on some workouts. They might really struggle with this because it's the first time they've really physically felt like this before and they're like are things going to start shutting?
Marissa LizaCo-host
49:46
down on me that kind of stuff. This is a long time, but yeah.
David SyvertsenHost
49:49
Do you think there's a personality type or something physical of why someone should not do this, other than I hate running? If you hate running, then obviously don't do this.
Marissa LizaCo-host
50:01
Listen, there's a lot of people there. There's a lot of people, there's a lot going on when you're there, if you're not somebody that enjoys that type of environment, with being around multiple people and that whole scene, it's, that's a good point.
David SyvertsenHost
50:16
There's a lot going on.
Marissa LizaCo-host
50:18
There's a lot going on. I mean, there's music blaring in there. You got people, people waiting online to do this. Who wants to get on this machine to warm up again? There's adequate space for it, but there's a lot of people, yeah, so in that, if that's not your thing, then you know it's and you're, you're out there. There's no really hiding in there it's not like you're just going off into the corner. You're out there. There's people cheering you on, whether you like it or not.
David SyvertsenHost
50:41
Ability to concentrate on a couple of different things at once is something that I think could limit someone's experience. Like if you have a hard time counting laps, like kidding aside, like counting laps and keeping track of what station you're just on, but also keeping track of your breathing and your quality of movement for the sake of safety. Like if you feel that, as you, this might not be the greatest experience for you, and or I would really encourage the partner version first, so you're not out there by yourself. Um, physically, the mobility demands are not crazy, but there are wall balls at the end. So you really, like you really have to be able to know that you can squat pretty high volume while your legs are going to feel the worst. Yes, that's something that you should put some thought into.
51:28
And now that Hyrox is getting a little bit more mainstream, the fact that some people are not hitting standards is now getting. Hiller just did a video to the video. Hiller has made a reputation on YouTube for crushing people, for no reps and videos in the competitive sport and how bad that looks if you're not squatting below parallel. Love him or hate him. He's made a pretty big name for himself in that regard and now he's entering the high rocks world where you have people not even half squatting, doing wall balls and getting credit for it, and now that you're going to have a little bit more, some more eyes on you. If you're someone that does not have the mobility to squat or you're someone that really kind of skates by on standards a lot, there's going to be more and more eyes looking for that. Now and I do think any sort of this is not just exclusive to high rocks you need to try and train yourself to move with really high quality A for yourself, but B there's going to be more eyes on you now.
Marissa LizaCo-host
52:22
Yeah, I didn't even know he started looking at that. I do think you do have a judge.
David SyvertsenHost
52:28
That's the one time you do have your own personal judge at the wall ball station.
Marissa LizaCo-host
52:31
That's counting you. I mean, I would never get no rep.
David SyvertsenHost
52:34
No, yeah, you don't even know how to no rep.
Marissa LizaCo-host
52:36
No, I'm just kidding, but I don rep.
David SyvertsenHost
52:41
no, I'm just kidding, but I don't know, I don't know how how that was if they were no repping anyone or saying anything.
Marissa LizaCo-host
52:44
I mean, I did have somebody say something to me on one of the burpees like hey, watch your hands yep, same here, so you know that was good.
David SyvertsenHost
52:48
Yep, definitely no standards there last thing what would you have done differently? Slash. What do you wish someone had told you prior to the race that you did not know?
Marissa LizaCo-host
53:03
If there was just one thing I would say to run more fatigued. Okay, yeah, yeah, run more fatigued.
David SyvertsenHost
53:12
So do stuff in the gym and then go run.
Marissa LizaCo-host
53:14
Yes, Do stuff in the yes Train that.
David SyvertsenHost
53:17
Yes, mentally prepare for that, yes.
Marissa LizaCo-host
53:18
Okay, and not in a 20-minute AMRAP, in a 40-minute.
David SyvertsenHost
53:22
AMRAP in a 45-minute AMRAP yeah.
Marissa LizaCo-host
53:24
Like that was. I wish I would have done a little more longer training periods rather than just doing them shorter.
David SyvertsenHost
53:32
Yeah, yeah, and I remember you coming back saying you wish you had trained the strength a little bit more with like the sled. Yeah, you had trained the strength a little bit more with like the sled. Yeah, Like like I wish I went in feeling stronger for that move. I felt like that, even though you skipped one. But but so would that be something like if you do it again, will you try to train that a little bit?
Marissa LizaCo-host
53:50
more. Yeah, I'll try to get a little bit stronger on that, yeah, yeah.
David SyvertsenHost
53:53
Now the one thing I would have done in the again Again, this is really hard, training for these things is hard. For this reason alone, I would have tried to work out in more like hour to maybe even two hour time periods, like two hours straight of not high rocks, but like example, like row for 10 minutes, go run for five minutes, you know, ski for 10 minutes, go run for another five minutes and just building up that capacity run capacity, fatigued muscle capacity for working that long. But also maybe start experimenting with fueling mid workout.
54:26
Like what does that feel like? Like I wish I could have run more. I was always afraid to do too much. We said again I didn't want to tweak anything and go down there in one piece, multiple pieces. But if you really want to get to your peak in this thing, if that's something you're going to have to train in that hour and a half to two hour window, you have to work for longer than what the race would be. Example if Marissa was like I want to get better at 10 minute AMRAPs, I would do a lot of different things, but it would be 15, a lot of 15 to 20 minute working periods, so that 10 minutes no longer seems overwhelming. We were my brother and I were hour 13, like by 50 minutes. I was like other than Murph. I never do this, ever. So that's something I would put a little more effort into.
Marissa LizaCo-host
55:04
Yeah, but again, I think I know you're probably going to close this out soon, but like I can't recommend this race enough, yeah. Yep you can't recommend it enough for anyone whether you're doing CrossFit, whether you're just going to a regular gym, whether you're doing any of the other training programs out there if you're looking for something that is a competitive, fun goal to have, I think it's a great experience.
David SyvertsenHost
55:29
Completely agree, and this comes from the CrossFitter and, like I opened it up, I don't think there's a CrossFit High Rocks fracture, if there is one, other than just joking around us, who's fitter? What's harder? They really are each other. I really feel like CrossFit is High Rocks and High Rocks is CrossFit, and that's why you know I could see them partnering up at some point. Um, but I I agree, I would recommend it anyone, especially if you're someone that wants, like what Marissa said, I just want something in my, in my sight to put my eyes on so that I can have some extra motivation and drive, because that dopamine rush that you get from finishing the race, it is such a good feeling to know that you put yourself through a process to get that done.
56:12
You accomplish and it is hard to do. There's different levels, but you put a lot of work in over the years to be able to do something like that and I want everyone. That's why I like I lean into competition. It's not because, just because I like to compete, I know the feeling you get from it and it can just bring you to a new'm training for something every part of every other part of my life is better, all in all the campus.
56:43
It's all, it, just it all works.
Marissa LizaCo-host
56:44
You know, this is what I got to do. So you just yeah. So I definitely, if you need to push, if you need something to just like, hey want to find inspiration again. Yep, Great thing to do, Great.
David SyvertsenHost
56:55
All right. Well, guys, that for this week's episode on High Rocks. We both fully endorse it. If you're kind of on the fence, go check out the website and just see where the next race is, or the next. They sell out, by the way. So if you're going to do it, commit to that right now and then look for what race you want to go do. If you wait and be like, oh, maybe a week or two before I'll try, you know, there is a secondary market. There is a secondary market. I wouldn't trust it. I got a little lucky and I was nervous about it as well. Go sign up for one, the second you're allowed to. So make the decision now and hopefully we'll be there supporting you. Guys, if you do sign up, let both of us know and we'll have more conversations about it. Sure, all right.
Marissa LizaCo-host
57:32
Thanks for having me.
David SyvertsenHost
57:33
Thank you, Marissa.
Marissa LizaCo-host
57:34
Thank you. All right, see you.
David SyvertsenHost
57:35
Thanks. Thank you, everybody for taking the time out of your day to listen to the Herd Fit Podcast. Be on the lookout for next week's episode.
