Chipper Nicodemus' scorecard
ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship
Monday 5th September, 2022
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
- 95gCarb per hour
- 199mgSodium per hour
- 131mlFluid per hour
- 1,520mg/LRelative sodium concentration
- 205mgTotal caffeine
How Chipper hit those numbers
Before event (>30mins)
1 x Mug of Black Coffee
1 x Bowl of Quaker Oats with Brown Sugar and Maple Syrup
1 x Banana
Pre-event (<30mins)
1 x PF 30 Gel
Event - During
7 x PH Electrolyte Capsule
2 x PF 30 Caffeine Gel
6 x PF 90 Gel
1.1L x Plain water
0.25 x Banana
10 x Potato
7 x Orange slice
1 x Milk Chocolate Squares
4 x Chocolate and Coconut Energy Balls (10g carb)
1 x Pickle
250ml x Orange Juice
- Racing with his Löw Tide Böyz podcast co-host Chris Douglas, Chipper completed the holy grail of swimrun - the ӦTILLÖ World Championships
- Chipper executed what he described as a “better strategy than my last swimrun race earlier in the year at Lake James, and I thought that was good!” but still felt he has room to improve
Hydration
- Chipper didn’t have any electrolytes before the race, and therefore we’d recommend he introduces preloading with a strong electrolyte drink like the PH 1500 to ensure he starts optimally hydrated
- Similar to his race partner, Chris, Chipper had a very low fluid intake throughout this race which was likely a reflection of the cool temperatures and thus his reduced perceived sweat rate
- He carried a Soft Flask with him and topped it up with plain water a couple of times during the race, which alongside ~250ml (8oz) of orange juice brought his total fluid consumption to ~1.35L (45oz), averaging just ~131ml per hour
- Chipper got most of his sodium by taking seven Electrolyte Capsules evenly throughout the race, and took a total of ~2,052mg, giving him a relative sodium concentration of ~1,520mg per litre (32oz)
- Having had a PF&H Sweat Test, Chipper knows his sweat sodium concentration is 1,085mg/L (mg/32oz) and so he did a good job at replacing his electrolytes in a similar concentration to his sweat losses
- In the future, Chipper should look to increase his fluid intake slightly as this could have explained his perceived “bonking” later in the race as dehydration is thought to impair carbohydrate absorption
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
30gcarb 30 mins before
60-90gcarb per hour during
- Chipper primed his energy stores before the race with a hearty carb-rich breakfast consisting of a bowl of porridge with brown sugar and maple syrup. He also had a good dose of caffeine with a large black coffee with his breakfast. This will likely have helped him tap into the ergogenic benefits associated with caffeine intake and endurance performance
- Just before the race began, Chipper also took a PF 30 Energy Gel to get some readily available glucose into his bloodstream. By taking the gel immediately before the start, this will likely have reduced the initial contribution of his valuable stored glycogen, which would have been his primary source of energy for the remainder of the race
- Throughout the race Chipper was conscious that his carb intake in previous races has been below the recommended amount. At Swimrun Lake James he averaged just ~50g of carb per hour and has since spent considerable time training his gut to be able to consume more carb, and he went into the World Champs targeting ~90g per hour
- During the race he carried six PF 90 Gels in his wetsuit zip-pocket along with two PF 30 Caffeine Gels. The rest of his fueling was picked up along the point-to-point course at aid stations; this included 10 boiled potatoes, banana, orange slices, milk chocolate and some coconut and chocolate energy balls (~10g carb each)
- In total he consumed ~985g of carb, averaging an impressive ~95g/h across the 10 hours 20 minutes. This is very close to his initial 90g/h target and the recommendations from our Fuel and Hydration Planner, and helped him feel strong deep into the race. It’s worth noting that this average intake is ~90% more than his intake at Swimrun Lake James and with minimal GI upset over such a long race, Chipper clearly did a great job training his gut to tolerate this quantity of carb
- Towards the end of this brutal race he did begin to feel “a bit bonky” in the last 90 minutes or so as he’d reduced his carb intake due to his stomach feeling “a bit wonky” following a few mouthfuls of sea water, and he was craving something like a fizzy drink to “bring him back to life again”
- The large variety of fast and slow-release carbohydrates may have caused large fluctuations in his blood glucose and lead to the intermittent feeling of low energy towards the end. To help combat this, Chipper could look to reduce the different sources of energy to just a few products and reduce the strain on his gut, and likely extend his ability to tolerate carbs in the latter stages
Conclusions
- Overall, Chipper was rightly pleased with his debut at the ӦTILLÖ World Championships, having targeted competing here since he first discovered swimrun
- He reaped the benefits of gut training to hit a strong carb intake that was a big step up on what he consumed at Swimrun Lake James back in April 2022
- One area for Chipper to consider improving on would be increasing his fluid intake to match the demands of an event of this length and intensity. Perhaps filling up his soft flask could help give him regular access to fluids considering how spread out aid stations were
Key info
Chipper Nicodemus
Male
Sweat sodium concentration1,085mg/L
Sweat sodium classificationModerate
* determined by our Sweat Test
Result
Position79th
Overall Time10:20:46
Event information
SportOther
DisciplineSwimrun
EventÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship
LocationSandhamn, Sweden
Date5th September, 2022
Swim Distance9.0km / 5.6mi
Run Distance61.0km / 37.9mi
Total Distance70.0km / 43.5mi
Event conditions
Weather ConditionsMild
PrecipitationNo Rain
Min Temp9°C / 48°F
Max Temp15°C / 59°F
Avg Temp12°C / 54°F
Humidity60%
Athlete feedback
Energy levels7/10Felt pretty "bonky" towards the last two hours
Toilet stopsYes
GI comfort7/10Felt good in the beginning and again towards the end after some real foods
CrampingNo cramping
Data Confidence
1
2
3
4
5
There is an adequate level of accuracy in the data collected and the numbers reported. The athlete manages to recall what they ate and drank including most specifics (brands flavours quantities plausible estimations of volumes). However there are estimations made within the data which affect the overall confidence level in the data reported.