The Ötillö World Series race at Utö yesterday wasn’t easy. Tomas Granberg and I managed to take a 10:th mens and 14:th place overall at probably the most competitive race of the circuit. But a satisfying finish wasn’t a given as problems started already at the first plunge when my goggles filled with water. A string of mishaps and bad swims on my part followed, all as a consequences of the cold water that I honestly couldn’t handle on the day.
Tomas and Andreas approaching T6 at Stora sand.
My teammate Tomas acted just as a solid partner does, quickly figuring out what actions were the best for the team as a whole and how to resolve the struggles I had. He ended up in front of the tow rope as I polo swimmed out of T5 Båtshaket. Swimrun is a three-component sport comprised of swimming, running and the trust you put in you partner.
I’ve heard 7 to 12 celsius and the temperature will always vary in different waters. All I know for certain is that during my four years at this event it has never been close to as cold as yesterday. But it all turned for the better half way into the 42 kms. As we touched the south end of the course my struggles in the cold water somehow vanished and cold swims were not a problem from there on.
Moments of dissatisfaction, but also great moments of forest beauty as we swooshed the trails where we could excel and get our hopes back. Back with a vengeance we managed to pull out the fourth fastest run split of the day between T9 Gruvbyn and T10 Rävstavik. With some backs to hunt we kept the pace up and finished in a satisfying manner after all.
Next stop is Borås Swimrun in two weeks. Thanks to our sponsors Extfin, providing a way to compare loans for businesses and TG Swimrun Coach for those wanting to improve their swim, run and swimrun.
Sörmland ultra går i Stockholm, är nästan 50 km långt och igår var det femte året i rad som jag sprang SUM. Det är en blandning av stig, grusväg och asfalt med en del kupering.
Jag hade stora förhoppningar när jag 2016 sprang på 4:01 och inte tryckte det var så jobbigt. Men sen blev det förkylning och lerig stil året efter, vilket gav 4:06. Det var nog ändå en jämnstarkt med året innan, med tanke på förutsättningarna. I år var det perfekta förhållanden så jag trodde i min naivitet att 4-gränsen skulle falla men det blev bara 4:07! Oförklarligt ändå tills jag tittade i kalkylbladen.
Träning de tre månaderna innan SUM detta år: 11,2 h/v konditionsträning varav 61,8 km/v löpning. 2017: 12,4 h/v konditionsträning varav 100,6 km/v löpning. Med konditionsträningen menas här löpning, simning eller cykel. I år har jag fokuserat mer på simning innan ÖTILLÖ och bytte en del löpning mot cykling efter ÖTILLÖ, då jag också tror att luften lite gick ur mig mot slutet av säsongen. Redan på Solvalla Swimrun kände jag att det fattades lite power i steget mot slutet.
Vi lever och vi lär. Men det är klart, hade jag inte satsat på simningen innan ÖTILLÖ så hade det nog inte gått lika bra. Och vi gjorde bra ifrån oss där. Jag har gjort flera lyckade tävlingar i år och några sämre. Detta var ingen katastof men en varning att ta på allvar angående att hålla volymen uppe. För min del gäller det att ha koll på nyckeltalen. Om jag inte jobbar mot volymmål så är risken stor att jag missar dem.
Nästa försök blir November Ultra Trail Södertörn. Jag vill springa snabbare än året innan och har sex veckor på min att komma upp på banan igen.
Hur som helst var det en trevlig tävling som alltid. Tack till Jan-Erik Ramström och de andra som arrangerar och arbetar med tävlingen! Och tack för sällskapet Dennis Inspiro Löfving, som jag sprang nästan hela loppet med.
Energiplanen funkade iaf spotless:
Frukost: havregrynsgröt, en Snickers och en energibar.
Softflask med två Dextrosol och 200 mg koffein med från start. Fyllde på den med vatten vid stationer. Det var ganska varmt.
Runt 20-25 km där det var tunt med stationer åt jag två Dextrosol och stoppade ner en tablett till med 200 mg koffein i softflasken.
Solvalla Swimrun has a course that suits Tomas Granberg and me just perfectly. The trails and nature in Noux are very much like the trails close to home in Tyresta that we enjoy alot. It’s the terrain we enjoy the most and what we train in, both running and swimrun. We are not the fastest on flat runnable, but running over stones and tree roots we can keep a decent pace. That and our second place last year got us psyched to come back in 2018. Since we live in Stockholm it is just a boat trip away and we didn’t even spend a night in Finland since Tomas is always pressed for time.
Last year’s winners, the kumiukots Teemu Toivanen and Teemu Lemmettylä, were nowhere to be seen when we arrived. I suppose they were satisfied with a respectable 08:23 at the recent ÖTILLÖ World Champs and considered the swimrun season to be over after that. We knew that Finish triathletes Tuomas Lampainen and Markus Lampainen were in the start list and might be a cause for concern. Tomas had also scouted the Russian mixed team of Sergey Mikhalev and Irina Borevich who did well at the World Champs and could be contenders. Other than that we didn’t know too much going in.
The plan we made up on the boat from Stockholm was simply to go at our own pace since we had no clue whether the one or two teams possibly ahead of us would offer suitable drafting. As it turned out we were alone after the first kilometer and it stayed that way. After about 90 min of racing we got high fives from the at that point second place team Markko Lehtosalo and Janne Blomqvist when they entered the 700 m swim as we exited (it’s a loop swim around a buoy). However, in the back of my mind I wanted us to beat last year’s winner time.
That proved a bit too hard on the day. My own form on the day wasn’t perfect with a lack of sleep the nights before. Also the wind might or might not have affected the swims. Anyway, we managed to enjoy ourselves through the pristine forest and clear lakes. It’s nice that our ÖTILLÖ Merit Race shares it’s latter part of the course with the shorter Endurance Race distance and that the Endurance participants are ahead. Chasing people adds a nice spice to the race.
We were a few seconds faster this year than last and more importantly, one place up on the podium. I would like to go back in 2019 but that is still a full year away. Regardless, it was a very enjoyable experience and a nicely organized event!
Updated 2019-08-25 in time for the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship 2019. The original article was posted 2018-09-04 right after Worlds 2018.
Yes, together with my teammate Tomas Granberg we finished in under 9 hours in the 2018 perfect conditions. Men’s category 20th place and 27th overall with a time of 8:57.49. But a lengthy post bragging about that wouldn’t be of much use to the world, so let’s leave us aside and instead talk about the strategy that goes into executing at your best potential at ÖTILLÖ Worlds for anyone attempting, be that sub 8, 9 or 10 or whatever.
Obviously the most important thing is training, training and some more training, but today I’ll leave that whole thing out and focus on race execution, which is particularly important at ÖTILLÖ Worlds.
Knowing the course
If you are not a repeat participant, recon every section with Google Maps or equivalent. The ÖTILLÖ website has an official Google Maps route with stations.
Some people write a table of distances of all the legs on their paddles. We don’t. Instead we focus on the key takeaways such as those following below, which are not too hard to remember.
On which island is there no energy station for a long time but still enough time to eat a bar? (Answer: Vånsholmen)
Where do I need to pick up water or sports drink in a soft flask that I’ve carried with me? (Answer: Ornö church, and more places if very hot conditions)
Where do I keep my swim cap on and goggles readily on forehead at water exit, because the next swim is just around the corner? (Answer: after the pig swim, after the 1 km swim, on Mellankobbarna but not Järnholmen if hot weather, etc)
If the weather is warm, where do you peel your wetsuit down? (Answer: probably only at Ornö)
How long does it take for both teammates to peel the wetsuit down and up again? If it takes a long time, would it be better to accept a little heat and drink a bit more?
If your team is strong in the off-trail, where do you want to avoid being stuck behind a pack where there is little room for overtaking? You need to know such things.
You might think that nine or so hours give plenty of time to think but that isn’t really the case with ÖTILLÖ. There are so many micro decisions and focus needs to be on point almost all the time. To me ÖTILLÖ has more intensity and adrenaline than a 10 km race on the road.
This course is so beautiful.
Race-day nutrition
I consumed about 400 ml of standard gel. You might need to put additional caffeine (400 mg is good for me) and electrolytes (sodium being most important) in there. Carbohydrate supply from stations just won’t be enough. ÖTILLÖ Worlds is similar to an Ironman effort but with a little more heart rate fluctuation.
I put my gel in a 500 ml soft flask with no risk of littering and no messing around with packaging. Many people find it hard to take solids at the latter part of a race. You probably want to save some gel for the final two hours when even banana feels as too much. Take a sip of gel every 20 min or so when on land. Time just before swim entry to distribute over time. Also, you might want to put the caffeine in the bottom half of your container, to give you that boost at the back half of the race.
In addition to gel I pack one bar for Vånsholmen and eat banana or equivalent from aid stations as they appear. Adapt to your preference.
Drink plenty of at the stations. It is difficult to sense dehydration at an early stage. Especially when you are in the cold water. As with gels, keeping count on ingestion is more reliable than “feeling”.
Provided your stomach allows, drink from the ocean while swimming. You might want to try that during exercise to see what amount your stomach can handle.
I bring two soft flasks. One, as said, containing my gel mix and one initially empty for liquid picked up at aid stations. Stations do not provide cups as an environmental consideration.
In case of stomach pain, I choose to back down but it is very important to continue taking gel as soon as the pain subsides.
This course is so beautiful.
Swims
You are aiming for beach flags mainly. At the first swim and a latter 1 km swim there is usually a solid strobe light to guide you. Sometimes there are intermediate guidance pyramid buoys. You don’t need to pass them on a specific side.
Draft whenever the opportunity arises, or even strategically stalk a team at suitable speed from land. You’ll always have your partner draft on you or the other way around, in any case. Side-by-side is wasting your team’s energy total to no use. The men’s front of ÖTILLÖ will usually be a group for a very long time, until a team breaks away on a run. You might realize why.
Swimming about 10 km in a day with long runs in between means energy efficiency is key. You don’t venture into higher heart rates if there is not a very good reason to do so. Don’t worry, there will be plenty of time at the end for redlining anyway.
If you realize you gap your partner swimming and you don’t have a tow line, slow your stroke down as to help your partner to get back into draft. When approaching shore, on the other hand, you could swim a few meters ahead allowing for some exit scouting.
Sighting is very important. Even if you are a good swimmer you don’t want to be swimming 740 m when everyone else is swimming 700. Personally I prioritize sighting and swimming straight over pushing it very hard since my ability to swim straight deteriorates at very high effort. Especially so in choppy water.
Most teams use fairly big hand paddles but don’t bring paddles so big that you are no longer able to pull through the whole stroke at the back half of the race.
ÖTILLÖ WC is in the Baltic Ocean, which has brackish water. Some people will go without goggles and that works. If you use stronger contact lenses, you might want to bring a spare contact if swimming without goggles. This also being a thing to definitely practice before adopting.
You may swim through currents, especially on the swims between Ornö and Utö. Those are the last swim sections of the course when you are the most fatigued. If the water is moving rapidly, counter already before hitting the current to get some slack. Currents may switch directions from one year to the next.
This course is so beautiful.
Runs
The course has everything from tarmac to scrambling. “65 km of running” is more like 35 km of runnable, 25 km of technical trail and 5 km of complete wilderness expedition. ;)
First-timers will likely be surprised by the amount of off-trail and slippery rock. You need good grip. Especially in a wet year when rain is falling on race day or the days before. Non-spike orienteering shoes are popular with ÖTILLÖ Worlds athletes.
If one of you is a considerably stronger runner, that person might be pulling with a tow line at the runnable sections. You might prefer pulling a little throughout the whole race instead of one of you bonking two thirds into and the other then trying to pull very hard. Watch out since pulling hard might trigger cramps in the calves.
Pacing
What pace would you be able to maintain throughout the whole race? Now take that pace and go just a little faster. You don’t want to underachieve. That should still end up being a bit slower than how most teams pace themselves. This applies in general but not always at the men’s front as there are not many teams to draft on the swims so you might factor that in too. There are a lot of micro decisions like that to be taken during the race.
When I say pacing I mean effort-based and not actual speed since the course is so varied. We just avoid going “red” or even “orange” early on. This has the drawback that you might get stuck behind a crowd since a lot of teams can’t seem to pace themselves so think of strategies to mitigate that.
Again, remember to pace yourself. As they say at WS100, if you’re in the lead after the first climb, you are probably not going to win the race. :)
This course is so beautiful.
Teamwork
Leave all pride aside. If the pace is too high for you, let it be known. The other way around, ask your partner if they’ve remembered to take a gel lately. His/her success is your success.
Equal swimmers will let the more tired runner draft swims to regain some energy for the next run.
Even if you’ve got equal capacity in all respects, maybe bring a line under the wetsuit in case either of you ends up having a bad day.
If you are competitive both number one and two are done in-flight. Preferably during a swim or just before, to avoid developing rashes. With a short-legged wetsuit number two can be done quickly. I don’t know why I put this under teamwork.
Is your partner struggling? Figure out if it may be the heat, nutrition, foggy goggles or whatever — and help fix the problem. ÖTILLÖ is not typically an event that attracts lazy people, so nagging or blaming your partner would likely be misguided.
The level of competition at Worlds is increasing with every year, but camaraderie between teams is still respectful. Teams overtaking will often give you encouraging words. I think that is a natural when everyone is in a team and a part of this special event.
Gear
Although this and that is allowed, at the sharp end gear has basically consolidated into:
Pullbuoy with a lot of lift (compared to what pool swimmers are used to). The most popular are probably Ark Keel and Swimrunners Piraya. I use a DIY epoxied double Huub Big Bouy also favoured by some other athletes. Some have seen the guru to get a Rövraket (if you know, you know).
Wet suit specifically made for swimrun. I use Ark Korp but there are several good options. A pocket is handy to store gel and mandatories. In most weathers short sleeves are enough. Front-end athletes typically prioritize run performance. The bib will mess up your drag anyway and lift you get from the pullbuoy. The wetsuit is basically there to not be in the way and to provide warmth in cold water. I found that in protecting against cold water, it is more important that the wetsuit does not let in too much water than that the neoprene is thick.
Hand paddles equivalent to Strokemakers. Lighter is better, size according to strength.
Goggles: light is fast. Slim or even Swedish Goggles.
Shoes: for this race, think orienteering. VJ Sport’s butyl rubber mix and rock plate shoes are currently in fashion.
Tow line: roughly half of the front-end use it at Worlds. Some bring just in case.
In case of extreme cold: neoprene bandana, long sleeves and perhaps even a neoprene vest. Unusual, though.
Where do you store gel flasks and mandatory first aid? In a sports top or bra, your lower underwear or a pocket if your suit has one. Make sure they don’t bounce around too much or fall out while running.
The author during ÖTILLÖ Worlds 2018.
This covers perhaps 20 % of the things that are handy to know. Dissecting this race you will find it is potentially so complex that you can’t expect to perform at your full physical potential the first time entering. Still worth it!
I don’t want to scare anyone from entering and it is not only for the very competitive. ÖTILLÖ World Champs is magical. Rich Roll even went as far as to call it life-defining. The scenery, the spirit among the racers and the staff. All magical, regardless of how serious you are about competing.
I’ve written a bunch of race reports in Swedish, making them more or less inaccessible to all those people of other languages interested in this Sweden-borne swimrun sport. So this time, I’ll give you the tour of one of Sweden’s biggest races: Ångaloppet! Although, I’m not sure its just a race — more like a movement. Ångaloppet is for everyone! There’s a family race where an adult and a child swimrun together, short distances for trying the sport and hand paddles and lines for towing are banned. It’s supposed to be easy and fun to get into this sport and I think Ångaloppet is doing a great job in making a wider audience discover and appreciate the magnificent fun that this sport brings.
At the sharp end there is still a lot of fun and companionship, trust me, although heart is pounding and we’re pressing on in tight competition. The main event of Ångaloppet is no more than 22 km, which is short in the context of swimrun racing but still packs 24 swims. Water entries and exists all the time and a lot of trail/off trail makes for a hectic ride and tons of adrenaline! I so enjoy the feeling of being a hunted animal in the wilderness, or out hunting running through technical terrain and trying to outswim someone to the next islet.
Today I was back racing with my primary teammate Tomas Granberg of TG Swimrun notoriety. With no towline allowed, this race favors our very similar capacities in both disciplines of swimming and running. Also, we are both stronger in technical terrain than on runnable, which makes this course suit us. Usually we’ll for sure screw up something in a race but today was a fortunate exception. We executed a close to perfect race, which allowed us to advance as the race unfolded and cross the line as fifth finishers with the tenth best time ever on this course, to the best of our knowledge. Really pleased with our performance!
This bodes well for the big one, arising on the horizon like a fiend out of the Baltic ocean. I’m talking ÖTILLÖ World Championship 2018 — the relentless race of races that brings all the beauty of the salty and harsh archipelago along with massive fatigue. And we are now only three weeks out. That’s one more week of milage and then gradual tapering for Tomas and I. So looking forward to face the strobe of that first swim!
Oh. And the winners of today’s race, brothers Lars and Jonas Ekman of Bröderna bäver, are contenders for the win of the world championship. Last year they did the third fastest time ever in a world championship race and that was a step up from the year before. They are getting better and better, it looks, and I think that this year it will be gold for the brothers. Remember where you read it first.
Tomas and I having recently overtaken two orienteers.
With said orienteers who went out at an impressive pace on the first run.
Setting out controlled this is an early swim as number seven I think, working our way closer to the front as the race unfolds.
Igår körde jag Öloppet med Nina Ellmark. Vi lyckades ta hem tredjeplatsen i mixklassen. Vilken bra partner! Funkade utmärkt tillsammans trots att vi inte ens tränat tillsammans innan och ingen av oss kört den här tävlingen tidigare.
Man ska inte syssla för mycket med ursäkter, så jag river av dem i en mening: Jag hade lite magproblem och jag tappade en lins. Det var det. Men när är ett lopp felfritt? Det är många komponenter som ska stämma i swimrun. Skönt med en förstående partner som gör det bästa av situationen!
Första simningen. Foto: Öloppet.
Vi simmade helt okej och loppet inleds med 1 km simning. Det gjorde att vi var tvåa den första milen innan Daniel Adams Ray och Charlotte Eriksson sprang förbi. De gick kanske ut försiktigt. De såg så fräscha ut och det var då min svacka började, så jag insåg att vi inte kunde hänga på.
Tanken då var att det var långt upp till ettan. I själva verket var avståndet till Oom/Eriksson som mest 6 min och då de fick problem på Vrångö minskade det därifrån hela tiden och slutade på 2 min i mål. Adams Ray/Eriksson slutade som etta. Det är lustigt vad lite man vet ibland mitt uppe i ett lopp. Man vet aldrig säkert vad som händer framför så ge inte upp!
Jag älskade banan, minus de långa asfaltslöpningarna. Riktigt fint att springa ute på skären. Och jäklar vad fina simningar med lagom vågor för att göra det lite äventyrligt! Det här gör jag gärna om. Jag tänkte innan att pallen var ett rimligt mål och det lyckades vi ju med. Blir det revansch nästa år så kanske ett eller två steg upp är rimligt!
Ja men det var ju lyckat. Femma i herr på Stockholm Swimrun tillsammans med Fredrik Nilzén. Det blev lite partner shuffle då Tomas “Maskinen” Granberg körde med megasimmaren Ulf Hausmann. Men det är ju kul att testa en ny konstellation. Jag och Tomas kör fortfarande World Champs och annat tillsammans.
Konkurrensen såg inte ut att vara så hård dagen innan men sen dök Hansson/Moberg och Flores/Sjösten upp på tävlingsdagen som stridsbåtar i horisonten. Ångbryggeriet, vi och alla andra fick finna oss i att kliva ner två steg i resultatlistan. Men det är inte mer än rättvist. Någon klass måste det ju vara på pallen!
Kort sagt: Fredrik har starka ben och drog mig en del på löpningen och vi hade otroligt roligt!
Nynäs crew: Helena och Claes i lag Skärgårdshotellet och storfräsarna Johan och Jocke i Nynäshamns ångbryggeri. Samtliga vet hur man vilar innan start!
Andreas och Fredrik så taggade.
Ulf och Tomas var redo att dela Brunnsvikens vatten i två delar. Eller släppa en ny rap-singel. Oklart.
The interest in the sport of swimrun nowadays is clearly not limited to Swedes so I thought it’d be considerate and write this in English. Anyway, last weekend me and Tomas Granberg raced ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Utö as the team TG Swimrun. It’s the second World Series event of the year after Hvar in Croatia and I’d say it is the second most competitive swimrun race on the planet (don’t know about Mars or Jupiter) after the World Champs.
This year, the competition at Utö really took a huge step up. Take our team as an example: 11 min faster this year but finished 17 total compared to 9 total last year. This year, Utö became a confluence of fast teams. There where no new teams in the top 10, but most of the top athletes of the sport had decided to participate, although still missing names such as Hanson, Moberg, Krochak and Olsson.
I decided to take a closer look at the performances of the top 50 teams at Utö this year. 16 of the teams raced the same event in 2017, when conditions were very similar to this year’s conditions. Comparing the times I noticed that almost all of the 16 teams were faster this year yet very few managed to defend their positions, just like us. Deeper front and a step up in performance all across the field.
Team finishing times, 2017 compared to 2018.
Team finishing positions, 2017 compared to 2018.
I think you get the idea. Competition is getting tougher mainly because the existing athletes are becoming faster as they devote more effort to swimrun. The World Series race at Utö is mainly a Swedish concern, although 20 some teams where from outside of Sweden. Regardless, the sharp end is predominantly Swedish. Probably we’ll see national and regional competition sharpening at races in other places around the world the next few years.
There has been some talk in Sweden about athletes transitioning from related sports to swimrun, raising the standard at the front end. I think that already happend and there is not much more to expect from that in Sweden. We already have Swedish top end triathletes in swimrun: Pontus Lindberg (8:11 Ironman), George Bjälkemo (several national medals in mid distance), Eva Nyström (four national gold medals), Jesper Svensson, Oscar Olsson etc. From adventure racing/multiport we have top international level athletes such as Daniel Hansson, Kristin Larsson and Martin Flinta.
I think that at this point the talent pool of endurance athletics in Sweden is pretty much exhausted. There are some obvious world-class athletes fans of the swimrun would like to one day see at ÖTILLÖ, like Åsa Lundström and Patrik Nilsson (eighth in Kona 2017). However, I don’t think the time is ripe just yet for these people as they need to focus 100 % on triathlon. It would be unexpected of a young triathlete to venture off while still in the top international game of a much bigger sport, like Patrik Nilsson is. However maybe some more cases of guest appearances as by active pro triathlete Jesper Svensson while still maintaining their careers in triathlon?
Mixed category lead pack about 1/4 into the race at Utö 2018: Thomas Schreven (NED) and Jasmina Glad-Schreven (FIN) of Say No to Doping! and Martin Flinta (SWE) and Helena Karaskova Erbenova (CZE?) of Thule Adventure Team. Photo: Pierre Manges/ÖTILLÖ.
Anyway, back to the World Series race at Utö. I’ve done the race four times now, 2015 onwards. I’d recommend bringing a neoprene bandana as normal condition at Utö mean some swims will be a bit cold. However, I’m not a fan of long sleeve or leg wetsuits. That’s not where I get cold anyway, and they’d be a huge disadvantage on the runs. Sleeves and legs as short as possible since the cold really just gets to my face and forehead anyway. We actually rolled down the top of our wetsuits during the 7 km long run this year. I’m not fully sure that was the best choice as it takes some time and fiddling, but it sure was comfortable. Wetsuit designers have the last few years designed shorter front zippers which I think is a bad idea. Sure, very marginal gains on drag, but the running is much more uncomfortable when you can’t zip down properly.
More about the characteristics of this race, it is a race of short but many swims. Transition efficiency is key. Also, runs are a mix of heavy terrain and flat runnable. To do well at this race you have to be able to run the 7 km flat gravel in the middle of the race at a high pace. If you are a fast off-trail runner, make sure to exit the swims leading into the wilder land sections ahead of any possible packs because at narrow paths overtaking may prove difficult.
All in all, Utö is a compressed version of the World Championship race with the WC being more of everything: longer runnable section on Ornö, even tougher terrain at large sections, longer and more exposed swims. However, the terrain is is very beautiful, but maybe not at unbelievable as at the WC. I leave you with scenery from the World Champs of last year. Can’t wait until the first Monday of September!
Trevlig dag igår med 80,5 km blandat underlag på TEC 50 (Täby Extreme Challenge 50 Miles). Jag gick ut lite för hårt med de två första varven (11,5 km per varv) strax över timman per varv. Det kan jämföras med mitt saktaste varv — varv sex av sju — på typ 1 h 15 min. Inte optimalt men heller ingen katastrof. Uppenbarligen var det gott om löpare som pacat sig ännu sämre för jag tuggade mig upp från placering 10 till tre.
Race management är jag mycket nöjd med, i form av äta och dricka, solskydd, effektiviteten vid varvning o.dyl. Fick lite stöd vid varvning av David Pyring med att fylla flaskan o.s.v. Jag tror att jag klarade vätska, energi och värme bättre än andra. Jag blev varm men tog till knepet att droppa linnet under andra halvan av loppet vilket var bra både mot värmen och skavet mellan lats och biceps. Och så skvätte jag vatten på mig i några kärr av samma anledning.
Lite stolt och lite nöjd, men inser hur långt jag är ifrån de bästa. Ettan var 30 min före mig och banrekordet var 1 h 20 min bort (Thomas Chaillou 2016). Men jag tror att jag tänker rätt när jag jämför mig med såna människor isf att jämföra min löpning med andra swimrunners. Glad över en tredjeplats, hur som helst och en fin start på säsongen.
Tävlingssäsongen är extremt nära nu. Exakt en vecka bort, närmare bestämt. Fick taperinghjälp av en vecka influensa med mycket sömn och ingen träning. Efter det en vecka småsjuk men med träning. Kanske lika bra? Hur som helst ser jag framemot första loppet TEC 50 Miles. Alltså 80 km löpning på blandat underlag.
En månad senare blir det ÖTILLÖ Utö med Tomas Granberg (TG Swimrun Coach). Jag tror att det kan gå snabbt om vi inte blir stelfrusna som isglassar i havet! Utö är nog fortfarande det lopp som har näst starkast startfält i världen i sporten swimrun. Förra året kom jag och Tomas nia och det tror vi att vi kan förbättra i år. Men jag måste simma ikapp lite av det som jag förlorade när jag var 10 dagar i Frankrike och bouldrade och direkt efter det blev sjuk. Det ska ösas i Kronobergsbadet på luncherna!
Därefter står jag och väger mellan Stockholm Marathon och Stockholm Swimrun. Till den senare saknar jag nämligen partner. Skulle behöva någon med potential till pallplacering. Brother, where art thou?
Jag har sneglat på Jättelångt och kanske är det i år det är dags. Jag har ju sprungit Lidingöloppet Ultra och Lida Ultra tidigare år vid denna tid men tycker att det vore roligare med något som är iaf lite mer åt terränghållet. Egentligen skulle jag vilja springa Sundsvall Trail för att det ser ut att vara terräng på riktigt, men det funkar inte i kalendern.
MIF Triathlon kör jag förmodligen. Det vore ju roligt att vinna tre år i rad. Men jag kan tänka mig att stryka det om det finns något roligare att delta i. För roligt, det ska vi absolut ha. Ge mig det där tävlingsadrenalinet!
Tävlingskalendern fram till midsommar (preliminärt):
2018-04-21
TEC 50
Anmäld.
2018-05-05
Kungsholmen runt 10 km
Anmäld.
2018-05-20
ÖTILLÖ Utö
Anmäld med Tomas Granberg.
2018-06-02
Stockholm Marathon
Kanske.
2018-06-09
Stockholm Swimrun
Kanske — ingen lagkamrat.
2018-06-16
Jättelångt
Kanske.
2018-07-x
[Hemligt]
2018-07-21
MIF Triathlon
Mål: 31.55.
Upp-och-ner-bilden är förövrigt från strax innan influensan, i Fontainebleau.
