• The Low Tide Boyz podcast co-hosts, Chris Douglas and Chipper Nicodemus, enjoyed an excellent race at Swimrun Lake James as they finished 4th in the Long Course Men’s Pairs category. The two performed well in what were warm and humid conditions (20°C/68°F, 75% relative humidity) to finish the combined 6.4km of swimming and 24.1km of running in 3 hours and 38 minutes
• The guys have spoken to Precision Fuel & Hydration Sports Scientists Andy and Abby during two episodes of their podcast in which they talk about how to approach hydration and fueling for swimrun races. Chris has also been working with our Sports Science team since Orcas Island Swimrun in 2021 and he’s made some changes to his fueling strategy as a result
• Chris commented that he thought he and Chipper communicated more effectively about their hydration and fueling throughout this race. They set fueling reminders and checked in with each other about what they were eating and drinking

Hydration

• Both the night before and morning of the race, Chris preloaded with one PH 1500 (Drink Mix) in 500ml/16oz of water to make sure he was heading into the race optimally hydrated
• Unfortunately, Chris and Chipper weren’t sure what the on-course electrolytes would be and once they got to the first aid station they realised that it was a strong carb mix with a small amount of electrolytes. As a result, they decided to stick to plain water throughout - this was a smart move as the old adage says that you should never trying anything new on race day - but this did mean that Chris didn’t take any sodium on board during the entire race
• Considering the warm conditions (20°C/68°F) and the fact that he’s a very salty sweater (losing 1,719mg of sodium per litre of sweat), we would expect Chris to take some sodium on board during a race of this length and intensity to keep up with his above average losses
• Luckily, despite the lack of sodium, Chris was still able to perform well and experienced no issues such as cramping during the race. Chipper did mention that he thought Chris was struggling with the heat at times and, in hindsight, Chris agreed that he should have brought Electrolyte Capsules with him
• Implementing this will be especially important during the Low Tide Boyz’ longer races this season, where their net losses may be considerably higher so adequate sodium and fluid replacement is necessary to avoid detrimental effects on performance
• Chris drank a total of ~1.8L/61oz of water during the race, which equated to an average of ~495ml/hr (16oz/hr). Although we don’t have data on Chris’s sweat rate, he subjectively rated it “pretty high”, especially during the long run. Chris listened to his body, drinking to thirst throughout, and was happy with this strategy saying, “I never felt dehydrated”. His main concern was that “I wished I had salt tablets with me!”

Fueling

Conclusions

• Chris and his swimrun partner, Chipper, had “great fun” at Swimrun Lake James, finishing 4th and rating their race satisfaction as 8 out of 10. Both had a robust fueling strategy leading into the race which they executed well
• The lack of strong electrolytes impacted their intended hydration strategies, resulting in them running ‘light’ on sodium. Building towards future races, Chris is going to do some pre-race research and check what’s on course at the aid stations, as well as carry Electrolyte Capsules in his suit
• He’s also planning to test out his fuel intake during training sessions so that he’s more comfortable with tolerating ~60g of carb per hour over a greater duration