It's Race Week!

This weekend, I’m competing in my first hybrid race - Spartan's DEKA Fit. It’s certainly feeling different than any race I’ve done before. After four marathons in three years, I’ve shifted my focus this year to strength, power, and full-body conditioning. DEKA Fit is a new challenge, a new format, and a perfect stepping stone before my HYROX race later this year.

What Is DEKA Fit?

DEKA Fit is a 10-zone functional fitness race built by Spartan. You complete 10 fitness zones, each separated by a 500-meter run, for a total of 5K of running and 10 stations—like rowing, box step-overs, weighted lunges, med ball throws, farmers carries, and air bike cals.

It rewards well-rounded fitness—not just cardio and not just strength.

My Training for It

My prep has looked like a mix of zone 2 running, faster pace intervals, sled pushes and pulls, strength training, SkiErg and rower intervals, and unfortunately, burpees. It hasn’t been perfect, and I've found it to be a big challenge to train for something that includes so many different aspects. With running it's quite simple - run to get better at running. This has felt more ambiguous. But, my goal has been simple: build capacity, sharpen movement efficiency, and keep my weekly gym time and mileage at a good level.

Why This Race Matters

This race is a great checkpoint, and a chance to see where my body is at before going all in on HYROX prep for December. HYROX is a similar but longer race compared to DEKA Fit and when I first learned about hybrid racing last year, it seems like it was the perfect thing I should go after based on my training background.

I feel confident in my ability to compete near the top of my age group this weekend, but I’m also aware this is new territory. I know there will be unexpected moments, things I didn’t plan for, or pacing errors I’ll learn the hard way. But one of the fun things about training and competition is that you don’t grow from doing only what’s familiar.

How I’m Managing the Nerves

The nervous energy is here, but I’ve learned how to channel it.

Using psychological flexibility, a concept from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, I’m letting those nerves show up without letting them steer the ship. I’m focusing on controllables: my stress levels, my strategy, and my recovery this week.

Instead of spiraling into what-ifs, I redirect my focus to value-driven action: I want to show up with focus and a well-recovered body.

I also remind myself of this: nerves mean you care. They don’t mean you’re not ready.

Tapering With Intention

This week, I’m tapering, which means lowering volume, increasing recovery, and sharpening my mind.

Tapering is a chance to let supercompensation kick in. It's where your body absorbs the stress of your training and comes back stronger, more explosive, and better prepared for performance. It’s also a moment to mentally shift from doing the work to trusting the work.

No new gains are going happen this week. But a lot of growth shows up if I recover properly.

Racing With My Girlfriend

The thing I am most excited about this weekend is I get to race this with my girlfriend. She’s been training hard, showing up, and pushing herself. A lot of our training has been separate, but the runs and circuits we have done together have always been a special time for me. She's also been a huge mental help too, not letting me get too carried away, competitive, or stressed out about my self-inflicted high expectations that I'm trying to manage.

Doing this together makes the whole weekend feel bigger than a race – similar to how we did a half marathon together last year. I'm excited for another shared challenge and a memory we get to create side-by-side. And hopefully, she's not too mad at me at the end for pushing her. 😄

Final Thoughts

While I have high expectations, I’m not trying to prove anything with this race aside from pushing myself to an uncomfortable extent and giving it my best effort. I’m very curious: how will I feel? How will I perform? What did I miss in training that I can clean up before HYROX in December?

This race is just one brick in a bigger foundation, and I’m excited to see how it all plays out. See you on the other side!

Stay safe, stay healthy!

Martin Foley - Founder, Architecting Wellness