Heart rate spikes directly after start

Hey everyone,

I’m struggling with my heart rate shooting up way too early in HYROX races. Even standing in the start box I’m already >120 bpm, and within the first 400–500m of the opening run I’m very easily in Zone 5 (>172 bpm).

To get it back into a reasonable zone, I have to go very slowly — like 6:30/km on the run or 2:40/500m on the SkiErg — which just feels way too slow for race pace. Once the HR spikes for a longer time, it never really settles again and the whole race feels like survival.

Has anyone dealt with this? Any tricks with warm-up, breathing, or pacing to keep HR down early on?

Thanks!