Swimrun Summer Training Review

Swimrun training with G.

This past summer was my first venture into the sport of swimrun and while I still have minimal experience in the sport, I would like to share some of my thoughts on what I have learned so far.

My training over the summer was sort of divided into two unofficial phases. The first took place in the months of May and June leading into my first swimrun race at Odyssey Casco Bay in Portland, Maine. The second phase took place in July and August in the two months preceding the Ötillö World Champs on September 4th. My plan had been to use the race in Maine to learn about the sport of swimrun and then make adjustments to my training in the final two months before Ötillö. Unfortunately, Casco Bay was met with fog on race day that reduced visibility to less than 100 feet at times. Initially, they attempted to start the race on a shortened course so I was able to go through the motions of about 45 minutes of swimrun racing (race was then cancelled). In hindsight, I think it was a blessing that this race wasn’t done in full as I could immediately tell that I was not adequately prepared.

I had always appreciated the fact that swimrun is its own sport and has its own unique demands. It’s not simply swimming and running or racing a triathlon without the bike (I’ve basically done that with the Marathon Squared). Nevertheless, being in a race situation and seeing how quickly the transitions were done, what exiting and entering water is like, regulating heat and cold on the run and swim, etc., it turned out to be a great learning experience for me. In order to address this, I knew that I really needed to be doing proper swimrun sessions where I could practice transitions, running in a wetsuit, messing with my gear, etc.

In Boulder, we cannot swim in any of our public reservoirs at any time we choose. However, we are fortunate enough to have about a 90 minute window two mornings a week (in the summer) where one of our local Masters Swimming groups has formal open water training sessions with set courses that have options for longer and shorter loops. I am not the biggest fan of training early in the morning, but the only window to do these sessions was from 6:15-7:45 a.m. and I knew I needed to utilize them as best I could. To maximize the time, I would often put all my gear at home and would arrive at the gate promptly at 6:00 a.m. when it opened. I would then attempt to do as much as I could within the allotted time. Additionally, Gordo joined me on multiple sessions and we practiced swimrun together including the use of the tether as well as transitioning as a team back and forth from swim and run.

Initially, the sessions we did together were specifically designed around transitioning, with short runs that just had us in and out of the water so we could go back and forth over and over again. Eventually as the sessions progressed, I started to incorporate workouts that were built to try and simulate the demands of the first two hours or so of the race in Ötillö; this meant making my first swim quite long (1000-1500 meters) before a series of shorter swimruns that eventually ended with an 8-10K run (essentially simulating the race to the end of the island of Runmarö). Moreover, I also started going straight to the pool after some of the sessions and would tack on another 3-4K (long course).

These sessions were really helpful in getting accustomed to the back and forth demands of swimrun as well as learning how to quickly and efficiently adjust the gear as needed in the various situations. What it did not do was offer up technical terrain for running at all. I would try to run on lots of uneven ground like the sandy beach or tall grass, but most of the running was done on either gravel or paved roads so it was limited in that respect. Additionally, because of the time limits, the best I could do on these sessions if I started and finished with running was about two hours. I only did one longer swimrun day of about 3-3.5 hours in the whole lead up, which was with Lars in Grand Lake (fun place, but elevation was 8500 so we were going pretty chill). If I were preparing for a race as long as Ötillö again, I would try to take a trip somewhere in the build where a few longer swimrun training days would be possible. I don’t think they would have to be done very quickly, just long.

All that being said, I was dealing with some peroneal nerve tendinitis that started in late June and continued through the summer. As a consequence, I don’t know how willing I would have been to do mega swimrun days in the final two months.

I developed a few strategies to cope with my lower leg issue:

1. I tried to get in higher run volume days through swimrun sessions (even if pool/run) in order to give myself breaks from long continuous runs. I also abandoned any formal intensity in all my run sessions.

2. I really focused on making my swim as solid as possible so that it would feel like No Big Deal at any time on race day.

3. I started riding my bike two days a week to boost aerobic volume a bit.

The first and last points above are fairly self explanatory. For the swimming, I did my most demanding session every Monday with Monica Byrn and her squad. The session always had a very tight 3K long course main set (all pulling for me) that was mostly off 1:20/100 base. In order to stay on top of these sets, I initially would drop a strategic 100 once or twice in the set, but by the end of the summer, I could do the sets in full while feeling in control and holding a fast enough pace. I would also do a faster set on Friday’s and was often getting in 6K+ plus of swimming on the swimrun days that I did on Tuesday and Thursday (by tacking on at the pool).

While I rode my bike in the final month or so of training, I think the initial exclusion of cycling earlier in the summer was short sighted of me. While cycling is not specific to swimrun, I believe it would allow me to up my total aerobic volume for the week while also allowing me to potentially stay under the run volume threshold where little problems can turn into bigger ones. I also like to ride my bike.

The final aspect of my training to cover was strength work. In the winter and spring I had maintained a rather rigorous strength program to stay healthy through ski season over the last few years (at least rigorous by my standards). In the summers, I have routinely backed off to 2 x 45 minutes/week and don’t progress things much as I do more aerobic training. However, in this build up, over the final 5-6 weeks I was doing supplemental single leg/balance work at least every other day for 30+ minutes to try and strengthen my lower legs (this was in addition to the standard 2 x 45 minute workouts). While this was done in a reactionary fashion to my lower leg issues, I think it ended up being a blessing in disguise as it likely helped me better handle all the uneven terrain that Ötillö offered up (even with two rolled ankles, I only had to walk them off for short periods of time).

While not all swimrun courses are equally technical, I do believe that strength training for swimrun is much more crucial than it is for the other endurance sports I have participated in. The unstable nature of the terrain often requires quick reactions and stabilization. This opens athletes up to 1) the increased chance of injury via trauma and 2) cumulative fatigue from explosive and/or overly eccentric movements (think about jumping down tall rocks over and over again). Both of these demands can be directly addressed with strength work and I am glad I was diligent with it over the summer.

Now, how did this training benefit, or not benefit, me on race day?

I do think that my training strategy of being No-Big-Deal swim fit paid off nicely. With all the long swims I did at the front end of practice swimrun sessions, the first 1600 meter swim that came at the beginning of the race felt like something I had routinely done many times. As the race went on and my body and mind were fatigued from all the technical running, the swims always felt like a welcomed change that allowed me to settle into something I felt more confident about.

I felt pretty solid for the first 6.5 hours of the day, but eventually the day caught up with me and the last 2.5 hours were quite challenging. While it could have been the result of some compromised fueling, I personally believe it was simply coming to the point where the event/race was starting to far exceed my training. While my weekly training volume was pretty decent, my longest day was only 3-3.5 hours and when you triple the duration on race day, you eventually have to pay a price. I still managed to move pretty well with Lars’ help in that final segment so all in all, I can’t complain. Additionally, I believe my avoidance of the longer days in training had allowed my lower leg to get much, much healthier and that was a worthwhile trade off. If I were to prepare for something this long again, I would ideally try to manage my training a little better to allow the placement of bigger days in the 8-3 week (from race) time frame.

You can find all my training through the summer in my training log starting HERE.

Swimrun training in Stockholm.