Team Mr. and Mrs. B

Welcome to episode thirty-one of the Low Tide Boyz, a Swimrun Podcast!On the show this week we have our first repeat guest, Ötillö World Champion Fanny Kuhn. We chatted with her about her experience post-Catalina and how she dealt with the shelter in place restrictions in Barcelona. More on the interview later in the show.Training UpdateWe are still training for something—not sure what yet—but we had another Swimrun practice over the weekend and we’ll be doing another Swimrun adventure soon.ShoutoutsThis we’re shouting out Vicky. She’s in our Low Tide Boyz Strava Club and a fan of the show. She recently found out that she shares one of her favorite movies, The Big Blue, with Chris after listening to our interview with Journalist and Writer Adam Skolnick. Bonus shout out to the Ötillö Hype Video crew for their latest opus: the 2020 Engadin Recap Movie. If that doesn’t make you want to go to Silvaplana, then we don’t know what will. If you want to learn more about the Engadin course, check out our Course Preview episode to get all the details!Feats of Endurance Weekly AwardWe are giving our feats of endurance award this week to Neil Copper. He’s been putting in a ton of work so we wanted to give him the ole’ tip of the cap. By the way, we’ve finally ordered the bumper stickers! We’ll be reaching out to our past winners to get mailing address and get these in the mail for everybody.LTBz UpdatesCheck out our latest gear review on our newly re-named “Gear Talk” show with Swimrun Labs. This week we do a deep dive into the Ark Sports ORNÖ 02 Swimrun wetsuit. Check it out wherever you listen to your podcasts.Our new project, the International Swimrun Adventure Guide, is up and running and we got our first submission from all the way from Germany! If you have a great training route that you don’t want to keep secret you can head over to our website and fill out the form on our homepage and we’ll start compiling the entries and getting them listed on the site.In other news, we didn’t come up with any new projects this week! That’s a first for us.Fanny Kuhn InterviewOur guest this week is Fanny Kuhn. She’s the reigning Ötillö World Championship and one of our favorite humans. We previously chatted with her about her organization Wild Swimrun with her co-founder Mia and we’re stoked to have her back as our first repeat guest.In this interview, we wanted to chat with Fanny about how her life changed when she returned home to Barcelona after racing Ötillö Catalina and COVID-19 changed the course of everyone’s lives. She opened up about how she dealt with being in quarantine for three straight months, losing her world-class fitness and deciding to take time off from Swimrun (she had made the hard decision to not race the World Championship before it was cancelled.) We also talked about how she gained a new perspective for her training and maintaining balance in her life.This was a deep interview that touched on a lot of topics and it just confirmed to us how great we think Fanny is and why she’s such a great ambassador for Swimrun. You can follow Fanny on Instagram here and learn more about her organization Wild Swimrun here.That’s it for this week’s 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 and on Twitter. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback, suggestions and/or meme suggestions. Finally, you can also support us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

6 Aug 202046min

Welcome to the (newly named) Gear Talk: The Löw Tide Böyz and Swimrun Labs review show!In this episode, we do a deep dive into the Ark Sports ORNÖ 02 Swimrun wetsuit.We’ve talked about Ark Sports a lot on Gear Talk and we’re stoked to take a closer look at the ORNÖ 02 suit. Both Chipper and Annie have used the ORNÖ 02 in training and racing so we get their perspective on the suit while Brooke and Chris peppered them with questions. We were first introduced to Ark Sports when we interviewed the co-founder, Christofer Sundberg for the podcast back in February 2020.Wetsuit Details from Ark SportsThe ORNÖ is Ark Sport’s “flagship suit” and it has been tested and trusted by the world’s best swimrun athletes since they launched it in 2017. Ark Sports describes the suit as “a stripped racer with no unnecessary additions. Designed with the single purpose of making you move as smoothly and quickly as possible even through the hardest conditions.” The suit boasts the following features: Premium Yamamoto LIMESTONE neoprene Low weightRunning+ (the material of the bottom half of the suit)Master buoyancy belt - 4 mm AIRAnti-leak construction - totalUltraFlex inner linerGlide skin coatingThe suit comes in Men’s and Women’s specific cuts and costs $480. It includes removable arm sleeves and a whistle can be purchased separately. The size chart on the Ark Sports site is very detailed and both Annie and Chipper we’re able to dial in the right size easily.Swimming ImpressionsAnnie loved swimming in the suit. She was expecting it to not be a cold-water suit but because the suit locks out water so well it worked well in a variety of conditions. The removable sleeves also worked really well despite how thin the neoprene was. Similarly, Chipper loved swimming in the suit and echoed Annie’s experience of the suit sealing out water.The shoulder material in the suit is very thin and allows for full range of motion. Chipper felt like the suit was like a second skin in the water. The lower half of suit which is a different material that the top half didn’t result in feeling cold and was a non-issue.One negative of the suit is how delicate it is. Annie has been using the suit a lot (over 17 times) and she’s gotten several holes in the suit in the anterior shoulders, on the hip seam and in the back of the neck. Chipper’s suit is just starting to get some small tears in the armpit area. Annie and Chipper both recommended pairing it with a large swimrun pull buoy to address the lack of buoyancy in the lower half of the suit, which is very minimal and designed for ultimate running mobility…which we will discuss below. They weren’t sure if buoyancy would be an issue if swimrunners are not using a large pull buoy.Overall, the suit performs exceptionally well in the water. The suit looks great but it has a low safety score because of the color. The suit doesn’t come with a whistle but you can get one for an extra $10. While durability is an issue, it is a very well-engineered wetsuit designed specifically for Swimrun.Running ImpressionsThe ORNÖ 02 performed amazingly during runs. As mentioned above, the lower half of the suit uses a material that Ark Sports calls “Running+” that is a spandex material with some thin neoprene with nylon backing that doesn’t absorb water.Running in this suit was “hands down the best running suit” that Chipper has used. The suit doesn’t hold water and is super light. Annie also felt that the suit was great for running. Chipper hasn’t cabbed down (lowered the top half of the suit for runs) as often as Annie has and it appears that the tearing issues started as a result of excessive cabbing down and up.One potential negative is that the suit has zero storage. While the new Utö suit, Korp and Vigg suits have a back pocket, the ORNÖ 02 requires you to either wear an undershirt with storage or have some other external storage solution. This might be okay for a race with ample energy stations but it’s an issue for longer self-supported Swimrun adventures.Annie’s Pull Buoy RankingFor racing, Annie gave the ORNÖ 4.5 pull buoys. It works exceptionally well for racing and she docked a half a pull buoy for lack of any storage. For “everyday” or overall use, she gave it 4 pull buoys mostly because of the lack of durability.Chipper’s Pull Buoy RankingChipper thought this was the best suit that he’s tried and even seen. He gave it 4.5 pull buoys because of the lack of durability and storage.Overall ImpressionsAnnie and Chipper both agree that this suit will result in a performance advantage for anyone that uses it. This is a great race suit but given how delicate the suit is, it’s not be the best suit for everyday training and potentially worth have another suit that is primarily for training and save the ORNÖ 02 for race day. Annie recommends getting some Aquaseal + Neo Neoprene Contact Cement to fix any tears that might happen from training or racing in the suit. Chipper’s favorite feature of the suits are the running+ leg material and the flexibility in the shoulders coupled with the removeable arm sleeves. Annie’s favorite feature was the running+ material and the fit of the suit along with how great the suit looks. Some suggestions for improvement that Chipper and Annie had would be to include some sort of pocket for storage and include the whistle. They would also like to see better material for the Velcro to seal the neck of the suit.Overall, Ark Sports really changed the game by creating a suit that is now imitated by several of the other brands in the sport. It’s an amazing piece of technology. It’s also very cool that Ark Sports has a demo/rental program in collaboration with Ötillö events.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 and on Twitter. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback, suggestions and/or meme suggestions. Finally, you can also support us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

4 Aug 202039min

Welcome to episode thirty of the Low Tide Boyz, a Swimrun Podcast!We have the one and only Mario Fraioli on the show this week. He’s an Olympic level running coach, host of the morning shakeout podcast/newsletter, and the last member of the Marin County Holy Coaching Trinity of to be interviewed for the show. (Mike Olzinski and Nate Helming are the other two members of that crew.) More on Mario later in the show.Ötillö World Championship UpdateIf you’ve been off the grid or just getting all your Swimrun reporting from us, then you haven’t heard that Ötillö made the tough decision to cancel this year’s World Championship. You can read more about their decision here. You can also read about how the slots are being set for the 2021 race here. This hasn’t been without controversy but there’s no way to please everyone and we are living in unprecedented times.In other (happier) news, Ötillö Engadin happened last weekend and it looked like it was an epic weekend in Switzerland. If you’re curious as to what the course is like, check out our course preview episode and start planning for 2021!Training UpdateChipper was on vacation in Lake Tahoe and enjoyed some time away from the show while swimming and running in one of the most beautiful places in California.Chris and Sandrine teamed up to race the Swimrun Edmonton Virtual Race at Aquatic Park in San Francisco. “Team Untethered” made their debut and apparently won a prize box from the race organizers. True to the LTBz pact, we didn’t use a tether. (This was a good thing since Sandrine is an amazing swimmer and Chris would have been dead weight on that tether.)ShoutoutThis we’re shouting out Patrick from Italy. He’s a triathlete that was looking for something else to do and DIY’d his own pull buoy, got after it, and is now “100% hooked.” Glad we played a small part in his new Swimrun journey.Feats of Endurance Weekly AwardWe had a lot of feats of endurance this week! We had a couple of folks in our Strava club that raced Ötillö Engadin over the weekend. Tobias and G Flo raced the World Series race on Sunday and looks like they had the best time in Engadin. You can check out their race report on Spotify here.We also wanted to give a special shout out to the Swimrun Labs crew doing a 50k distance Swimrun. (They can’t win the Feats of Endurance because we co-host a show with them) Here’s their description of the Swimrun: “12 runs, 11 swims, 50k total distance, volcano views, bracing ocean swims through kelp forests to secret coves, single track climbs through prehistoric old growth forest, new friends, old friends, mobile roving aid station, PBJs for days, currents from all directions... we’ve often said we could swimrun all day and today we actually got to. We were back, middle, and front of the pack, had highs, lows, swallowed some seawater, and shouted out loud about the magic.” LTBz UpdatesWe have a new Patron on Patreon! Thank you Dirk for the support all the way from Germany. We really appreciate the support!We also want to announce yet another new project, the International Swimrun Adventure Guide! With races being canceled and a lot of people training on their home turfs, we’ve noticed in our Strava club that a lot of teams have their go-to training locations. We thought it would be fun to compile them all in one place so swimrunners can explore new training grounds if they happen to be visiting from out of town/state/country or if they are looking for some variety in their training. We need your help to get this off of the ground. If you have a great training route that you don’t want to keep secret you can head over to our website and fill out the form on our website homepage and we’ll start compiling the entries and getting them on the site.Mario Fraioli InterviewOur guest this week needs no introductions in running circles. Mario Fraioli is an Olympic-level running coach, a journalist, the host of the morning shakeout podcast, the creator of the morning shakeout newsletter and one of the greatest human beings around. We’ve known Mario for years (Full disclosure: Chris’s company helps to produce the morning shakeout podcast and newsletter and manages sponsorship and sales) and frankly, he has no business being on our show, but he’s just that awesome!In this interview we cover a lot of topics including his coaching background, how the morning shakeout newsletter got started and how that expanded to the super successful podcast, and what he’s up to now.We spent most of the interview talking about running and how to approach any Swimrun course and reverse engineer the type of build that you would want to have a successful race. According to Mario, every race is about problem-solving and understanding the course. We also talked about the mental game and how to work on “perspective” while training for races and the importance of making sure that every session has a purpose and some type of “quality” to maximize both the training effect but also developing mental toughness. All in all, there was a lot of knowledge being dropped on this episode. We encourage everyone to sign up for Mario’s newsletter and listen to the podcast. You can also follow Mario on Twitter and Instagram. That’s it for this week’s 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 and on Twitter. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback, suggestions and/or meme suggestions. Finally, you can also support us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

30 Juli 20201h 7min

Welcome to episode twenty-nine of the Low Tide Boyz, a Swimrun Podcast!In honor of Ötillö Engadin happening this week, our guest is Johan Carlsson, a member of last year’s winning Otillo Engadin men’s team (Team Simployer). We chatted about his story, mental toughness and, of course, Swimrun. More on Johan later in the show!Training UpdateWell we did Nicolas Remires’ 3-hour Engadin key swimrun workout that he recommends on our Ötillö Engadin Course Preview episode on Saturday at Aquatic Park in San Francisco. We used Hyde Street (a very steep street famous for the cable cars that go up and down it from Ghirardelli Square) for the “hill.”  Needless to say, it lived up to its billing. It was super hard and super fun! Feats of Endurance Weekly AwardOn Saturday, we had Ray and Sandrine (members of our Strava Club) join us for the sufferfest for no other reason than they were easily convinced. For that reason alone they are both winners of this week’s Feats of Endurance award.LTBz UpdatesWe only have a couple of updates this week. Make sure to check out our latest column in Triathlete Magazine and hit the like button if you enjoyed it. Also remember to check out our latest special edition episode with the ladies from Swimrun Labs all about Orca Wetsuits.Johan Carlsson InterviewJohan is a super experienced swimrunner based in Stockholm. We met him earlier this year in Catalina and knew then that we wanted to get him on the show at some point. He came in second in the mixed team division at Otillo Catalina with his girlfriend (and stout swimrunner in her own right) Helena Dalivin. He’s raced pretty much every Ötillö race in the series and won Ötillö Engadin in 2019.We covered a lot of topics in this conversation. We chatted about Johan’s athletic background, his time in the Navy as an underwater mine-clearing diver (yes, you heard that right), and how he found swimrun thanks to his main partner Joakim Brunzell. Joakim had raced Ötillö in the early days of the championship and convincing Johan to take on the adventure. When they started racing, they were doing it mostly for fun and then at some point they started to train very hard and started seeing great results.We chatted about his experience racing in Catalina, how he trained for it and where he ranked it in terms of difficulty compared to other Ötillö races (Spoiler alert: They are all tough!). We spent some time talking about swimrun training in general (averaging 20-25 hours a week) and how he sets up his training blocks for the specific features of each course. We also talked about the importance of training the mental game to make sure the mind is ready for the effort required to compete at a high level. We discussed Ötillö Engadin and how he raced in 2019 to win. He shared some funny race stories with us as well. We talked about training in the age of COVID and how to stay motivated when there aren’t races to train for and keep working on the mental aspect of racing to keep sharp.You can follow Johan and Team Simployer on Instagram.That’s it for this week’s 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 and on Twitter. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback, suggestions and/or meme suggestions. Finally, you can also support us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

23 Juli 202055min

Orca Swimrun Wetsuits ReviewWelcome to the fifth Löw Tide Böyz swimrun gear review show! This review is once again co-hosted by our friends Annie and Brooke from the Swimrun Labs.This episode is all about Orca Swimrun Wetsuits and Accessories. Brooke and Chris have used several Orca suits so they review while Chipper and Annie ask the questions. It’s good stuff so let’s get right to it.Orca has been around for a long time with triathlon, open water, free diving and kids gear. Relevant for this show is their evolving line of Swimrun-specific wetsuits. Their first iteration of suits, The Core and RS1 suits, were basically triathlon suits where they cut the legs and sleeves off and put the zipper in the front. We’ve seen an “evolution of industry-standard” with their second iteration of suits that we’ll talk about later in the show.The Swimrun Core Wetsuit (First Iteration)Both Brooke and Chris have used the Swimrun Core. It’s Orca’s entry-level wetsuit that runs under $200. (You can read Swimrun Labs super in-depth review of the Core here.) It has the standard zipper in the front and it’s definitely a swimrun wetsuit with thick-ish neoprene on the chest and thigh region with thinner shoulder and back neoprene. It comes with removable neoprene sleeves for colder conditions, a small hip pocket that can hold one or two gels or the team bandage, a whistle and a medium size zippered pocket in the lower back. It’s a versatile suit that works well in various water temperatures and was overall pretty good in the water. While running, the thick thigh neoprene didn’t feel super inhibiting but hip flexion might be an issue for a really long event. Brooke has issues cabbing down in the suit but it wasn’t a deal breaker. PRO-TIP: you don’t need a lot of hip buoyancy in the suit if you’re using a large pull buoy like the Ark Sports Keel. (You can listen to our in-depth review of the Keel here.)LTBz Pull Buoy RankingBrooke: 3.5 PULL BUOYSIt’s not a fancy suit but it gets the job done. It’s held up for 3 years with a lot of use and wear and tear. It you’re looking for something fancy, then there are plenty of options but it you want something that won’t break the bank and will perform well in a lot of conditions, then you can’t go wrong with the Core. Chris: 3 PULL BUOYSThe price point was great. Other than the mobility issues that Chris had in the shoulders (which might totally be his own issues) the Core is a great training suit and pretty versatile so it’s great for beginners or folks using a separate training suit than their racing suit. That being said, there are newer suits that have better/newer technology.The Swimrun RS1 Wetsuit (First Iteration)The RS1 is the mid-range/top of the line suit that Orca offers. The material is very similar to the Core except that the shoulder material is a little thinner. The suit comes with removable sleeves, a two-way zipper in the front, a small pocket in the upper chest that stores a whistle and has a very large pocket in the back for almost too much storage. Unlike the Core there isn’t an external pocket in the hip. The neoprene material in the hips is still very thick neoprene but there is a small thinner panel in the hip flexor region. The suit goes for $399. LTBz Pull Buoy RankingChris: 3.5 Pull BuoysIt’s a great suit. For the price point, you’re not getting so much more for the money. It performed well in the water and on land and is pretty durable. If you’re an Orca fan, skip the Core and get the RS1.Second Iteration/Generation Orca Swimrun WetsuitsSince we’re on the topic of Orca wetsuits, we thought it would be instructive to discuss the new suits that Orca has released since Chris and Brooke got their suits. Orca’s new offerings are the ORCA Perform and new RS1. As expected, the new suits follow the newer style of swimrun suits that other brands are making where the entire lower half of the suit (from the lower waist down) is a thinner material designed for ease of running and the upper part of the suit is where the traditional neoprene is placed for warmth and buoyancy. The new RS1 has what looks like a new style of zipper. We couldn’t totally figure out how it worked so we can’t tell if it was a positive or negative. (If anyone listening has used it, let us know what you think!)Orca also makes a separates suit where tops and bottoms are sold separately. We didn’t know what to think about this, but it seems like a good idea to get a good fit if you have an odd body type.Other Orca Swimrun ProductsOrca offers a bunch of accessories for swimrun including calf guards, a pull buoy with Velcro straps, a neoprene undershirt with storage, belts and a tether.Overall ImpressionsIf we’re talking about affordability, you really can’t go wrong with either the Orca Core Wetsuit or the blueseventy Alliance Swimrun Wetsuit (you can listen to our review of that suit here) for the price point. We think that the decision should be based on where the swimrun wetsuit will be used. If you’re in a cold climate, then go with the Alliance. The Core is a more versatile suit for warmer conditions. Overall, Orca is doing some cool stuff in the swimrun space and they are definitely trying to innovate that we totally appreciate. That’s it for this week’s special edition 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 and on Twitter. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback, suggestions and/or meme suggestions. Finally, you can also support us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

21 Juli 202049min

Welcome to episode twenty-eight of the Low Tide Boyz, a Swimrun Podcast!This week we have journalist and swimrunner, Adam Skolnick. We had a great chat with him about his super interesting life and his Swimrun origin story. More about Adam later in the show.Training UpdateTraining continues to go well. A lot of swimming happening lately and we’re ramping up to take on Nicolas Remires’s 3-hour Engadin swimrun workout. You can check out that workout at around minute 48 of our Engadin Course Preview show. That should be fun…and painful.For shout outs this week, we’re tipping the hat to our friend Ray who we convinced to come out to do a swimrun practice with us. We had a wetsuit for him and he was sold after the first transition.Feats of Endurance Weekly AwardFor this week’s Feats of Endurance, we congratulate Nancy and Denise from upstate New York that had a cool swimrun practice last weekend. Nancy also sent us a nice email with feedback for the show so thanks so much for that. We love hearing from our listeners. If you want to get in on the Feats of Endurance be sure to join the Low Tide Boyz Strava Club. LTBz UpdatesThe main update this week is that our second column in Triathlete Magazine, “What’s the Deal With the Swimrun Tether?” is out now. Check it out and give us a thumbs up if you liked it. We’re always on the hunt for ideas, so let us know your burning swimrun questions and we’ll answer them…or find smarter people than us to answer them.Vivobarefoot ECS Tempest ReviewWe also wanted to give a mini-review of the new Vivobarefoot ECS Tempest that that folks at Vivobarefoot sent over for us to try out. Check out our interview with Asher Clark if you want all the details about the Vivobarefoot Tempest. We thought that we would give everyone a short review and then plan to do something longer at some point. Our initial impressions of the shoe after testing them on a couple of swimrun practices are that they are definitely amazing swimrun shoes…with a caveat that we’ll talk about in a bit. The shoe fits true to size and were great in the water and on land. In the water, it felt like you weren’t wearing shoes and in transitions they didn’t collect sand or rocks. We ran with them on trails and road and they performed well on every surface. The main caveat for these shoes is that you need get comfortable with running in minimal shoes. If you’re already on that train, then we can’t recommend them enough. If you’re not on that train, you need to make sure that you take it easy as you transition to minimal shoes. Adam Skolnick InterviewNow for our interview with Adam Skolnick. He’s an award-winning independent journalist and author covering adventure sports, environmental issues, travel and human rights for The New York Times, Outside, Playboy and Lonely Planet. He’s traveled the world, contributed to 35 Lonely Planet travel guides and is the author of One Breath: Freediving, Death and the Quest to Shatter Human Limits. If that wasn’t enough... Adam was the ghost writer and narrator of David Goggins’ hit memoir and audiobook Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds, which has sold over two million copies and counting worldwide. Notably for Swimrun, Adam wrote the New York Times article chronicling Rich Roll and the Ötillö World Championship in 2017 and the article about the inaugural Ötillö Catalina event earlier this year.We had a great conversation that hit on a lot of topics. Adam shared with us how he became a journalist and how he wrote his first book. We also chatted about how he met David Goggins and ended up ghostwriting the book that has sold millions of copies worldwide. We also discussed how Adam ended up writing the story for the New York Times about the 2017 Ötillö World Championship and how writing that article led him to sign up for the Experience distance at the Inaugural Ötillö Catalina in 2020. Finally, we chatted about Adam about becoming father in a few months and how plans to keep swimrunning.You can learn more about Adam on his website. You can also listen to Adam on the Rich Roll Podcast “Roll On” episodes twice a month.That’s it for this week’s 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 and on Twitter. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback, suggestions and/or meme suggestions. Finally, you can also support us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

16 Juli 20201h

Welcome to episode twenty-seven of the Low Tide Boyz, a Swimrun Podcast!On this week’s guest doesn’t need much of an introduction. Within Swimrun circles if you just say the name “Desirée” and everybody knows who you are talking about. Hailing for Stockholm Sweden, she is the reigning two-time Otillo Swimrun World Champion (2018 & 2019) with her partner and friend of the show Fanny Kuhn (she was on the show in Episode 10). Most recently they won the inaugural Ötillö Catalina race and they are ramping up to defend their world title in August.Training continues to go well. We actually did a Swimrun practice this past weekend and it was fun even though the water was a little gross because it was very low tide, too low. (The irony is not lost on us) The swimming and running will continue at this beach for sure because it’s a very good spot for working on what Nicolas Remirez (from Episode 14) calls Swimrun technique.For our shout out this week, we are tipping the hat to our friend John Hayato for his amazing 12 hour run around the block of his house in Denver to raise funds for KEEN USA. KEEN helps kids with physical and cognitive disabilities enjoy exercise. It’s a great a cause and John raised over $2,000 while running almost 50 miles!His feat of endurance got us thinking…something that is dangerous for us. But alas, we are super stoked to introduce a new segment to the show: The Löw Tide Böyz Weekly Feat of Endurance! Every week we will shout out a member of the Löw Tide Böyz Strava Club for a workout or race that they post. The feats can be either epic, funny, cool route, great photo or any combination therein. The weekly winner will receive a special edition bumper sticker. All you have to do to be a part of it is join our Strava Club. (This week’s winner is John Hayato)If that wasn’t enough, we are also starting the Löw Tide Böyz Feat of Endurance Hall of Fame! We figured that this was a worthy title for people who shouldn’t be eligible for the weekly award because they are such beasts. Our first HOF inductee is Amber Ferreira of Team Better Tethered Together. Not only has she recently “Everested” on her bike, she’s consistently crushing everything she does. Congrats Amber! You’re awesome!In other news, our next column in triathlete magazine is dropping soon so make sure to look out for that. We were also recently interviewed for Trimax Magazine. The piece is in French so just take our word for it that it’s a nice little article if you can’t read it. Finally, Ötillö Engadin is still happening! Check out our Ötillö Engadin course preview episode if you’re going to be racing but make sure that you check on the Ötillö website to get the latest info regarding quarantines and travel restrictions. We wanted to give a plug for our recent Swimrun Undergarments special episode with The Swimrun Labs. A lot of great info in that episode so make sure to check it out to get all your burning questions answered about how to prevent, uhm, chaffing burns, what to wear under your wetsuit and so much more.Finally, we wanted to give everyone a quick reminder that we have some discount codes from former guests that are still good. You can use the code SWIMRUN at blueseventy.com for 20% off your order. You can also use the code LOWTIDEBOYZ at precisionhydration.com for 15% off your order. Support these great companies and make us look good in the process!Now for our interview with Desirée! We chatted about her athletic background, how she found Swimrun and how she ended up teaming up with Fanny to become the powerhouse Otillo World Championship winning duo. We spoke about what it’s like to always be a favorite to win and how she handles it in competition. We also chatted about what her typical training week looks like, how she trains for races when her partner lives in another country and how she will alter her training for the length of the World Championship course. We covered a lot of ground in this episode and we learned a lot from Desirée. We really enjoyed this conversation and think that you will as well. You can follow her on Instagram here.That’s it for this week’s 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 and on Twitter. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback, suggestions and/or meme suggestions. Finally, you can also support us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

9 Juli 202041min

Welcome to the fourth Low Tide Boyz swimrun gear review show! This review is once again co-hosted by our friends at Swimrun Labs and this is going to be a regular thing going forward to we’re very happy about that.Like our swimrun shoe Shoedown episode, this episode covers that nebulous category of Swimrun gear that goes beneath your Swimrun gear. Think undershirts, bras, undies, nothing, and socks! Welcome to the Underwear episode. Let’s get right to it!Global Considerations in Selecting Undergarments for SwimrunChaffing AbatementWarmthStorage Capacity“Bogginess” (wet diaper effect)Chaffing a big issue so we broke this down a bit. Body Glide, Vaseline, 2Toms Sports Shield or Tri Slide are essential to try to keep your wetsuit from chaffing your neck, arms or thighs. Brooke uses multiple layers of Body Glide and 2Toms on her skin and separately her wetsuit. Lubing up neck, armpits, any other opening, bra line and the “nether regions.” Another option for abatement which we learned from Team Envol Baywatch (listen to Episode 6 with them here) is the use Rocktape or KT Tape around the neckline where the wetsuit would make contact.Anyway, chaffing is annoying and can get debilitating the longer the event. Take it seriously and avoid it like your life (or at least your skin’s life) depends on it!Next, we’re going to breakdown undergarment choices going from head to toe.HeadThe main thing in this region is wearing something under your race swim cap if the conditions call for it. There are neoprene caps (with or without chin straps) that Roka, Blue Seventy, Ark Sports and others make and non-neoprene caps like TYR Warmwear caps.“Wetsuit Region”One challenge with Swimrun is the gear that you need to carry on board for longer races and the lack of storage capacity in most Swimrun wetsuits. Ark Sports and NU make special undershirts that have kangaroo pockets for extra storage under the wetsuit. NU also makes some sports bras for women (or men we guess) that also have a pocket in the front. For warmth, an undershirt would help. For ladies, one product that worked for Brooke was the Smartwool Merino Wool racer back sports bra.A question that we get a lot is “what do you wear under your swimrun wetsuit?” There are a lot of options to choose from but we recommend something with compression and made of synthetic fibers so that they don’t ride up under the suit and also wick water away. Sporty underwear should be the first place you look at. The main thing to about is anything with big seams (due to the potential for chaffing) or things that might ride up and create rolled-up material that would be super uncomfortable.FeetThe question that we get the most is what socks to wear for Swimrun. We recommend NOT using cotton socks or socks that have extra padding or cushioning in the footbed or toes (to prevent bogginess). Using a wicking sock like a thin running or cycling sock that is higher than ankle length is the way to go. Ankle socks could lead to getting more rocks or sand in your shoes. A couple of brands that we like are Gococo (the official sock of Ötillö), CEP, Stance (the run infiknit socks) or Swiftwick (Aspire is the best model that we found for Swimrun). Brooke uses neoprene socks for racing, specifically, ankle neoprene socks called the Seavenger Zepher. Blue Seventy makes booties that can also be used. This is definitely an area where you want to test to make sure that using booties is going to work for you in a race.So…This was a lot of information and we covered a lot of ground. The main takeaway should be that there are a lot of different ways to get to the finish line. All four of us used different products and were happy with it. We suggest starting with what you have and experimenting from there.That’s it for this week’s special edition 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 and on Twitter. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback, suggestions and/or meme suggestions. Finally, you can also support us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

7 Juli 202044min