How Jess Pettrow Built the Aerobic Engine for HYROX’s Elite 15 — From 400m Speed to 20-Hour Training Weeks (#29)

**John Paton** (0:00)
I'm here today with Elite 15 Hyrox athlete, Jess Pettrow. Now, Jess has had some incredible races already this season. She finished fourth in Melbourne with a time of one hour and 24 seconds. She also in the same race at the Doubles World Record alongside Joanna Wietrzyk with a time of 53.56. And she's already qualified for the Elite 15 at this year's World Championship. Jess, welcome to the show.

**Jess Pettrow** (0:25)
Thank you, John. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to chat with you.

**John Paton** (0:29)
Now, Jess, I want to start with a quote from your coach, JK. So JK says, Jess is a true athlete. All she cares about is her athletic performance. If social media wasn't a thing, she'd still be doing what she's doing. If sponsorship wasn't a thing, she'd still be doing what she's doing. That's rare. That's very rare. So Jess, tell us about that. Tell us about your dedication to the sport. What does it mean for you to be fully dedicated as an athlete?

**Jess Pettrow** (0:57)
That's definitely come from JK, hasn't it? No, I think for me, I've grown up as an athlete and been in the competitive space essentially since I could walk. I remember starting little athletics at the youngest age I could, which was five. So I would go and compete at that age and throughout my entire life, my whole life was revolved around going to training after school and then going to competitions. And honestly, it's just been all I know.
And I'm actually just like proud of myself being now over 30 years old. And like, I genuinely love it as much, like, well, actually more than I ever have than like the day before. So yeah, 100% spot on. If there was, honestly, if there was no racing, I would literally train the exact same way that I am because I love what I do every single day. I find that I just get so much joy out of the process and going, going to the gym and doing my training and challenging myself. The competition is just kind of like the cherry on top. And yeah, maybe you've kind of got a sense that like, I'm not flashy on social media. I don't care like to put myself out there. If I didn't have to post on there, I wouldn't because I don't need to feel like I need to tell anyone what I'm doing because it doesn't matter because I'm doing it for me and only me and my family and the people around me that I love. So yeah, that's like the background of that.

**John Paton** (2:24)
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So tell us more about that. What do you think it is that makes it such a rewarding lifestyle? Why is this lifestyle so rewarding to you, Jess?

**Jess Pettrow** (2:31)
Great question. I think just like coming from the track and field space, and then eventually kind of moving into, I moved a little bit more into like CrossFit and like just strength training post-competing in college, and then I eventually moved into like hybrid fitness, and then that eventually led me into the Hyrox space. I think for me, like Hyrox was just so foreign, especially like with the amount of running that was involved. Yes, I had been a runner my entire life, but my capacity was like sprinting a 400 or running an 800 in just over two minutes. So the thought of competing a distance that was over an hour long, that was just such a challenge for me. So running my first race, the first Hyrox that I did, I was just like, it put me on my butt to be honest. Like I was like, whoa, that was so hard for someone who's like been an athlete my whole life and had considered myself like fairly fit going in, of course. Wasn't like fully prepared for that particular race itself. However, the challenge of that is just so addicting. And I think just not just that in general, just wanting to continue to be a better version of myself, no matter what that is. And not just in like the sport and fitness space, but just as a person as well, I find the challenges that I get out of being in the gym, just make me a better person as well. So yeah.

**John Paton** (4:00)
A hundred percent. So it's that dedication to training, that focus on improvement, looking to just get that a little bit better all the time. And it's clearly working because if you go back and you look at that first race in Chicago, 2023, I think you ran a one hour and eight minutes then. So you've already taken eight minutes off your time. So what do you think have been some of the biggest ways you've improved since that first race?