• PF&H’s Head of Athlete Support, James AKA “JP”, competed in the ÖtillÖ Swimrun World Championship for the second time, alongside his teammate Ant who was competing for the first time
• The pair took on the 70km course, entailing ~61km of running and ~9km of swimming, and finished 30th in 9 hours and 11 minutes. Constantly transitioning from water to land and vice versa provides several challenges when it comes to optimally fueling and hydrating
• Being an experienced swimrunner now, JP navigated this well to adequately meet his fuel needs with a range of energy gels. He did however possibly under-do his fluid consumption for the duration of this race as the cold conditions impacted his thirst

Hydration

• In such an event, athletes can be quite limited in terms of their hydration, having to rely heavily on the fluid available at aid stations
• Knowing that he’s prone to cramping, possesses a high sweat rate when working intensely, and is a salty sweater (with a sweat sodium concentration of 1,850mg/L), JP was mindful to replace his sodium losses in the event. He ran with two 500ml/16oz soft flasks which he emptied one and two PH 1500 Drink Mix sachets into respectively, which he topped up with water during the earlier stages of the race when needed
• Once he’d filled and depleted this provision of strong electrolyte mix, James refilled his soft flask three times with plain water, drinking ~2.5L/80oz of fluid in total and averaging ~272ml/9oz per hour across the race
• JP’s drinking rate was greatly influenced by where the aid stations were placed, so he didn’t drink as much as he would have liked, saying “I probably underdrank considering the duration of the race”. Fortunately, conditions were relatively cold (average temperature ~12℃/54℉) and JP said, “I never got too warm”
• When drinking just plain water in the later stages of the race, JP took five Electrolyte Capsules spread pretty evenly alongside the fluid to ensure he was staying on top of his sodium losses
• Ahead of the race, James preloaded with 500ml/16oz of PH 1500 both the night before and on the morning of the race with his breakfast at the hotel. This strategy ensures that he was at least starting in a well-hydrated state, with sodium and fluid levels adequately topped up for the long day ahead

Fueling

Conclusions

• Compared to 2019, whilst he didn’t beat the time he logged, JP made great improvements to his fueling strategy, increasing his carb intake by ~30%
• James was content with the race saying that “it could have gone worse, that’s for sure”. He felt the first seven hours were OK but then it started to decline as knee soreness started to kick in following a slip on some rocks
• He didn’t suffer any dips in energy levels and in hindsight wouldn’t have changed his strategy a great deal, except for perhaps drinking some more fluid