Low Tide Boyz, a Swimrun Podcast

Welcome to episode 173 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!On this week’s show we don our alternate personas of “The FOMOBUSTERS” as we recap this past week’s Swimrun Lake James. We’re almost positive that if you weren’t at the race, that your FOMO level was off the charts and we are here to help! Joining us to recap the event are Matt Skavnak and Pat Lowam, A.K.A., Team The Water Buffaloes. It was their first time racing Lake James and we’ll re-living all the sights and sounds of this classic Swimrun.But first…Training UpdateThe training continues. We’ll be engaging in extracurricular feats of endurance the next few weeks but other than that, you can find us at the pool and on the trails.ShoutoutOur shoutout this week goes out to everyone that raced Swimrun Lake James. We love this race and everything that it does for the sport. If we want the sport to grow here in the U.S. we have to support the races that are leading the charge and we need to keep showing up. So thank you for showing up! Wisdom Nugget of the WeekDon’t let fear put your dreams to sleep. – Stevie WonderFeats of EnduranceThis week’s winner is Rob Dick. He’s a local Marin County man who is also ½ of Team Gin and Tonic and he crushed the Belgian Waffle Ride this past weekend. Don’t know what that is? Well, it’s only one of the coolest gravel bike races around and a worthy feat of endurance. Strong work Rob!Make sure to sign up for our LTBz Strava Club and join Swimrunners from around the world as they train for stuff.This Week in SwimrunNow for the “news.”Starting in the bummer department, Swimrunman’s Grands Lac De Laffrey will not take place in 2023. We will miss that diabolical vertical Km at the end of the long course!In happier news, Swimrunman’s Gorges Du Verdon is taking place this weekend. This event offers three distance options, including an “Ultra” ÖTILLÖ Merit Race distance. (Tier 3 so only ranking points are available.) This will be the first race of the year for a lot of folks and we can’t wait to see the photos and videos on the internets.In product news, the forever popular (and forever out of stock) Ark Sports Kangaroo tops are back…sort of. If you want to score this amazing piece of kit (and one that we would highly, highly recommend), head on over to Arksports.com to preorder your top. The site states that they expect to get them back in stock in May and will be mailed straight away after that. That’s it for this week. Reach out to us if there’s any Swimrun news that you’d like for us to share on the show.Show BusinessWe are experiencing major FOMO to be missing this year’s Swimrun Lake James so we thought we would host a virtual post-race party/meetup to get everyone’s race report on how the day went. Join us on Zoom on Sunday May 7th at 6pm ET for a casual virtual meetup to chat about all things Swimrun.Swimrun Lake James Race Recap w/Team Water BuffaloesIt was great to chat with Matt and Pat. They’ve been Patrons on Patreon for a while now and it was super fun to talk shop with them. In this race recap, we cover the whole experience of Swimrun Lake James, quell FOMO, and talk about what the future holds for two buddies trying to get to ÖTILLÖ. This was a super fun conversation and it got us super stoked for the season!Make sure to check out their blog at https://thewaterbuffaloes.blogspot.com/. Also, Blogspot is still a thing!Enjoy!~~~That’s it for this week’s show. If you are enjoying the Löw Tide Böyz, be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player and leave us a five-star rating and review since that’s the best way for people to discover the show and the sport of Swimrun. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, and on YouTube. Check out our website for Swimrun resources including gear guides, tips, how-to videos and so much more. Also make sure to check out our meme page @thelowtideboyz on Instagram. If you have any suggestions for the show or questions for us, send us a dm or an email at lowtideboyz@gmail.com. Finally, you can support our efforts on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.Thanks for listening and see you out there!-  Chip and Chris

27 Apr 202358min

Welcome to episode 172 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!In this show we are doing a course preview of the only U.K. ÖTILLÖ Merit race: The Precision Fuel and Hydration Hokey Cokey Swimrun Roseland. We seem to have backed into a cool theme for this month so we’re just going to go with it. We asked Mad Hatter Sports Race Director, and former guest of the show, John Yelland to help us give you a comprehensive course preview of the race. Spoiler alert: it’s a great one!Let’s get right to it!Intro to Mad Hatter Sports and The Hokey Cokey SwimrunJohn was cool enough to share everything we needed to know about the event. His intro description of what athletes can expect on the course seemed very accurate as well: “holes, stones, trees, stumps, and steps.”Getting to Cornwall and the Roseland PeninsulaJohn shared with us how to best get to Cornwall and it’s important to note that the area books up fast in the Summer so lock in your travel plans early. The base of operations is in Mevagissey and that town is about 250 miles from London-area airports.The RaceThe stats on the Roseland Swimrun is 36km with 28km of running and 8km of swimming over 21 total swim legs. The race has a SWIFA score of 23% which is pretty cool as well. (This is EX Swimrun’s term for percentage of swimming in a Swimrun. Check out Episode 72 and 129 to hear all about it)John shared his leg by leg breakdown which, along with the online course map, really paints a solid picture of the adventure that awaits Swimrunners. As before, there’s no sugar-coating that the race is a challenge…and that’s why we like it!Our ThoughtsThis event is everything that is great about Swimrun. It was designed to offer a challenging experience, while taking advantage of the natural beauty and terrain of the Cornwall region. We love the attention that was paid to make this adventure what it is and think that this is a worthy ÖTILLÖ Merit race for those seeking to quality for The Swimrun World Championship.Make sure to check out the Mad Hatter Sports website and use the code LTB20 which is good for 20% off any of their Swimrun events.That’s it for this week’s show. If you are enjoying the Löw Tide Böyz, be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player and leave us a five-star review. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, and on YouTube. You can also follow our meme page on Instagram. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any questions, feedback, and/or suggestions. Finally, you can support our efforts on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.Thanks for listening and see you out there!-  Chip and Chris

20 Apr 202330min

Welcome to episode 171 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!On this week’s show we go “down under” for a race recap of this year’s Transcape Swimrun. Joining us on this walkabout are special guests Fatima and Roxan Maestro, A.K.A., Team Tethered Since Birth. Fatima and Roxan are twin sisters, great humans, and super stoked on Swimrun so when we saw that they raced the event on Strava, we knew we had to get them on the show to get their race report. The event took place on March 11, 2023 and they share all the sights, stings, and sounds of their experience in Western Australia.But first…Training UpdateTraining is in full swing and the “work” is getting done.Unfortunately, it’s looking like Sunriver Swimrun won’t be happening due to…wait for it…permitting issues, so we will be refocusing on Casco Bay in July and will be engaging in random feats of endurance before then to get ready.ShoutoutThis week’s shoutout goes to Mario Fraioli (previous guest on Episode 30 of the show) and Dr. Justin Ross. Mario recently had Dr. Ross, a sport psychologist on his podcast, the morning shakeout, and we highly recommend that folks check out that episode which was all about mental training as a key component of physical training. Solid gold stuff!Wisdom Nugget of the Week“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” - AristotleFeats of EnduranceThis week’s winner is Marvin Mitschulat for posting an epic looking skiing day on the slopes of St. Anton am Alberg in Austria. We’re not skiers but 33 miles of skiing in 15 runs seems pretty epic to us!Make sure to sign up for our LTBz Strava Club and join Swimrunners from around the world as they train for stuff.This Week in SwimrunNow for the “news.”Swimrun season in Brazil starts this weekend with the Hero Swimrun taking place on April 15th. This event offers 5 different distance events including a new 23km long course that takes athletes through 17 beautiful beaches in the coastal city Armação de Búzios, which is about 160kms east of Rio de Janeiro. You can learn more about the Hero Swimrun and race director Fabian Iskandarian on Episode 61 of the show.It’s almost Swimrun season here in the U.S. with Swimrun Lake James taking place on April 22nd. They still have slots available so if you’re able to go, we would highly recommend this event. You can learn more about the event race director Kristen Jeno on Episode 65, listen to our recap of the 2021 race with special guests The Swaggy Zaddys (Marcus and Lee) on Episode 69, check out our course preview on Episode 113, and/or listen to our 2022 race report on Episode 121.That’s it for this week. Reach out to us if there’s any Swimrun news that you’d like for us to share on the show.Show BusinessWe are experiencing major FOMO to be missing this year’s Swimrun Lake James so we thought we would host a virtual post-race party/meetup to get everyone’s race report on how the day went. Join us on Zoom on Sunday May 7th at 6pm ET for a casual virtual meetup to chat about all things Swimrun.Transcape Swimrun Race Recap w/Team Tethered Since BirthIt was great to chat with Fatima and Roxan. As we mentioned at the beginning of the show, when we found out that they raced Transcape Swimrun, we knew we wanted to have them on to share the tale. The Transcape Swimrun is a 26.5km point-to-point course with 22km of running and 4.5km of swimming. In this conversation we chatted about how the twins found Swimrun, the genesis of their idea to race in Australia, and got their race report of their experience. They are great and we loved living vicariously through their adventure.Enjoy!~~~That’s it for this week’s show. If you are enjoying the Löw Tide Böyz, be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player and leave us a five-star rating and review since that’s the best way for people to discover the show and the sport of Swimrun. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, and on YouTube. Check out our website for Swimrun resources including gear guides, tips, how-to videos and so much more. Also make sure to check out our meme page @thelowtideboyz on Instagram. If you have any suggestions for the show or questions for us, send us a dm or an email at lowtideboyz@gmail.com. Finally, you can support our efforts on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.Thanks for listening and see you out there!-  Chip and Chris

13 Apr 202348min

Welcome to episode 170 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!In this episode we are sharing a course preview of Swimrun Portugal’s Tâmega Swimrun. This event offers three distance options including an ÖTILLÖ Merit Race distance, which is new for 2023, plus some events for kids. We’ve been a fan of Swimrun Portugal Series since episode 35 where we interviewed series director Bruno Safara and his events have been on our list since we learned about them. For this course preview we get help from local race director Sergio Moreira who shares with us all the details for this amazing event. History of the Tâmega SwinrunThe first edition took place in 2021 and it is a wild story of getting final approval for hosting the event two weeks before it was set to take place. As they say the rest was history. In 2023, the race was granted Merit Race status and Michael and Mats were instrumental in bringing the first merit race to Portugal.Getting to the Tâmega SwimrunThe race takes place in the Rio de Moinhos region of Portugal and is about 50km east of Porto. Porto is the closest airport to the race and there are a lot of major airlines that fly to that airport. Fun fact: according to google maps it only takes 10 hours to walk to Rio de Moinhos from Porto. Once in the Rio de Moinhos region, there are restaurants, vineyards and lots of activities for the whole family.The RaceAs we mentioned at the start of the show, this event offers three distance options: a 16.4km Individual Sprint course, a 30.4km “Standard” course, and 42.4km “Marathon” course. The Marathon course is an ÖTILLÖ Merit Race.All three courses are point-to-point style and center around the Tâmega River. This is a challenging landscape with lots of hills.Our ThoughtsFirst of all, a huge thank you to Sergio for helping us put this course preview together. His energy and love for Swimrun is infectious and everything about this event speaks to his desire to put on the best race he can.This event features what is best about Swimrun: the ability to explore a new region while moving seamlessly through nature. This race was already on our bucket list but it has definitely moved up. Registration is open now for this year’s event.That’s it for this week’s show. If you are enjoying the Löw Tide Böyz, be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player and leave us a five-star review. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, and on YouTube. You can also follow our meme page on Instagram. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any questions, feedback, and/or suggestions. Finally, you can support our efforts on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.Thanks for listening and see you out there!-  Chip and Chris

6 Apr 202320min

Welcome to episode 169 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!We are graced by greatness this week on the show! Joining us is the legendary triathlon coach and founder of Purple Patch Fitness, Matt Dixon. We’re serious…he’s our guest this week! This was an awesome conversation about training, life and balance and we can’t wait to share it with you.But first…Training UpdateQueue the air horn! Chris is back in the pool! It wasn’t pretty but it’s safe to say that the Böyz are back to our regularly scheduled training!ShoutoutOur shoutout this week goes out to Andy Scherding. (Keep this name in mind for later in the show) He recently donated to our Wild Swimrun Wild Youth Initiative fundraiser and we really appreciate his support to help get more women and girls into the sport of Swimrun!Wisdom Nugget of the Week“Always do what you are afraid to do.” - Ralph Waldo EmersonFeats of EnduranceThis week’s winner is Tony Portillo. He ran the Hat 50k in Maryland over the weekend in what he self-described as “gloriously muddy conditions” plus took over an hour and twenty minutes off of his 50k PB. Strong work Tony!Bonus award to friend of the pod Will Ramsey for running the Terrapin Mountain 50k a few weeks ago. It was a beastly looking course with over 7,000” of climbing over the 31 miles. Way to be!Make sure to sign up for our LTBz Strava Club and join Swimrunners from around the world as they train for stuff.This Week in SwimrunBefore we get to the news we have a special race director report from our friend and  Race Director of EX Swimrun Nicolas Roman with a preview of their 2023 events.Now for the “news.”In the bummer department, on our last TWIS we shared a new race announcement for Swimrun Whistler. Well, fast forward a few weeks and now we are sharing that the race is being postponed until 2024. Swimrun is indeed a rollercoaster of emotions because we have a new race alert to share! Swimrun Cape Cod is a new event taking place on Cape Cod in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. This is a point to point race through some of the inland ponds and it looks great. The race date is Sept. 16 and they are offering two distance options (a short course and a super short course) for both teams and solo athletes. A long course will be added in 2024. If that wasn’t enough, sign up and use the code LOWTIDE to save 20% off of your registration!So we’re still net plus one in the Western Hemisphere Swimruns department.Over in the UK, Swimrun Coniston announced their 2023 race date. The Full and Sprint course events will take place on Sept. 24 in the “wild and rugged UK landscape” of Coniston. We believe that the courses will be similar to the now defunct Breca race that used to take place in the area.Staying in the UK, “The Original Welsh Swimrun,” Love Swimrun Llanberis, is scheduled for June 17th and will offer a 6km sprint course and a 16km long course. According to their website, both courses are tough so make sure to check out that event!If you happen to be in the UK a week before Swimrun Llanberis, head on over to Nene Park, Peterborough in Cambridgeshire for As Keen as Mustard’s event on June 10 and 11 offering everything from an intro friendly 5km to sporty 39km Swimrun distance options. They are calling the 39km event the “Hot Mustard” distance and we’re here for it!Looking for other Swimrun events to race? Check out the UK-based Swimrun.com’s race calendar that breaks down events by country. Jon and Fred are doing an awesome job building out their website and it’s chock full of great content for beginners and seasoned Swimrunners alike.Finally, are you looking for a Swimrun partner and wish there was an app to help you find someone? Some of you might remember us talking about a Tinder for Swimrun app called Swimder all the way back on Episode 4 of the podcast that we thought someone should develop. Well, fast forward 3 years and Nicolas Remires of Envol Coaching is doing just that! Luckily it’s called Swimrun Connect which is a much better name than Swimder. Check out his gofundme campaign and help crowdsource the new app that he is developing.That’s it for this week. Reach out to us if there’s any Swimrun news that you’d like for us to share on the show.Show BusinessMake sure to check out our YouTube channel to see our latest video all about the Pull Buoy Simple Mount. We explain why we like this setup for Swimrun and include DIY instructions for making your own.Matt Dixon, Founder of Purple Patch FitnessIt was so great to catch up with Matt Dixon. We both have a long history with Purple Patch Fitness and it was fun to chat with Daddy Dixon about his athletic roots, his evolving coaching philosophy, Swimrun training and so much more. This is definitely a “get your notepads out” conversation.You can learn more about Purple Patch Fitness and all of their offerings on their website. Make sure to check out the Purple Patch Podcast as well for weekly wisdom from one of the best in the business. Enjoy!That’s it for this week’s show. If you are enjoying the Löw Tide Böyz, be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player and leave us a five-star review. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, and on YouTube. You can also follow our meme page on Instagram. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback and/or suggestions. Finally, you can support our efforts on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.Thanks for listening and see you out there!-  Chip and Chris

30 Mar 20231h

Welcome to episode 168 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!We have an extra-special episode this week. Joining us for our latest installment in our Swimrun 101 series is Adrian Cameron to discuss solo Swimrunning. Adrian is a super experienced Swimrunner in the solo category and we asked him to educate us (and you) about the solo category. He helps us break down what to expect during a solo Swimrun, what training and gear considerations should look like, and what races in the U.S. are good for beginners or folks new to the category. This episode is chock full of wisdom nuggets. Enjoy!That’s it for this week’s show. If you are enjoying the Löw Tide Böyz, be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player and leave us a five-star review. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, and on YouTube. You can also follow our meme page on Instagram. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback and/or suggestions. Finally, you can support our efforts on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.Thanks for listening and see you out there!-  Chip and Chris

23 Mar 202331min

Welcome to episode 167 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!We’ve got something special for everyone this week. We are sharing a course preview for the Bali Hope Swimrun that is taking place from September 27-30 in Indonesia. If you’re like us and thought “you had us at Bali” then you're going to love our conversation with race founder Tom Hickman.But first…Training UpdateTraining is starting to ramp up and Chris is about to start swimming again! We also recently made a pact, after a particularly wet and wild trail run on Sunday, that our weekend long runs/Swimrun trainings would be non-negotiable and would take place rain or shine. #nodoggingShoutoutThis week we’re shouting out our newest Patron on Patreon, Daniel Kernell. We really, really appreciate your support!Speaking of Patreon, we recently hosted our first Patron meetup of the year and we had a great time chatting with everyone. Thank you all so much for taking the time to join us. It definitely got us super energized to keep putting out Swimrun content for everyone!  And Dave, make sure you’re keeping your fingers pointing towards the bottom of the pool during your pull phase.We also have a bonus shoutout to Marc Stettler. About a month ago we gave a shoutout to the Country of Switzerland for making it into the top 10 in terms of downloads. Marc reached out to let us know that he was likely personally responsible for this since he downloaded our entire back catalog of episodes so that he could binge listen to the show. Strong work and bless you!Wisdom Nugget of the Week“The only zen that you find on the top of mountains is the zen you bring up there.” - Robert Pirsig Feats of EnduranceWe haven’t had this segment in several weeks so we have a list of recognitions to give out. In no particular order:Miriam Fendler for running her first marathonThe Maestro Twins for racing the Transcape Swimrun in AustraliaRoxy Visser for swimming 11k yards from Rottnest Island to Perth (Western Australia)Bronwen and Greg Deirksen for posting workouts from Puerto RicoDerek Rosner for posting workouts from Puerto RicoMake sure to sign up for our LTBz Strava Club and join Swimrunners from around the world as they train for stuff.This Week in SwimrunNow for the “news.”We will keep this edition short because we have a great course preview coming up.There have been a couple of new race announcements in the past few weeks!Mönacö Swimrun (tip of the hat for the double umlaut) recently launched and plans on hosting their first race in the Principality of Monaco in 2024.Swimrun Whistler also recently announced their inaugural Swimrun scheduled for July 16th in British Columbia, Canada. Registration is open now. Also, Yay! More Swimruns in the Western Hemisphere!! Over in the Canary Islands, Swimrun Series Canarias have opened registration for their Tenerife Swimrun (May 6th) and their Gran Canaria Swimrun (June 10th). Both these races look spectacular! If only we lived in Europe and/or had unlimited sources of income!That’s it for this week. Reach out to us if there’s any Swimrun news that you’d like for us to share on the show.Show BusinessStay tuned for some upcoming YouTube videos on Swimrun Training and a comprehensive DIY for our Pull Buoy Simple Mount setup. Make sure you’re subscribed to our channel and, if not, smash that subscribe button.Bali Hope Swimrun Course Preview with Tom HickmanThe Bali Hope Swimrun is a unique event. Taking place on the island of Lembongan in Bali, this small event is big on its community impact and reverence for the beauty of the region. It’s also SouthEast Asia’s original Swimrun. It was great to chat with Tom to get the origin story for this race as well as get an overview of the race weekend, the course, and the charitable impact that it makes. It is so cool that events like these exist and we encourage everyone to check out the Bali Hope Swimrun website and consider adding this race to your bucket list. (It’s already on ours!)Enjoy!That’s it for this week’s show. If you are enjoying the Löw Tide Böyz, be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player and leave us a five-star review. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, and on YouTube. You can also follow our meme page on Instagram. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback and/or suggestions. Finally, you can support our efforts on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.Thanks for listening and see you out there!-  Chip and Chris

16 Mar 202354min

Welcome to episode 166 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!We have a new edition of Gear Talk with Annie and Brooke of the Swimrun Labs this week. In this episode we do a deep dive into the shoe that we can’t stop recommending: the Adidas Terrex Speed Ultra Trail. We geek out on the shoe as well as talk about the other shoes in the Terrex line that we have tried and rank it all at the end with everyone’s favorite Pull Buoy Rankings.It was unanimous that we loved this shoe. It was light and responsive, a non-issue in the water, and even allowed for prancing. Five pull buoys were awarded by everyone and we can’t recommend these shoes enough.Enjoy!That’s it for this week’s show. If you are enjoying the Löw Tide Böyz, be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player and leave us a five-star review. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, and on YouTube. You can also follow our meme page on Instagram. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback and/or suggestions. Finally, you can support our efforts on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.Thanks for listening and see you out there!-  Chip and Chris

9 Mar 202351min