79th

Chipper Nicodemus' scorecard

ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship

Monday 5th September, 2022

Within recommended ranges

Just outside recommended ranges

Significantly outside recommended ranges

95g

Carb per hour

199mg

Sodium per hour

131ml

Fluid per hour

1,520mg/L

Relative sodium concentration

205mg

Total caffeine

How Chipper hit those numbers

How Chipper's hydration and fueling went...

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

30g

carb 30 mins before

60-90g

carb 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 concentration

1,085mg/L

Sweat sodium classification

Moderate

* determined by a PH Advanced Sweat Test

Result

Position

79th

Overall Time

10:20:46

Event information

Sport

Other

Discipline

Swimrun

Event

ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship

Location

Sandhamn, Sweden

Date

5th September, 2022

Website

Show me

Swim Distance

9.0km / 5.6mi

Run Distance

61.0km / 37.9mi

Total Distance

70.0km / 43.5mi

Event conditions

Weather Conditions

Mild

Precipitation

No Rain

Min Temp

9°C / 48°F

Max Temp

15°C / 59°F

Avg Temp

12°C / 54°F

Humidity

60%

Athlete feedback

Energy levels

7/10

Felt pretty "bonky" towards the last two hours

Toilet stops

Yes

GI comfort

7/10

Felt good in the beginning and again towards the end after some real foods

Cramping

No cramping

Chipper's full stats

	Carbohydrate (g)	Sodium (mg)	Fluid (ml)	Caffeine (mg)	Relative sodium concentration (mg/L)
Overall
Total intake	985	2,052	1,350	205	Relative sodium concentration (mg/L)	1,520
Per hour	95	199	131	20		1,520

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.

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