I never thought I’d be the type of person to sign up for a fitness competition.

But here we are.

It started with a conversation at work. A coworker was telling me about Spartan races. You know, the ones with mud and obstacles and crawling through dirt. I immediately said no. Rolling around in the mud? Not for me.

Then somehow we got onto Hyrox.

She said she thought it was wack. I said I thought it looked cool. And the more we talked, the more I found myself thinking… wait, I actually want to do this.

So I started recruiting.

I asked two other coworkers if they’d be interested. One said no. She doesn’t train in the summer. Fair enough. The other said yes. Immediately. No hesitation.

So now we have a plan. Four months to train. A competition to work toward. And a partner to keep each other accountable.

We took an intro class together that showed us all the different stations- the rowing, the sled push, the burpees, everything. Proper form. Technique. The whole thing.

We’re still figuring out our strengths. She’s a bit stronger than me right now. But we haven’t settled into our stations yet. We’re just trying everything. Seeing what clicks.

We’re planning to take the intro class again in a couple of weeks to get a better sense of which station might fit each of us best.

Right now, I’m in Thailand on vacation. And my hotel has a really nice gym like, actually nice. It’s got all the Hyrox equipment.

So yesterday, I decided to try the rowing.

My goal was simple: hit 1 kilometer, which is the distance we’ll do in the competition. I wasn’t trying to break any records. Just wanted to see how it felt.

And honestly? I enjoyed it.

I think I’m going to do it again tonight after the boat ride. (That’s a whole other post. More on that later.)

I’m not a fitness influencer. And I’m not trying to be.

But I am someone who said yes to something new. Something that scared me a little. Something that pushed me outside my comfort zone.

And now I’m on vacation, in a hotel gym, rowing for 1 kilometer because I’ve got a goal to work toward.

That feels good.

Have you ever signed up for something that scared you a little? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.