Low Tide Boyz, a Swimrun Podcast

Welcome to episode eighty-six of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!We’re honored to have Michael Lemmel, Co-Founder of ÖTILLÖ on the show this week. We had a great conversation that covered a lot of ground where we looked back over the 15 year history of the race that started it all (ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship) and looked forward to what the future holds for ÖTILLÖ and Swimrun.But first... Training UpdateThe training block has begun for Ödyssey Swimrun’s Orcas Island. Running hills will be a staple of this block and luckily, there is no shortage of mountains for us to run up and down. We ran the “Ninja Loop” on Saturday (a local trail runner favorite) and we will probably be hitting that loop multiple times before race day.ShoutoutThis week we’re shouting out Caroline Wolek and Patrick Reagan. They recently won the Ödyssey Legend Award as voted by the race participants at Casco Bay a few weeks back. This award shines a spotlight on athletes who embody the spirit of Swimrun: putting others above self, spreading positive energy to other racers, and taking action when faced with adversity. Caroline and Patrick are well-deserving of this recognition by their fellow Swimrunners. Congratulations! Feats of EnduranceThis week’s award goes to Nate Budziak. Nate ran the Waldo 100k over the weekend and totally crushed the 61ish mile (with 11,000’ of elevation gain) trail race finishing in 16th place overall. Awesome performance!Check out and join our Strava Club and join Swimrunners from around the world as they train for Swimruns and stuff.This Week in SwimrunLots of updates this week so let’s get right to it!It’s race week for Ödyssey Swimrun Mackinac Island! Make sure to sign up if you haven’t already (using the code LOWTIDE15 to save 15% on your registration) and follow our Instagram channel where our two LTBz Field Correspondents (Trista and Amy from Team Adorkable) will be “covering” the event.The Zêzere Swimrun hosted by our friends at Swimrun Portugal is just a few weeks away. This race is taking place on September 5th and offers two distance options. If you’re in need of a Swimrun holiday, then check out this race!We’re also just a few weeks away from the Breca Swimrun Jersey. Taking place on September 4th, this race is also the UK National Swimrun Championship. We’ve talked about this race before and it’s 100% on the bucket list!Over in Sweden, the Immeln Swimrun put on by A to Be Events took place over the weekend. The race looked awesome and we were stoked to see that the Ultra distance (that we talked about about a month ago) ended up getting enough participants for it to happen.The 10 Island Swimrun also took place over the weekend. What this 20km race in Gothenburg lacks in a creative name, it definitely makes up for it with a super hard but also super fun course. Definitely check out their Instagram page for some great race photos.That’s it for this week. Reach out to us with any news that you’d like for us to share on the show.Michael Lemmel InterviewThis week’s guest doesn’t need an introduction for anyone who is familiar with Swimrun...but we’ll give one anyway. Michael is the co-founder of ÖTILLÖ and is one of the most important figures in the sport. His (and the entire team at ÖTILLÖ) approach to adventure racing, race directing, protecting nature, and building community has helped to build the global Swimrun movement. We covered a lot of ground in this interview recorded on the eve of the 15th edition of The Swimrun World Championship and we discussed the past, present, and future of Swimrun. You can learn more about ÖTILLÖ on their website.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

26 Aug 20211h 1min

Welcome to episode eighty-five of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship less than a month away! To get everyone hyped for the race, we asked our friend and previous guest of the show Oscar Olsson to walk us through the legendary 75km course. This episode is a masterclass and super helpful for anything racing the World Championship or just curious about what teams will face on September 6. Get your notepads out for this one!But first... Training UpdateFor the first time in a long time we had a chill week of training now that Casco Bay is in the rear view mirror. We’ll be starting to ramp up soon for Ödyssey Swimrun’s Orcas Island race and we foresee a lot of running up (and down) hills in our future.ShoutoutThis week we’re shouting out Henry Loveless who let us know that he did his first Swimrun over the weekend in Finland at the Strömfors Swimrun. He started listening to the show to get ready and we got him super stoked! (Mission Accomplished!) Congrats Henry and thanks for listening. Feats of EnduranceThis week’s award goes to Drew Wilson. This guy biked 105 miles (with 7,000ft of elevation) in Taos County New Mexico over the weekend...on a tri bike. Impressive on multiple levels. Strong work dude!Check out and join our Strava Club and join Swimrunners from around the world as they train for Swimruns and stuff.This Week in SwimrunLots of updates this week so let’s get right to it!Ödyssey Swimrun Mackinac Island is fast approaching! The race is on August 29 and we already are experiencing FOMO. Lucky for us, we will have two LTBz Field Correspondents (Trista and Amy from Team Adorkable) “covering” the event for us and they will be sharing all the weekend festivities on our IG stories and we’ll be doing a race recap episode with them as well so stay tuned for that.Another race that is giving us FOMO is Swimrun Georgia. This race is taking place on October 10 and we recommend that everyone who is in the general area of Georgia or in the United States to register! Programming note: are hoping to interview the race director Tony Hammet before the race so stay tuned for that.Up in Canada, Swimrun Victoria took place over the weekend. Lots of smiling faces at this event that offered 27km Long Course and 13km Short Course options.Over in Europe, all eyes are on ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship on September 6. That’s not all that is going on across the pond. ÖTILLÖ’s Final 15k sprint race is taking place on September 4 which looks like a ton of fun!Finally, Swimrunman Laffrey is happening this weekend in France. This race offers a bunch of distance options including an ÖTILLÖ Merit race distance that features a legendary/brutal vertical kilometer final run to the finish line. There’s also a kids Swimrun which is awesome! This is yet another race that’s on our bucket list. Sigh!That’s it for this week. Reach out to us with any news that you’d like for us to share on the show.UpdatesIf you haven’t already, make sure to check out our Ödyssey Swimrun Casco Bay Race Report episode. Spoiler Alert: we had a good race and a lot of fun.Chris recently co-hosted the morning shakeout podcast with Mario Fraioli for the quarterly “Ask Mario Anything” series. A lot of great insight about marathon and ultramarathon training, nutrition, and the importance of taking breaks that is worth a listen.Finally, we are going to be restocking the LTBz store soon so stay tuned for new ways to show your Löw Tide Pride.ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship Course Walkthrough We are super lucky to have someone like Oscar Olsson come back on the show to walk us through the legendary ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship course. He knows the course like the back of his hand and he drops some major pro-tips that are good for everyone from first-timers to experienced teams racing on September 6. Basically, he gives us a masterclass on strategy for the 75km. He’s a great ambassador for the sport who clearly loves Swimrun and wants to help grow the sport. You definitely want your note pad out for this one!Oscar’s World Championship Solid Gold Pro-Tips:With 24 runs and 23 swims, working to keep your transitions short and crisp will save you a ton of time over the dayDon’t worry about jockeying for position on the first run in Sandhamn because the beach before the first swim is very wide and there’s plenty of spaceTake advantage of non-technical sections on the runs to find some pacePlan on cabbing down on the three long runs on the course unless the temperature is very cold to make sure that you’re not losing too much electrolytes that will affect your speed towards the end of the raceAlways take a gel before the Pig SwimMost athletes will be cold after the Pig Swim so try to keep moving to get the body temperature upTake energy before the swim that takes you to Ornö because there isn’t an energy station until about 8-9km into the long 20km runCab down for the Ornö runIn training, make sure do a long Swimrun session that ends with a 15km run so simulate what the long run on Ornö will feel likeMake sure to notice the current direction You can follow Oscar Olsson on Instagram and definitely check out Livesporttv.se for awesome Swimrun content!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

19 Aug 20211h 4min

Welcome to episode eighty-four of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!We’ve got a special episode this week! We just got back from racing Ödyssey Swimrun’s Casco Bay on Sunday August 8th and we’re going to share our race report on what was a great weekend in Portland, Maine. Hope you enjoy it!Initial ThoughtsThere was a lot of buildup for this race. We’ve basically been training for this thing since January in the hope that races wouldn’t get canceled because of COVID...again. We definitely put in the work and the pre-race nerves were all about being able to put in a performance that was commensurate with all the training that we had been doing.Getting to the Maine EventGetting to Portland was uneventful. We flew separately which wasn’t ideal but we hang out enough already.Just like in Austin last November, it was awesome (and a little surreal) to meet so many new people, put faces to names from our Strava Club and Instagram DMs, and reconnect with previous guests of the show. We did our best to try to remember everyone that we met, so here’s a shout out list: (Super sorry if we forgot anyone)Luke from New Hampshire (hope the Ark Korp worked out for you)Lucas, the Renaissance Man as termed by John StevensBrooke and Samantha Fallon (finally met them!)Ben from Arizona who we met outside of Otto's PizzaGrace MobergRay ConboyChris Sweet (a local)Ian and Nick from the UKMick from Australia Caleb Baity (finally!)Scott H. from Boston Jenny Hinshaw (Sarah Fergot’s race partner) Liza and Mike from LA (we met Mike at Catalina last year)Chris from Tower 26 (Feel free to use the testimonial that Chris gave you at the post-race party)Jett and Derek Rosner NikosJohn from the ca Swimrun crewJohn’s friend Heather from BostonSophie MolsberryScott Turner from DC (Extra special Shout-out)It was also great to see former guests of the show and folks that we have met at previous events. There are too many of them to list but you know who you are!Finally, some special bonus shoutouts to the four US teams that are racing the ÖTILLÖ World Championship next month that all came out to Casco Bay for a final tuneup before the big dance. You’re all great ambassadors for US Swimrunning and we’ll all be rooting for you! (Programming alert: we’ve interviewed all of them...except for Mel Bartow...which we will be rectifying soon!)Team Envol Baywatch (Beek and Blake)It Be Me Me Me and Timothy (Jonathan and Tim)The Swimrun Monks (Sean and Phillip)California Swimrun (Mel and Andy)Race Day/The Shark Email/Ferry Ride to the StartAt 4:06am on race morning, Ödyssey made a bunch of people shit their pants when they sent out an email letting everyone know about a tagged shark sighting about 4 miles off of Cushing Island (so basically near/not so near the first and second swims.) Obviously, they made the right decision in letting everyone know but it probably wasn’t helping calm the nerves. For our part, we weren’t thinking about it. Our nerves were more about putting together a good race to justify to ourselves that all our training culminated in good race execution, which doesn’t always happen.The ferry ride was cool and hanging out with everyone at the start line was a lot of fun. Then, just like that the race started!LTBz Long Course Play-By-PlayR1: Peaks Island (2.0mi)S1: Peaks Island to Cushing Island (965m/1,055yd)R2: Cushing Island (2.3mi)S2: Cushing Island to House Island (645m/705yd)R3: House Island (.4mi)S3: House Island to Little Diamond Island (965m/1,055yd)R4: Little Diamond Island (.8mi)S4: Little Diamond Island to Great Diamond Island (325m/355yd)R5: Great Diamond Island (1.3mi)S5: Great Diamond Island to Cow Island (200m/219yd)R6: Cow Island (.5mi)S6: Cow Island to Long Island (965m/1,055yd)R7: Long Island Part 1 (1.6mi) S7: Long Island to Vail Island (270m/295yd)R8: Vail Island (.5mi)S8: Vail Island back to Long Island (880m/962yd)R9: Long Island Part 2 (1.6mi)S9: Long Island to Little Chebeague Island (640m/700yd)R10: Little Chebeague Island (.4mi)S10: Little Chebeague Island to (Big) Chebeague Island (560m/612yd)R11: Chebeague Island (Run 1) (4.25mi)S11: Chebeague Island (Swim 1) (650m/711yd)R12: Chebeague Island (Run 2) (.8mi)S12: Chebeague Island (Swim 2) (400m/437yd)R13: Chebeague Island (Run 3) (.55mi)The long course ended up being a bit longer than advertised with most teams saying that the overall distance was around 25 miles. But hey, that’s Swimrun! We finished the race in 5:10 which was good enough for 10th Place Men’s Team and 11th Overall.Post RaceThe finish line was a lot of fun with everyone cheering the finishers as they crossed the arch.We ended up tagging along with the Cali Swimrun Crew and got a water taxi back to Portland which was the best $40 that we ever spent..and saved about 2 hours of ferry boat riding to get back to the mainland.Our inaugural race after party at Lone Pine Brewery was a lot of fun. People showed up which was not a guarantee and it was great to have a venue for everyone to share their war stories from the day and learn from the experiences of others. We learned a ton for sure. Huge thanks for everyone that came out.Overall ImpressionsThe race was a great adventure. The course was well marked, the locals were out cheering everyone on, and the sharks minded their own business. The Ödyssey crew did an awesome job and it was easy to see that they were as stoked as all the participants racing.Final ThoughtsIt was so great to get out there and express the fitness that we’ve been developing over the last year. We’re definitely feeling amped up for Orcas Island at the end of September.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

12 Aug 202154min

Welcome to episode eighty-three of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!In this episode, we sit down with Jonathan Story and Tim Ferguson of Team It Be Me Me Me and Timothy. They are a Swimrun team out of Charlotte, North Carolina and they are one of only four U.S. teams to qualify for the ÖTILLÖ World Championship this year. This is a fun one!But first... Training UpdateIt’s race week...finally! We know we say this a lot, but we’re super stoked to be heading to Portland to race Ödyssey Swimrun’s Casco Bay race for a second time. Stay tuned for our race report on next week’s show.ShoutoutThis week we’re shouting out Sarah and Miriam from Team PB and Bananas. They are a new team out of Petaluma, CA and happen to train at our pool. We love their enthusiasm (they definitely remind us of all the fun we had when we first got into the sport) and it’s safe to say that they are super stoked on Swimrun. Follow their adventures on Instagram as they train for Ödyssey Swimrun’s Ludington race in October.Feats of EnduranceThis week’s award goes to Jett Rosner. He posted a treadmill workout that had one of the best titles that we’ve seen in the Strava Club. His 5 mile run was called “Decent treadmill run (listened to the Low Tide Boyz Casco Bay Race Briefing!! Got hyped at the end and dropped a 6:10 last mile so the average pace was skewed).” Jett got us hyped!Check out our Strava Club and join Swimrunners from around the world as they train for Swimruns and stuff.This Week in SwimrunWe’ve missed a few weeks of updates so instead of looking back, in this edition we’re looking forward in time to chat about upcoming news and events.The Ödyssey Swimrun race season starts this weekend with Casco Bay. We can’t wait to participate in the long course distance and see everyone!In other Swimrun news from the U.S., Swimrun Georgia is back! This year’s race is scheduled for October 10. The course looks awesome and it’s a great first race for anyone who is curious about Swimrun.On the other side of the Atlantic...ÖTILLÖ is hosting its second race of the year this weekend in Gothenburg. The start list is stacked with a ton of talented teams for the 35km World Series distance race as teams try one last time to qualify for this year’s ÖTILLÖ World Championship on September 6. The Västeras Swimrun recently confirmed that their race on September 4th is happening and the race is filling up fast so make sure to register if you are in Sweden or want to go to Sweden for this event.Our friends at EX Swimrun are introducing a new Swimrun term that they hope will catch on: SWIFA (Swim Factor). Basically it’s a measure of how much swimming in relation to running a Swimrun course has. The higher the SWIFA, the more swimming a course has. They adapted the term from running and cross country skiing which uses the term STIFA to take into account elevation on a course. We think that it could be a helpful way to help people select and prepare for events.Speaking of EX Swimrun, their EX21 Fall Edition is taking place on September 19. With a SWIFA score of 21.7%, this race is not for the faint of heart with long swims and tough trails. Also the race starts with a 6 meter cliff jump. Sounds like a ton of fun!That’s it for this week. Reach out to us with any news that you’d like for us to share on the show.UpdatesMake sure to check out our latest episode of Gear Talk where the gang talks about gear considerations for this weekend’s Casco Bay race.This is the final reminder about our Casco Bay race after-party taking place at Lone Pine Brewery starting at 5:30ish. Look for the blue LTBz flag when you get there. Hope to see you all there!Team It Be Me Me Me and TimothyIt was great to chat with Jonathan and Tim about their Swimrun journey and their quest to qualify and race the ÖTILLÖ World Championship. It was inspiring to hear how they just put that goal out there and went and achieved it. As one of only four teams heading over from the U.S. to race the original Swimrun, they are representing the growing Swimrun scene in the U.S. In this interview, we chatted with them about how they discovered Swimrun and became partners, why they decided to try to qualify for worlds, how they are training for the big dance, and a lot more. These guys are great ambassadors for the sport and we will definitely be rooting for them next month.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

5 Aug 202150min

Swimrun Odyssey Casco Bay Gear ConsiderationsWelcome to Gear Talk with our friends Annie and Brooke from Swimrun Labs.In this episode, the gang talks through the various gear considerations for the upcoming Ödyssey Swimrun Casco Bay race in Portland, Maine. They take into account their previous experience at the event, the weather forecast, their training, and everything else to help Chipper and Chris dial in their kit for their first race of the year.That’s it for this week’s Gear Talk show. If you are enjoying the Löw Tide Böyz, please be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcast. You can also follow our meme page on Instagram. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback, suggestions, and/or meme ideas. Finally, you can also support us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

3 Aug 202153min

Welcome to episode eighty-two of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!In this episode, we’re joined by Lars Finanger, Brent Molsberry, and Brooke Lindsley (of the Swimrun Labs) for our detailed course preview of Ödyssey Swimrun’s Orcas Island event. We’re super stoked for this event and think that you will also be super stoked about it after hearing this episode.Programming note: We are tying a bit of a new format for this course preview. I.e., we are going to try to be a bit more concise. As ever, we would love to hear your feedback on this episode to let us know if it’s a thumbs up or thumbs down.KILLER WHALE ISLAND DOESN’T SOUND AS NICE Taking place on Orcas Island, Washington, Ödyssey Swimrun sets up an amazing course in the Pacific Northwest that has been on our bucket list since the race was first announced a few year’s back. The Ödyssey website describes the race as follows: “Crisp inland lake swims, hauntingly beautiful forest trail runs, big mountain climbs, and stunning scenery around every turn makes this an instant fall classic.” Uhm, they had us at “crisp.”Course designer and race director Brent Molsberry was cool enough to share his thoughts on the course and the Orcas Island region.Traveling to Orcas Island is pretty tricky so we asked Brent to share with us all the logistics that participants will want to have lined up well before race day.The moral of the story here is book your travel to either Seattle or Bellingham, your lodging on Orcas Island, and definitely plan to book your ferry ticket when they become available.MT. CONSTITUTION SOUNDS FUN (Leg By Leg Course Breakdown)As with our previous course preview episodes, we recommend having a copy of the course map handy so you can follow along and start visualizing what you can expect on race day. That being said, as with a lot of Swimrun events, the distances are approximate and might change on race day so be prepared for that.Here are the main stats for Orcas Island: the long course is a total of 24.25 miles with 3.5 miles of swimming and around 6,110ft of elevation gain. The short course is a total of 12.30 miles with 2 miles of swimming and around 2,152ft of gain.To tee up the leg by leg Breakdown, Lars Finanger shares with us an overview of both the long and short courses.Lars also shared some extra details about the start and finish location of this year’s race, signage on the course, and aid station fixin’.Annotated Long Course Leg Breakdown:R1: Rosario Resort Race Start (1.05 miles)Prepare for hills from the get go and hills along the entire courseThe section is very technical so take it easyS1: Cascade Bay Swim (275m/300yds)This will be the only ocean swim on the course and it will be super coldMake sure you are warmed up going into the swimConsider wearing ear plugs and an extra swim cap that you can stash afterwards or dispose at the next aid stationR2: Rosario to Cascade Lake (.9 miles)“Chill” runIt’s a big uphill when you get out of the water at the startS2: Cascade Lake Swim #1 (290m/317yds)R3: Cascade Lake Perimeter (.75 miles)S3: Cascade Lake Swim #2 (850m/930yds)Second longest swim of the dayR4: Cascade Lake Perimeter (.35 miles)10ish foot cliff jump into S4S4: Cascade Lake Swim #3 (515m/563yds)R5: Cascade Lake to Mountain Lake (2.5 miles)S5: Mountain Lake Swim #1 (885m/968yds)Longest swim of the dayMight be hard to see the swim exit from the swim startR6: Mountain Lake Mini Island Hop (130 feet)Keep your goggles on since the run is super shortS6: Mountain Lake Mini Swim (50m/55yds)R7: Mt. Constitution (4.5 miles)Have a plan for this run and make sure you have nutrition and hydration for this sectionConsider cabbing downIt’s straight uphill. There’s not much relief. Power hiking is your friend.There are pretty steep downhills on the way to Twin Lakes.S7: Twin Lakes Swim #1 (275m/301yds)Look for the large pink teardrop flags for the swim exitThis lake might be colder than the other lakesR8: Short Twin Lakes Run (.15 miles)S8: Twin Lakes Swim #2 (100m/110yds)R9: Mt. Pickett (4.5 miles)Not as steep as Mt. Constitution but it’s a long gradual climbThis is the most remote part of the courseYou might get a little chilly in this sectionTake nutrition and hydration here to get you to Mountain Lake.S9: Mountain Lake Swim #2 (565m/618yds)The start of this swim is the end of a short course swimAid station at the end of this swim and it’s the last aid station before the finish so make sure that you fuel up hereR10: Mountain Lake Perimeter Run (.75 miles)S10: Mountain Lake Swim #3 (355m/388yds)There’s a rope swing at the start of this swimR11: Mountain Lake Perimeter Run (.5 miles)S11: Mountain Lake Swim #4 (385m/421yds)R12: Mountain Lake Island Hop (225 feet)A pretty little island according to BrentS12: Mountain Lake Swim #5 (325m/355yds)R13: Run back to Cascade Lake (3.75 miles)You may see some racers going in the other directionPretty much all downhillS13: Cascade Lake Swim #4 (725m/793yds)Final swim of the day!R14: Run to Rosario Resort (1 mile)Annotated Short Course Leg Breakdown:R1: Rosario Resort Race Start (1.05 miles)Prepare for hills from the get go and hills along the entire courseThe section is very technical so take it easyS1: Cascade Bay Swim (275m/300yds)This will be the only ocean swim on the course and it will be super coldMake sure you are warmed up going into the swimConsider wearing ear plugs and an extra swim cap that you can stash afterwards or dispose at the next aid stationR2: Rosario to Cascade Lake (.9 miles)“Chill” runIt’s a big uphill when you get out of the water at the startS2: Cascade Lake Swim #1 (290m/317yds)R3: Cascade Lake Perimeter (.75 miles)S3: Cascade Lake Swim #2 (850m/930yds)Second longest swim of the dayR4: Cascade Lake Perimeter (.35 miles)10ish foot cliff jump into S4S4: Cascade Lake Swim #3 (515m/563yds)R5: Cascade Lake to Mountain Lake (2.5 miles)S5: Mountain Lake Mini Swim (50m/55yds)R6: Mountain lake Mini Island Hop (130 ft)S6: Mountain Lake Swim #2 (485m/530yds)R7: Run back to Cascade Lake (2.9 miles)You may see some racers going in the other directionPretty much all downhillS7: Cascade Lake Swim #4 (725m/793yds)R8: Run to Rosario (1 mile)COLD WATER COMING!Training for Orcas is all about getting your climbing legs ready for the course. Find hills and run them. If you don’t have hills, use a stairmaster or find a tall building and run up and down the stairwell.Brooke shared with us what you will find at Orcas from a Swimrunners perspective and how she prepared for the race. She practiced her uphill and downhill running on as technical trails as possible.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

29 Jul 202136min

Welcome to episode eighty-one of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!In this episode, we chat about the Trans Tahoe Relay Swim that Chris participated in over the weekend. It was a really, really, really fun event and we will share the complete race report with everyone.But First…Training UpdateThe Böyz split up over the weekend (shocking!) and Chipper did a solo 3-hour Swimrun practice while Chris was having fun in Tahoe. ShoutoutsWe’ve got two shoutouts this week!First, a tip of the hat to Rob Golden. He reached out to us recently and he’s racing his first Swimrun in a few weeks at Casco Bay. We’re super stoked for Rob and hope to see him at our race after-party at Lone Pine Brewery.We’re also shouting yet another new Patron on Patreon: John a.k.a. HAYATZ a.k.a. HYZ. He’s been a friend since even before LTBz was a thing and we really appreciate his support. HYZ is also on a new Swimrun journey as he trains up for his first race at Orcas Island and second event at ÖTILLÖ Catalina. HYZ is also responsible for inspiring us to create the Feats of Endurance segment after he ran around his block covering 50 miles to raise funds for the non-profit KEEN USA.Feats of EnduranceWe have two winners this week. The Swimrun team of Mel Bartow and Andy Hewitt swam around Coronado in San Diego in a cool 4h 53m covering some 21,000yds. Why? We don’t know but it was an impressive feat for sure!Make sure to check out our Strava Club and follow fellow Swimrunners from around the world as they train for races and life.This Week In Swimrun (Powered by Raceid.com)It’s been another good week for Swimrun news!The Illmensee Swimrun took place in Germany over the weekend. Given all the bad news coming out of Germany lately regarding bad weather and flooding, it was great to see this event go off without a hitch. Special shoutout to Christian Götz (and his partner Martina) from our Strava Club who finished first place overall and first place mixed team. Strong work!The Kalmar Swimrun also took place over the weekend. This 23k race looked super well organized and had a ton of participants. It’s great to see events coming back in Sweden!Over in Italy, Aquaticrunner has announced the date of Sept. 12th (the best date in the world) for what they are calling the 2021 Individual Swimrun World Championship. Not entirely sure why it’s a “World Championship” but it’s cool that new formats for racing are popping up in Europe.In the bummer section of the news, Quest Racing recently announced that they had to cancel their Seattle Swimrun.Breca Swimrun confirmed that their Gower Swimrun has a full go ahead to take place on July 31st. Registration is closing soon, so make sure to sign up if you want to race in the Gower Peninsula in Wales.That’s it for this week. Feel free to email us to tip us off to any events or Swimrun news that you’d like for us to share on the show.UpdatesAre you tether-curious? Make sure to check out our two new videos on YouTube about the Swimrun Tether. Sarah and Miriam from Team PB and Bananas (who swim at our pool) recently DIY’d their own tether for their first Swimrun practice and it looked like they survived so we must be doing something right in the advice department. At long last our LTBz Swimrun practice bibs have arrived! Want to represent for LTBz or just want some extra visibility out there for safety and stuff? Then these bibs are for you. We only made a limited run of these so head on over to our store to check them out.Chris’s Trans-Tahoe Relay Race ReportIn this episode, we are letting people into a tradition that Chipper and Chris have had for years, namely, sharing their race report on either a run, a ride, or over a dinner with the training crew. In short, Chris’s experience at the Trans Tahoe Relay was so much fun. In this race report, Chris breaks down everything that you need to know about the event, how it went, and why he is planning on participating in it again for every year that he can!You can learn more about the Trans Tahoe Relay on their website. (Warning: the website is overdo for a facelift, to put it mildly.)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

22 Jul 202135min

Welcome to episode eighty of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!This week’s show will hopefully leave you saying Snyggt! (“Nice!” in Swedish)In this show we are demystifying one of the most mystifying aspects of Swimrun to non-Swimrunners and Swimrunners alike: The Tether! We are going to break it all down for you and by the end, hopefully convince you why you will want to race with a tether at your next Swimrun event. Welcome to Swimrun 101: The Tether!But First…Training UpdateWe had a good Casco Bay race simulation practice over the weekend and we’re definitely starting to feel the itch to race in a few weeks. In the meantime, we’ll keep swimming and running and swimming and running and so on.ShoutoutsThis week we’re shouting out our newest Patron on Patreon: Hugh B. As ever, we really appreciate folks supporting the show and helping us keep the lights on at Studio G. You’re awesome Hugh!Feats of EnduranceIt was really tough to pick a winner this week but we had to give the award to Tom Avontour from The Netherlands. Tom raced the Trail des 6 cols 45k race in France over the weekend and given that he lives in a practically pancake flat country, a race that had over 11,000ft of climbing is no easy feat. Major kudos Tom!Make sure to check out our Strava Club and follow fellow Swimrunners from around the world as they train for races and life.This Week In Swimrun (Powered by Raceid.com)It’s been a good week for Swimrun news!ÖTILLÖ Engadin took place over the weekend and it looked as epic as ever. Congrats to everyone that raced and a special shoutout to Desirée Andersson and her partner Victor Dahl for winning the World Series event Mixed Division AND finishing 3rd overall! A bonus shoutout to Oscar Olsson and his partner for Adriel Young for finishing 2nd overall and then doing a bunch of interviews with livesporttv.se after the race! This race is second on our bucket list (just being ÖTILLÖ Utö) and we were experiencing major FOMO. Hopefully next year.... Swimrun Madrid by HEAD happened over the weekend in Peyalos de la Presa Spain. They had over 300 Swimrunners in attendance (according to their website) racing either their Sprint (10km) or Half (19km) distances. Both courses looked like a lot of fun!Over in the UK, Breca Coniston and Mad Hatter Sports’s Hokey Cokey Roseland Swimrun took place and both events looked like a success! Shoutouts to friends of the podcast Iain Shaw and Sarah King who raced Coniston and Bill and Christina Lankford who won the mixed division at Roseland. Strong work all around.In more UK news, our friends at As Keen As Mustard Events are back at their back to back event hosting escapades with the Manvers Lake Swimrun that happened last weekend and the Long Eaton Swimrun coming up this weekend in Nottingham. We expect to see some clever Robin Hood-themed team names for that one!Here in the U.S., Swimrun season is about to get kicked into overdrive with five Ödyssey Swimrun events starting with Casco Bay on August 8th (use the code LOWTIDE15 to save 15% on registration for any 2021 Ödyssey event), Swimrun NC on November 7th, and fittingly closing out the year with ÖTILLÖ Catalina on November 20th.That’s it for this week. Feel free to email us to tip us off to any events or Swimrun news that you’d like for us to share on the show.UpdatesIf you’re going to be in Portland, Maine on Aug. 8th, make sure to come join us at our inaugural LTBz post-race after-party, co-hosted by Ödyssey Swimrun at Lone Pine Brewery. We’ll be there from 5:30ish until they close at 8 pm. Mark it on your calendars!SWIMRUN 101: THE TETHERWe’ve been getting a lot of feedback asking us for a Tether episode so for this edition of Swimrun 101 series we are going to break down the What? Why? And How? of the Swimrun Tether and make our case as to why you should be going to your local paracord/shock cord and carabiner supplier and DIY’ing one of these for your next Swimrun.You can also check out our article in Triathlete Magazine about the tether and our video on Youtube.What is it?The tether, or tow line, is essentially a 3m (or roughly 10ft) cord that Swimrun teams use to stay in contact with each other in the water and on land during a Swimrun. Swimrun event rules typically state that teams must stay within 10 ft of each other at all times for safety. The genesis for the tether, according to previous guest of the show and legendary swimrunner Jonas Colting, was to keep teams safe and in contact during the original ÖTILLÖ race, which in the early years took teams 18+ hours to finish. While they aren’t mandatory at every race, as you will hear later, it’s a definite advantage to use one.Why is it a thing?There are some tactical advantages for using a tether. Mainly, it allows teams to stay in contact during swim legs and stay in each other’s draft. The advantages of drafting in the water are pretty well understood. In longer swimrun events, recovering behind the lead swimmer can keep everyone fresh, which can pay off later in the race. Teams can draft with different strategies. Teams will typically stay tethered during run legs and we would definitely recommend this. The tether provides real-time haptic feedback that lets you know exactly how your partner is doing pace-wise. If a team member is not having a good day, it’s not uncommon for a runner to tow their partner up a steep climb. The tether can keep a team moving forward until they recover or hit the next aid station. Rather than thinking of it as your teammate giving you a push of motivation, they are actually giving you a pull of motivation.  When you are using a tether, we would also recommend keeping it on all the time unless the terrain makes that dangerous (cliff jumps) or annoying (lots of shrubbery for it to get caught on.) Clipping, unclipping, wrapping the cord up after a 200m swim, pulling it out and trying to rehook it to your partner will eat up a lot of time. This all comes down to practice and developing the technique to wield the tether effectively.How to build a tether and how to use it?The majority of teams DIY their tethers and we recommend using quick release carabiners to attach at both ends for um...quick release. (You can buy them pre-made but they are usually way overpriced and, more importantly, where’s the fun in that?!) The length can vary depending on comfort level, but typically you want it just long enough so that you stay on your partner’s feet in the water. (PRO TIP: if the tether is too long during a race, make a knot on the line during the next run leg.) Teams then attach each end to their wetsuit (some suits have integrated loops for attaching one), to the cord of your pull buoy waist loop (if you’re using that type of pull buoy mount), or to a waist utility belt a la Batman. Chris uses a “tactical military grade” nylon belt that has a loop built into the belt that sells for around $13.00 on Amazon. Companies like Orca and ARK Sports also make these belts.To make your tether, we recommend using either a thick, bright-colored 1/4” paracord/shockcord or ½-¾” nylon webbing material and attach carabiners on either side. We recommend a highly visible color that can be easily seen in murky lakes and crystal clear ocean waters. You don’t need anything special in terms of carabiners, something that’s light and basic (but not easily snapped) will do the trick. As with anything Swimrun, you should experiment in training to see what works best for you. It definitely takes some getting used to swim and run with a tether...and dinner plate-sized hand paddles...and a giant pull buoy. Basically though, the partner being towed wants to keep the tether in their midline so that they can swim freely without getting all caught up in the tether.In summary, we really can’t recommend the tether enough! It was a game changer for us when we finally stopped taking the tether off during runs and think that it will be the same for other teams as well.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

15 Jul 202127min