Lighting hybrid sports on fire

Carly Wopat is a professional volleyball player, firefighter, coach, and hybrid athlete. She was a First Team All-American on Stanford University's volleyball team, a member of the US Women’s Indoor National Volleyball Team, and an alternate for the 2016 Olympic games. She later transitioned to playing professional beach volleyball. 

When professional sports were halted due to the pandemic, Wopat became a firefighter. More recently she has started competing in hybrid competitions, winning the 2022 GoRuck Games. She has impressive results in Hyrox and Deka events.

Carly chatted with The Hybrid Letter about her transition from pro athlete to a firefighter, why training for hybrid sports can be lonely, and what it is like to run a mile with 100 pounds on your back. 

The interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

The Hybrid Letter: How did you start your journey into pro volleyball?

Carly Wopat: I played a lot of different sports growing up. My first sport was gymnastics and I still love gymnastics. That kind of control of your body is so cool. I started doing gymnastics and then started playing more ball sports like basketball. 

I started playing volleyball around the age of 10 and then began playing club at 12. At 16, I was still playing a variety of sports but realized that I was most passionate about volleyball. I started to get recruited and started to see a future in the sport. That was very exciting and things took off from there. I got a scholarship to go play at Stanford University. I played there for four years on their indoor team. I was a middle-blocker and had a great college career. I was First Team All-American three times. Before I graduated, I started training with the indoor national team, so I knew I would play professionally. 

THL: When Covid hit, professional sports ground to a halt. You pivoted and became a firefighter. What motivated you to make that transition?

CW: One of the things that drew me to firefighting was the physical nature of the job. It’s essentially a professional sport. The lifting, carrying heavy ladders, fold a fully charged hose. It’s pure grunt work, and it's very uncomfortable. You’re in full turnouts, which captures all your body heat. You’re essentially in a sauna suit, running around in a fire for an hour. You can’t drink water. You can’t eat food. You have to be physically strong, but you also have to be mentally strong. I realized that I really liked training in that way. I liked the person I became in those environments. I appreciate the discipline, work ethic, and values that the fire service represents. 

I knew, though, that I wanted to continue competing. I don’t think that competitor in me ever died. Even going through fire academies was a big game for me. I wanted to win every single thing. Once Hybrid fitness events started popping up, I began competing in them. I realized there is this new competitive space that’s opening up, and it’s for me. 

THL: You compete in a wide variety of hybrid events. How do you stay physically ready?

CW: It’s tough. I have to prioritize. I can't try to peak for every single event. I look at the year and break it up. This year, I broke it up into quarters, and each quarter has a focus. A lot of my training recently has been running-focused because I don’t have a running background at all. 

I’ve had to have a lot of patience for my running development. I did a lot of CrossFit and functional fitness, but I’ve never run long distances. Getting into Hyrox and other competitions with long runs was humbling. My body adapts really quickly to strength straining. If I go to a gym and train a certain way, even for a week, I’ll start to see differences. But for endurance, it doesn’t work that way. I've had to learn over the past year to embrace that. It’s going to take years to be with the top athletes. Running has taught me patience. 

THL: Where does your head go during a tough competition? 

CW: My training is often harder than my races. I just finished a running workout right now and wanted to die a little bit. When I go into competition, it’s almost easy because I know I’ve done harder things regularly. This is going to be fun. I just have to go out there and do my thing. 

Being able to dig deep and really do hard things when no one is watching makes competitions easier. In a really hard competition, when I’m starting to have self-doubt, when I want to stop or give up, it becomes personal. How I respond is something I will carry with me in other aspects of life. Being able to put one foot in front of the other, stay calm, and persevere in that moment goes a long way. 

THL: What has been the biggest challenge in transitioning from a professional volleyball player to a hybrid athlete? 

CW: The biggest challenge for me has been loneliness. I’m so used to being with others and having a coach who organizes practices. You have accountability. You show up, and it’s very social. You get instant feedback. There are people watching you. I love training with people. 

If you’re in a hard training session, I love the push and pull of doing it with others. That has been the hardest part for me coming into hybrid fitness because a lot of the training I do by myself. I’ve had to build more discipline. I’ve reached whole new levels of fitness by going out and doing things on my own. But I’m trying to invite more people to train with me and meet up with cycling clubs. 

I just did a hybrid competition called H20 Hybrid Games. It was so much fun. I want to do more of those and find more ways to make hybrid fitness more of a community. Because I’m sure I’m not the only one who doesn’t like doing all their training alone.

THL: You are working with Ryan Geiger as your coach. How did you decide to work with Ryan?

CW: I was looking for someone who is or was a professional athlete. Ryan was a professional cyclist. I studied human biology, and I’ve been really into fitness since I started playing volleyball. I felt like Ryan really understood things I knew less about — heart rate zones, building endurance, and running. We work really well together. We have similar mentalities when it comes to training and life in general. I have had a lot of great conversations with him and his wife Sarah. They’ve become my really good friends. 

THL: What is one competition in your hybrid fitness career that stands out in your mind and that you will never forget? 

CW: The GORUCK Games in 2022. It was my first hybrid competition. I went in pretty cold turkey. I had been training for Olympic beach volleyball.

We were given no insight on what we were doing prior other than a packaging list. You could tell we wouldn’t be staying in a hotel. We knew that there would be grappling involved and that there would be some kind of ruck.

I loved it because you just had to train to be ready for anything. I was battling a foot injury, so I couldn’t really run. I just went and did it. 

That gnarliest part was a one-mile ruck with 100 pounds. I was very heavy and bruised your spine. Another time, they said you are going to run down the beach. This is a race but it’s an unknown distance so don’t stop until we tell you. We had no idea how to pick a pace so it’s kind of a mental game. It ended up being 16 miles. It was dark and you’re just running down the beach in the middle of the night with your little headlamp. There was shooting, sandbag work, and an obstacle course. I made it to the finals and won that year. 

It made you dig really deep. It’s hard to explain. They ran it like a military cadre.

THL: How are you approaching your training for the year ahead? 

CW: Recently, I've been training primarily for Hyrox and really trying to see what I can do there. If I had to choose one race to encapsulate fitness, it would be Hyrox. Training for that, I'm training for my biggest weakness, which is running. That's why I decided to make it my goal. But, I don't enjoy it that much. 

I've figured out that my niche is multi-day competitions where you are tested in multiple disciplines, like the GORUCK Games, Hybricon Games, and Rally in the Valley. I'll definitely be competing in those and will definitely go in with the goal of winning.

I have never run a half marathon or marathon. There are some big endurance races, like the Triple Bypass race in Colorado, where you cycle three different summits and the Starvation Triathlon. I think I'm going to do a summer of endurance. I think it would be really fun for me to get out there and try some new things.

You can learn more about Carly on her website or check out her Instagram. 

Workout of the Week: Let's row!

Each edition of The Hybrid Letter features a workout from Dylan Scott, the Hyrox North American Champion, and Markus Frison, the original Hyrox VCF champion and head coach of The Frision Method. 

If you are interested in training with The Frision Method, you can find out more information here. If you have any questions about this workout, let us know in the comments. 

Hybrid athlete of the week: Corbin Booker

Name: Corbin Booker
Age: 31
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA

Why did you start competing in hybrid sports? It’s always been an element of training that I've since high school. I've always wanted to be a decent runner but still be able to lift weights and feel fast. Training for lacrosse and football, many of the hybrid moves were some of the exercises we'd do in the offseason. As I got more into the hybrid community in New York and DC, I've always appreciated the sense of community. There is a lot of talent who will challenge you but their effort always inspires you. 

Favorite race to date?: Hyrox DC. I competed in mixed doubles. It was an awesome environment and I watched a ton of clients and friends compete. I was happy to be there and experience it despite some lingering injuries. I wasn't sure how well my partner Amber and I would do, but we cut a ton of time off our previous race. 

Race goal? I'd like to race overseas, ideally in Spain, during the next Hyrox season. 

Favorite station? Sled. It comes the easiest and is usually when my body fully wakes up. It helps me gauge how I'm feeling for the whole race. 

Least favorite station? Burpee broad jumps. 

Things you wish you knew when you started racing? The right snacks can change everything about hard workouts and races. Snack smarter.