First, she blacked out. Then, she set a world record.
Over the last year, Lauren Griffith has burst onto the hybrid racing scene. She has won pro races in Dallas (1:06:46), Chicago (1:04:25), and Los Angeles (1:02:18). She also finished third in Deka Fit and second in Deka Mile at the World Championships last December. Last weekend in Vienna, she made her Elite 15 debut and teamed up with Lauren Weeks to set the women’s doubles record (58:03).
The Hybrid Letter talked with Lauren about the extraordinary finish to her first Elite 15 race, how she has benefited from hiring a coach, and the most effective way to tackle wall balls.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The Hybrid Letter: How did you get started in hybrid competitions?
Lauren Griffith: I ran cross country in college. After I finished college, I started doing OCR and Spartan races. At one of those races, someone was talking about this awful race they did. Naturally, I was like, “Tell me more.” I love awful things.
She described it as “death by cardio,” but different from Spartan. These races had a structured course where the obstacles were always the same. And I was drawn to the big running component. I tried a few out, and halfway through last year, I decided to go for it — to really compete in the hybrid space with Hyrox and Deka. I anticipated this to be a building year since I was just starting. Everything happened a lot faster than I expected.
THL: How has your experience with Hyrox been compared to Deka?
LG: I like them both for different reasons. I love the quick get-in, get-it-done feeling with Deka. It feels so fast-paced, and you don’t have a ton of time to think about things. I do love Hyrox races, too. They push you to the limit, and you see how far you really can go. I like that challenge.
I honestly heard about Hyrox first. My coach, Anthony Peressini from The Hybrid Engine, told me about Deka right before the [September 2023] last-chance qualifier in Florida. He said I should go for it since it complimented the training I was doing. I jumped in at the last minute but got to Deka Worlds that way.
THL: What aspects of the race have you focused on in your training?
LG: It evolves. When I started out, I was trying to figure out how to do the Ergs. I wasn’t familiar with them and hadn’t done them before. Anthony’s approach to this part of my training — figuring out what I should focus on — is why I’ve loved working with him. He loves data. He pulls it up, and we break it down. The worst areas of the race for me to start were burpees and lunges.
THL: What does a typical week of training look like for you?
LG: My training is focused on Hyrox right now. While I do love doing Deka events, that is a secondary focus for me. I probably run around 45-55 miles a week — this does include miles in between station work. I work a full-time job in software sales. Luckily, I have a desk job that allows me to do tough training sessions in the early morning, and recover physically while sitting for work. It is not always a mental recovery, but I do get time not on my feet. Sometimes, I do another session in the afternoon sometimes.
THL: You made your Hyrox Elite 15 debut this month in Vienna. What happened?
LG: I went into Vienna feeling pretty confident. I knew I could do well. I thought my race performances and training would set me up for a good race. That is obviously not how it turned out.
I don’t really know what happened, but during the lunges, I just blacked out. I would say passed out, but I kept moving. I vaguely remember in the last few lengths of the lunges being helped to a different area, being checked on, and eventually gaining some of my memory back. They checked my vitals and said they were normal enough. They wanted to pull me off the course. But even though it was really hard to know I was so far behind, I wanted to finish. It was heartbreaking in every sense. But I knew I would be more disappointed by not finishing than by coming in last place.
THL: The end of your solo race, after you blacked out, was quite a scene. The entire female Elite 15 field was cheering you on as you knocked out 100 unbroken wall balls. How did that feel?
LG: I don’t usually get emotional, but I was on the verge of tears. I was anticipating finishing the race in complete silence to grieve the race I wish I had run and let the disappointment just take over. Instead, I had 14 females cheering me straight through. It was so encouraging and definitely pushed me to complete the wall balls unbroken.
THL: Your performance on the wall balls after what you just endured was impressive. Do you have any tips about how to handle that station, mentally and physically?
LG: One thing I started doing with Anthony was more wall ball training. Sometimes it is 20 reps for 10 minutes every minute. We usually do them at the end of a pretty hard training session. We also looked at the quality of my wall balls. At the end of the race, when you feel like you’ve already given everything you got and you get no reps, it’s devastating. In my training, if I’m not doing a rep perfectly, I will not count it.
Anthony actually suggested my new wall ball strategy, which has helped me. He suggested getting as many reps as possible until almost your breaking point. Then, give yourself a 5-second break. After that, do 10-15 rep blocks. If you are able to do 50 to 60, then you really only have another 4-5 sets. That sounds a lot better than doing 100. Some of my friends joked after Vienna that the key to unbroken wall balls is taking a quick nap in the race. So now I just have to cut down on my nap time!
THL: Your finish in Vienna is a testament to your mental grit. What is your mental approach when things get tough?
LG: During training workouts, when it sucks, or I don’t feel like finishing something, I always think about the next race. Being in the pain cave while training gives me a reminder of how much I can handle in a race. During a race, I am mostly concentrating on one foot in front of the other. Honestly, my mind sometimes is a blank slate with no thoughts.
THL: In your last three Pro races, you led the field and, many times, found yourself alone in front. How did the Elite race feel in comparison?
LG: It was a lot of fun jockeying for positions and going back and forth. It gets you amped up. I can normally handle going at that kind of rate. On that day in Vienna, it pushed my limit, and I just went a little too far. But that is a big part of an Elite race. It is probably why I ended up blacking out. It was such a competitive race and I didn’t catch the cues I should have or normally would have to back off the intensity. I wanted it so bad and wanted to keep up with those women.
THL: After your experience in the Elite 15 race, how did you and Lauren Weeks approach the doubles race the next day?
LG: Running with Lauren was the highlight of the weekend. We did have a thought that we could beat the world record. We had it all mapped out and felt like it could be feasible. We both started off feeling pretty sore and tired from the race the night before. But we wanted to just go for it and see how hard we could push. It was really fun getting to run with her. I feel like on any given day, she could do that time by herself. So it was trying to keep pace with her on the runs and push through the stations. We kept up our communication and had a plan to adjust if needed. My only other doubles race was with my mom last year, which was a much different race than this.
I’m so grateful for the doubles race with Lauren. It was a good redemption race and brought back the confidence that the Elite 15 race sucked out of me.
THL: How has your experience been working with a coach?
LG: I had been coaching myself for so long. Working with The Hybrid Engine and Anthony gave me someone to look at programming objectively. When you program for yourself, you often talk yourself out of workouts, or maybe you don’t feel like doing the workout, or you question if you are overtraining. You start to second guess if you are doing it right. Having a coach takes that away. It is someone who can tell you that you need to back off or remind you that they programmed it because they know you are capable of handling it.
Anthony’s approach to training really matched what I was currently doing but brought it to the next level. He has insight and experience from working with top-tier athletes. There are so many great coaches out there. It is about finding the right one for you.
You can follow Lauren's hybrid racing journey on Instagram.
Hybrid Athlete of the Week: Bernie Gutierrez
Name: Bernie Gutierrez
Age: 30
Hometown: El Paso, TX
Why did you start competing in hybrid races? I’ve naturally always had a hybrid training style. I've always juggled a lot of sports. I currently play women’s professional football and compete at the elite Dragon Boat level. In November 2019, I heard The Challenge, an MTV reality show, was going to be hosting casting calls during a Spartan Race. I’d never heard of a Spartan Race but always wanted to compete in The Challenge, so I signed up. Little did I know that I would fall in love with obstacle course racing. Then I came across DekaFit, which was similar but had more functional movements and less mud, so I was all in! After that I was introduced to Hyrox, which naturally gravitated towards because it involves running, strength, and grit.
Favorite race to date?: My favorite race will always be my very first solo race, which was the women's pro division at the 2022 US Championships in Chicago. It was my fastest time yet and the one I enjoyed the most. I fell in love with the race. I came in 3rd in my heat, 6th in my age group, and 16th in the women's pro division. I felt so alive being around so many amazing athletes, and knowing deep inside that I could be one of those top athletes if I really sharpened up my training and eating habits.
Do you have a race goal? The goal is to always be better than the last. That doesn’t mean my overall time, but maybe I did stations faster or felt stronger, maybe I did my wall balls unbroken, or maybe I did the ski faster than 5 minutes. Whatever improvement, I’ll take it! The plan is to race in Washington and Houston with the goal of qualifying for Worlds.
Favorite station? My favorite part of the race is the running. That is honestly where I feel like I catch up to the pack and am able to catch my breath. On top of the running, I have grown to love the sled push. At first it was probably one of my worst stations, but I was determined to build the strength to be able to push the sled in under four minutes. Plus, focusing on the sleds has helped me gain a little bit more of a booty. Haha.
Least favorite station? My least favorite station is the ski erg. I still haven’t figured out a good groove with it where I feel strong and fast. I don't weigh much, and I’m short, so I have all the odds against me.
Things you wish you knew when you started racing? I’ve been an athlete my whole life, so you would think I know all the ins and outs. But man did I forget how addicting it can be to compete. The addiction can also add up financially. So be aware that you don’t only have to be disciplined when it comes to your weekly workouts, but you also have to be disciplined when it comes to managing money.
Science Corner: WHOOP’s strain score
Many hybrid athletes rely on wearable devices to assist with their training. One of the most popular devices is the WHOOP, which provides feedback on your training based on a proprietary metric called Strain. Each day, the WHOOP sets an optimal level of Strain to achieve.
In his 2% newsletter, Michael Easter does a deep dive into the science of Strain and compares its usefulness to other metrics like total steps or calories burned. Easter notes that Strain is “not a real physiological phenomenon” like heart rate or blood pressure. WHOOP does not disclose the algorithm it uses to calculate strain. But according to WHOOP’s chief scientist, who talked to Easter, it is mostly based on heart rate.
That’s a significant problem because WHOOP measures your heart rate from your wrist, which does not provide very accurate readings, especially during exercise. It’s even worse for people with darker skin or tattoos. Easter is skeptical that Strain – and similar proprietary training metrics produced by companies like Garmin and Coros – are particularly useful or accurate. They all use flawed data, run it through an algorithm that makes a lot of assumptions, and spit out a score.
The takeaway is not that these devices are useless but that athletes should take their training readiness scores with a grain of salt. Some people may get more value out of simpler tools like a pen and paper. You can read more here:
