How Rich Ryan leveled up

Rich Ryan is not only an elite Hyrox athlete and the former Deka Fit World Champion, but he is also one of the most prominent voices in hybrid sports. He co-hosts two hybrid-focused podcasts weekly — RMR Training and Race Brain — and coaches many hybrid athletes, including some of the best in the sport. 

Rich continues to perform at the highest level. After missing out on the Hyrox World Championship last year, Rich punched his ticket to this year's championship by finishing third at the North American Championships earlier this month in DC. His time, 58:16, was a personal best.

The Hybrid Letter talked with Rich about overcoming disappointment, how to prepare yourself for discomfort, and whether someone beating Hunter McIntyre would be good for the sport.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

The Hybrid Letter: You just had an amazing race at Hyrox DC, qualifying for the 2024 Hyrox World Championship in France. Last year, you were very public about wanting to make the Hyrox World Championships, but it didn't work out. How do you process something like that and get to where you are today?  

Rich Ryan: The 2022-2023 season was frustrating from beginning to end. I was coming off a real high after winning the Deka World Championships [in December 2022], which was a highlight of my career. I had all this positive momentum. And then, the way the season was shaking out, it became clear that it was gonna be really difficult to qualify for the World Championships for a few reasons.

First, the depth of athletes that are emerging, the growth of the sport. It's attracting more people, so it's going to be more challenging to get there. Then, there are a limited number of athletes that do qualify for World Championships. It's 15 people, so not that many. Finally, with the system that was set up, it just didn’t seem like there was a fair chance to qualify. There was a race in Sweden. I signed up for it. It sucks, but I decided to do it. Then they canceled that race. It was just not meant to be. 

When it became clear that I wasn't going to be able to race the World Championships, I went through a bit of a mourning period. I was doing all the stages. I let myself be bummed out for a while. It definitely lingered longer than I would have liked. It's kind of strange. It's a competition that is new and it's not incredibly meaningful. But it just really took it out of me for a while. 

I really had no other option but to continue to put my nose down, regroup, and believe that I had what it took to get there and race against those athletes. 

I love the training, so it was back to the drawing board. What do I need to do to make myself better at running time trials? Where am I lacking? What do the other athletes have that gives them an advantage over me at this point? Just plan out the season.

The way that it worked out, a time that I ran last year trying to prepare for the World Championships, got me into the majors this year. So last year wasn't a complete failure in that respect. The work that I put in to try to qualify in 2023, essentially led me to qualify in 2024.

THL: This year, there appears to be a lot of parity among the elite men in Hyrox. In one race, someone might come in 13th. In the next race, the same person might come in 3rd. It really varies from race to race. How much do you think the outcome of the race is determined by fitness level versus the athlete's mental approach? Does everyone in the elite field have the fitness to win?

RR: So zooming out, as a fan, on the men’s side there are probably three to five athletes that are on a different level in terms of their fitness. Maybe mindset gets them to that fitness level. But their performance seems to be at a certain tier. In the second tier, the next 20 athletes, the difference in fitness between each athlete is very small. So among that group, there are a variety of factors: someone’s mindset, stress, travel, or last training block. It’s very nuanced. It can change the outcome of the race drastically. 

The way these races are run, the momentum can shift pretty early. At the sled push, you’re in it or you’re out of it. Whether it's your plan, or stress, or fitness. It’s hard to predict who is going to have a good race in the second tier. But that seems to be where it separates. From that point, there isn’t really much coming back. 

The mental part is how the race is going. Either you veer outside of yourself and worry about what’s happening to you within the race or you stay inside yourself, like Graham did, no matter what happens and push as hard as you can. The latter seems to be the best way to get the results. For me at the wall ball section, I knew Colin was having a hard time. I heard two or three people that were next to me dropping their wall balls. I was like, alright, I’m not doing great here but I think I’m beating them. And then I started racing them, rather than staying with myself the way Graham did. 

THL: One thing you have talked about regarding your success in DC, is that leading up to the race, you told yourself you were going to be really uncomfortable for the last 28 minutes. And that was a mindset shift that helped you. Was it as simple as just saying that to yourself? Or did you take a different approach to your training or race strategy to support that? 

RR: That’s a great question because they have to go hand in hand. You see a lot of motivational speakers with quotes like, "It’s mind over matter." But if you don't have the physical ability and you haven't put yourself in a position to understand what that’s going to feel like in training it will not work. 

One thing I have come to realize about myself is I am not a natural fire-breather. I can’t just see something for the first time, put my head down, and run through a wall. I need to look at the wall, see where the soft parts are, test it, and see how I can get through it. Once I feel it out and figure out how to get through it by putting myself in that position repeatedly, then I can really adapt to the physical demands and the mental feeling of it. 

I can learn to trust that this is just discomfort, and I'm physically prepared to handle this discomfort as long as I am mentally going to accept that I cannot escape it. It's a bit fleeting for me. I can forget that it's OK to be that uncomfortable. So the training had to change a little bit. And that was something that I did focus on from the week and a half I had from Vienna [Hyrox] into DC. I really did put myself in these uncomfortable positions and tried to press the pace a little bit more and not worry about it being sustainable. 

This race is mostly a long grind and for a lot of people, it's about surviving. There's a totality of the race. And I stopped worrying about how sustainable my pace was going to be and started focusing more on pressing into that discomfort, finding myself there, and just accepting it. 

When it came to the 28-minute thing, I knew that's where things get really ugly, just from previous races. It was more about bracing myself for how uncomfortable it was going to be. That's just what I told myself over and over and over. Then, when I was there, it was what I was expecting. It felt really terrible. There's nothing you can do about it, but you can keep going. 

THL: For a typical Hyrox athlete who wants to keep chipping away at their time, do you think that kind of training — placing yourself into very significant discomfort — is something they should incorporate into their training? 

RR: I think there are stages to get to that point of training. There are stages in your development as an athlete, to kind of get to this point where suffering for the entire race is a goal. I wasn't even there for that race. I could suffer for half of it. In order to run my best race possible, I think I'm going to have to get into that position earlier. 

But before you get there, there needs to be a certain amount of fitness, from an aerobic standpoint and from a muscular endurance standpoint. You need to be comfortable with the duration of the race itself. You should start making your workouts longer and being comfortable with that before you really start to think about how much you can suffer and for how long. 

You need to figure out how you get through the race at a sustainable and steady pace first. Then you can start to ramp up the intensity and just try to stick yourself in a high-end threshold. I think most athletes should stay below that and then ramp it up as they become a little bit more proficient.

THL: This seems like a pivotal year for Hyrox. It has momentum and participation is growing. Do you think it would be better for the sport if Hunter McIntyre won the World Championships again or if someone else beat him? 

RR: Hunter’s reach is so big at this point. He's responsible for a significant among of growth in this sport. People see him doing it, and they come in. He might be at the point now that he doesn't need to be the champion in order to reach people. They know him as Hunter McIntyre.

In terms of sport, I think it would be much more compelling if there were people who did compete with him or beat him. If he was on the podium but not in first, I think that that would be great for the growth of the sport. 

When it's so early in the history of a sport, sometimes there is a guy who is so much better. But that would be proof, in terms of this sport, that there is a reason to watch. There are stories within the races themselves that are outside of the superstars. And there are emerging stars who are as good or better than anybody else in the world. In terms of long-term, yeah. I think so. Not that I just want to see it happen. But I think that it would be good. 

The sport is becoming more professionalized and there are resources that are starting to go to athletes that are not Hunter. But he's been a pro athlete in a field of amateurs until this point. 

Hunter does just train and make content full-time. It's still kind of like that. Alex Roncevic is an elementary school teacher. 

Hyrox is starting to do a great job of broadcasting the races. Sponsors will take notice of that. And there are more sponsors coming in that are outside the Hyrox bubble. There are going to be more resources to spread around. That’s going to help the competitive field. Maybe we are not quite there. But it’s definitely coming.

THL: You have coached a lot of athletes, both one-on-one and through your RMR training platform. In Crossfit, there is such a regimented system where coaches get different levels of certification. Hyrox is more of the Wild West. Do you think people are getting bad advice from unqualified coaches? 

RR: Yeah, Wild West is definitely the term. There's a lot of people getting into the sport. And there's a lot of people who are trying to seize this opportunity who are passionate about this sport, who are also knowledgeable. In terms of good versus bad advice, I think that time will tell on that. Because it is so new, I don't think that we can necessarily say that an approach has been proven not to work. 

CrossFit is a training methodology, so they can teach that methodology. Hyrox is an event company, so they aren't really telling you what is good and what is bad. 

There are certainly people who are trying to pawn off information that is not their own thoughts to try to get attention. From a consumer standpoint, it's definitely going to be confusing. It’s going to be hard for consumers to find the right fit. 

People will put their resources where they find value. And the people that present the most value will end up being the ones who lead the way. It’ll play itself out. I think the people who are actually into coaching and get results for athletes — and the ones just trying to cash in — will win out.

THL: Do you think there is an issue with the fact that Hyrox is a sport but also a private company? If the marathon was owned by a private company, there would probably be fewer opportunities to compete, and it would be more expensive. 

RR: The biggest problem is what if they decide not to be a company anymore. It would create a vacuum that someone could come in and replace them. It is definitely a problem in terms of longevity in the sport because all of our eggs are in one basket. Hyrox is limited by the indoor venue, which is expensive and will drive prices up. And there is no competition anywhere else to level things out. We are seeing that now. I think prices have gone up astronomically in the past couple of years. They're very expensive.

A company like Ironman — that does own a bunch of marathons and puts on the biggest triathlon — is equipped to put on big fitness events. I think they would partner with someone like Reebok who wants to get into the hybrid fitness space. I think they could create an event that is equal in size to Hyrox. I think big money will come in and there are a couple of competitors who could do it. 

I'm hopeful that this happens and that it's in a similar vein to Hyrox. It doesn't have to be the exact same. But if it's the same idea — being strong and having endurance in a race — I would love to see that. And I think it will happen. 

THL: Hyrox is getting more popular in the United States, but it is still much more popular in the UK and Europe. Do you think that is just because it started in Europe? Or do you think there is something about the sporting ethos and fitness community in Europe that is more in line with Hyrox? 

RR: My working theory is that the culture of sport, in most European countries, people grow up playing football, American soccer, which is a very running-heavy sport. Athletes in the US grow up playing football, basketball, and baseball. Running is not something that people necessarily want to do for fun. I think Europeans are just more open to the idea and are a little bit better at running on average because of their athletic background. 

THL: Do you think Hyrox has the potential to be as big as Crossfit in the US? 

RR: I mean, CrossFit was so huge. And Crossfit is super focused on the US. The games have never been outside of the United States. International athletes move here. It would be hard to see that unless they can successfully Hyrox expand into different US-markets. This is also a reason why the European races seem to be exploding. Geographically the events are so close. If you lived in DC, until they just had an event, the closest race was New York City. Other than that, you had a $300 to $500 flight to get to an event. Geographically, Europe is better suited.

My aspiration for this is that it's like triathlon. It's a niche sport. But there are professional triathletes and triathlon coaches. 

Crossfit is more like an Orangetheory than a competitive event. It’s a gym business, not an events business. They only have one event, the CrossFit Games, and it’s only for the 80 individuals and 40 teams that make it. 

You can follow Rich on Instagram or join RMR Training to get Hyrox and Deka programming from Rich and two other elite hybrid athletes, Ryan Kent and Meg Jacoby.

Video of the week: Graham Holiday breaks through

In a previous edition of the Hybrid Letter, we recommended a documentary about Graham Halliday's preparation for an elite Hyrox race in Stockholm, Sweden. The film showcased Graham's dedication to the sport, but he ended up a disappointing 11th. 

Graham had a much different experience in Washington, DC, where he finished 2nd and qualified for the world championship. A new video provides an inside look into how he did it. Graham was in sixth place going into the final station, wall balls. But then he performed all 100 wall balls unbroken to leapfrog the field. 

Before the race, you see Graham on the phone, discussing his game plan for the wall balls:

Wall balls, I've got to do 60 first set. Nothing less. 60. Once you get to 60, you go right, another 10. Just lie to yourself. Once you get to 70, you say, OK, give me 15. And then once you get to 85, you just go right, you got 15 left. You can't stop now.

Hybrid Athlete of the Week: Katy Howell

Name: Katy Howell
Age: 32
Hometown: Williston, VT

When did you start competing in hybrid races? I've been training at Elevate [in Washington DC] since 2017, but I didn't start specifically training for hybrid races until 2022. I was experiencing one of the most difficult years of my life, having recently left an abusive relationship for the second time and decided I needed to set a goal to help keep me in DC and not return to that situation again. I decided I'd run Hyrox NYC with a small group of folks from Elevate's hybrid program, and I ended up having an absolute blast. I wasn't good at a lot of the stations, but I loved seeing how hard I could push myself and leveraging my collegiate running background to get through the endurance aspect of it. More importantly, though, throughout my training for that first race, the Elevate sessions were what got me off my couch and socializing again, made me feel supported by some really fantastic people, and got me back in touch with my own internal strength and resiliency. 

Favorite race to date? My recent Hyrox race in Ft. Lauderdale felt so special. First of all, I love Miami, I love Publix, and I'm an absolute sun worshipper. But better yet, my mom and sister finally came to see me race in a Hyrox and, even though it was all new to them and a bit overwhelming, they found me at every station and cheered for me the whole way through. It was so sweet. And then we got to spend the entire rest of the day on the beach. 

Do you have a race goal? I'd love to run a sub 1:10 Hyrox Pro and then just keep fighting to get that time down. 

Favorite station? Lunges. In my first Pro race, I could hardly clean the sandbag over my head, but now I am always relieved to be there. It's near the end, I know I'm going to get through the race at that point, and we work on lunges ALL the time at the gym.

Least favorite station? Row. I am a terrible rower. PLUS, it's sitting down, so isn't that resting? But it also feels like dancing. Which body part am I supposed to move first and why is it my legs? None of this is any coach at Elevate's fault. They've all tried, for years. Figuring out the rower is my biggest goal for my upcoming Hyrox races.

Something you wish you knew when you started racing? I didn't realize how much my whole life would have to adjust around this passion. Throughout my twenties, I'd go out dancing with friends until 2 am or work a late shift at 9:30 Club and then PR a half marathon in the morning. Now I know that if I want to see meaningful progress in this sport, I need my lifestyle to align with my goals. I don't mind it at all — I love my 9 pm bedtime, my quiet Friday nights reading a book, and my adventures traveling to Hyrox or Deka races all over the country. But there are big parts of my life, like my youthful playfulness, that I took a little time to grieve the loss of.