Race reports 2016
1000 lakes swimrun - Thomas Schreven
Ö till Ö 1000 lakes swimrun - race report
“……..Mother Nature Always Wins”
I don’t think there is a sport today where you are so exposed to the elements as swim running. Unique environments away from urban civilisation this sport brings you back to the roots of being human: survival and taking care of each other! This may sound exaggerated to some but at least for me this race weekend in Rheinsberg, Germany turned out to be a crazy cocktail of extreme impressions. On Saturday we were having coffee and cakes with our friends Nancy and PJ from Team Monaco Life in a local café. Less then 24 hours later we were literally crawling out of the cold water on both hands and knees. Completely disoriented I remember muttering to Jasmina: “Are you OK?”....being cold just got a new meaning this weekend.
Following on from the second (long) swim we tried to speed up in order to get warm. It took a bit longer than expected, my feet and calves were so painful and cramped that I could barely walk never mind run. I tried not to panic and tip toed like a “ballerina in a wetsuit” through the pain barrier - easier said then done. Thankfully at some point the blood circulation picked up again and the muscles softened…it took a hell of a long time though. In the meantime we sucked up the positive vibes from the amazing crowd of people at every transition and energy station. Since the air temperature was less than the water temperature our plan was to keep moving at all times and minimise time spend at energy stations and transitions. We skipped the first (liquid) station and then spend about 9 seconds (on average) at each energy station leaving all the good stuff behind (for PJ). Taking a gel every 45 minutes I was happy to see that my stomach did not reject it. During our last long training session in Finland we had some issues where my hick-ups sounded like a seal lost in the forest.
About two and a half hours into the race we were leading the mixed category and managed to overtake a few mens’ teams putting us in 3rd position overall. Our race strategy was simple but effective in the sense that we tried to keep the intensity level the same throughout the race without fading. As a positive side effect the chances of overtaking teams in the latter stages of the race increased providing a mental boost that is hard to beat. During the three long runs (8,4,3 km) only interrupted by two short swims there were a couple of beautiful straight flat running stretches that reminded me of Mikes ”tunnel of leaves” so
we used it to get closer to Team No 2 (Clapham Bruderwunderz). In fact the two short swims only served to flush down another gel and recover the legs (just like taking a short rest during repeat interval training). Talking about interval training we always put speed elements in our run and swim workouts it really helps to move at a faster pace for longer periods on race day. Even if a race is 45km if you only train volume (i.e. long hours at a slow pace) you will be slow on race day. There are many different forms of interval training but our personal favourite is still running on a hilly cross country ski loop of 3 kilometers that improves all elements of speed, core strength and endurance.
In the meantime Daniel Hansson (from Swedish Armed Forces) and Andre Hook kept popping up all over the course to inform about route chances and splits. “Three minutes down from Team No 2 with less than 2 hours to go….but with a lot of cold swimming still ahead¨. Thanks for letting us know! After coming out of the water from the (shortened) 300m section we found ourselves running in the forest without seeing any markings: ¨Damn, we are lost I yelled…not again!¨ All of a sudden we saw Team No 2 in the distance running towards us: “aha so they are also lost”. We decided to run back to the last point we saw some markings and after a few minutes we spotted one together with a white sign board about 40 meters up the hill. “Great, we are back on track¨. We ran together with Team No 2 for a while but then picked up the pace in a desperate attempt to maximise our body temperature before the start of the long 1200m swim. As far as swimming is concerned we use additional floatation in our compression socks. Jasmina has super flexible ankles and moves through the water like a dolphin so she hardly needs any floatation when she is drafting me. My swim style on the other hand is a bit less elegant and can be compared with a dog clawing through the water. My ankles are so stiff that swimming with shoes on feels like dragging an anchor over the bottom of the lake. The additional floatation in my compression socks lift my feet for the best part out of the water minimising drag. It works for us but it did require a complete overhaul of my swimstroke because body roll and position is different and there is no leg kick. While the legs recover during the swim all forward movement is generated using paddles. Doing it correctly this set-up (for us) generates speed at minimum effort. In the meantime Jasmina is positioned at a perfect draft distance saving energy for the next run. It is great to see that a lot of people develop their own devices that work best for them. I am still working on developing the perfect swimsock for cold water conditions to reduce cramping. The last time Jasmina tested my prototype she ended up with a black toe…..oooops sorry!
Swimming the 1200m swim stretch was a real battle for us. Towards the end I was so drained that in order to keep moving I screamed when my head was in the water. It turned out that Jasmina did the same thing except that she was singing a song. Coming out of the water my vision was blurred to a tunnel of vague images. Soon after I started gasping for air which got worse when I found a camera in my face and somebody asking: “so tell me is it cold?”…Thankfully Jasmina tried to help me but her jaws were completely locked that there was no sound coming out of her mouth. Now I understood why she had become so quiet during the last part of the race.
Stumbling on towards the last 500m swim I am not really sure how we got across to the other side. At some point I remember thinking: “how are all the other people going to get here as they will be spending even more time in the water”. It turned out to be that some survived and some didn’t which is completely understandable. It takes courage and wisdom to abandon a race even though it doesn’t always feel like it. Finally getting out of the water at Schloss Rheinsberg and finishing (hand in hand) in the arms of our friends PJ and Nancy was truly the best moment of the day. “It was good, it was tough, it was pure survival”…
More than ever I realised that swim running gets you out of your comfort zone where the same brutal conditions apply to everyone - no matter how experienced or good you are. In order to continue doing what we love most “be humble because mother nature always wins”.
Thanks everybody for putting such a magnificent races together! It was an experience of a life time.
Thomas Schreven
Partner: Jasmina Glad-Schreven
Team: Say No! to Doping
“……..Mother Nature Always Wins”
I don’t think there is a sport today where you are so exposed to the elements as swim running. Unique environments away from urban civilisation this sport brings you back to the roots of being human: survival and taking care of each other! This may sound exaggerated to some but at least for me this race weekend in Rheinsberg, Germany turned out to be a crazy cocktail of extreme impressions. On Saturday we were having coffee and cakes with our friends Nancy and PJ from Team Monaco Life in a local café. Less then 24 hours later we were literally crawling out of the cold water on both hands and knees. Completely disoriented I remember muttering to Jasmina: “Are you OK?”....being cold just got a new meaning this weekend.
Following on from the second (long) swim we tried to speed up in order to get warm. It took a bit longer than expected, my feet and calves were so painful and cramped that I could barely walk never mind run. I tried not to panic and tip toed like a “ballerina in a wetsuit” through the pain barrier - easier said then done. Thankfully at some point the blood circulation picked up again and the muscles softened…it took a hell of a long time though. In the meantime we sucked up the positive vibes from the amazing crowd of people at every transition and energy station. Since the air temperature was less than the water temperature our plan was to keep moving at all times and minimise time spend at energy stations and transitions. We skipped the first (liquid) station and then spend about 9 seconds (on average) at each energy station leaving all the good stuff behind (for PJ). Taking a gel every 45 minutes I was happy to see that my stomach did not reject it. During our last long training session in Finland we had some issues where my hick-ups sounded like a seal lost in the forest.
About two and a half hours into the race we were leading the mixed category and managed to overtake a few mens’ teams putting us in 3rd position overall. Our race strategy was simple but effective in the sense that we tried to keep the intensity level the same throughout the race without fading. As a positive side effect the chances of overtaking teams in the latter stages of the race increased providing a mental boost that is hard to beat. During the three long runs (8,4,3 km) only interrupted by two short swims there were a couple of beautiful straight flat running stretches that reminded me of Mikes ”tunnel of leaves” so
we used it to get closer to Team No 2 (Clapham Bruderwunderz). In fact the two short swims only served to flush down another gel and recover the legs (just like taking a short rest during repeat interval training). Talking about interval training we always put speed elements in our run and swim workouts it really helps to move at a faster pace for longer periods on race day. Even if a race is 45km if you only train volume (i.e. long hours at a slow pace) you will be slow on race day. There are many different forms of interval training but our personal favourite is still running on a hilly cross country ski loop of 3 kilometers that improves all elements of speed, core strength and endurance.
In the meantime Daniel Hansson (from Swedish Armed Forces) and Andre Hook kept popping up all over the course to inform about route chances and splits. “Three minutes down from Team No 2 with less than 2 hours to go….but with a lot of cold swimming still ahead¨. Thanks for letting us know! After coming out of the water from the (shortened) 300m section we found ourselves running in the forest without seeing any markings: ¨Damn, we are lost I yelled…not again!¨ All of a sudden we saw Team No 2 in the distance running towards us: “aha so they are also lost”. We decided to run back to the last point we saw some markings and after a few minutes we spotted one together with a white sign board about 40 meters up the hill. “Great, we are back on track¨. We ran together with Team No 2 for a while but then picked up the pace in a desperate attempt to maximise our body temperature before the start of the long 1200m swim. As far as swimming is concerned we use additional floatation in our compression socks. Jasmina has super flexible ankles and moves through the water like a dolphin so she hardly needs any floatation when she is drafting me. My swim style on the other hand is a bit less elegant and can be compared with a dog clawing through the water. My ankles are so stiff that swimming with shoes on feels like dragging an anchor over the bottom of the lake. The additional floatation in my compression socks lift my feet for the best part out of the water minimising drag. It works for us but it did require a complete overhaul of my swimstroke because body roll and position is different and there is no leg kick. While the legs recover during the swim all forward movement is generated using paddles. Doing it correctly this set-up (for us) generates speed at minimum effort. In the meantime Jasmina is positioned at a perfect draft distance saving energy for the next run. It is great to see that a lot of people develop their own devices that work best for them. I am still working on developing the perfect swimsock for cold water conditions to reduce cramping. The last time Jasmina tested my prototype she ended up with a black toe…..oooops sorry!
Swimming the 1200m swim stretch was a real battle for us. Towards the end I was so drained that in order to keep moving I screamed when my head was in the water. It turned out that Jasmina did the same thing except that she was singing a song. Coming out of the water my vision was blurred to a tunnel of vague images. Soon after I started gasping for air which got worse when I found a camera in my face and somebody asking: “so tell me is it cold?”…Thankfully Jasmina tried to help me but her jaws were completely locked that there was no sound coming out of her mouth. Now I understood why she had become so quiet during the last part of the race.
Stumbling on towards the last 500m swim I am not really sure how we got across to the other side. At some point I remember thinking: “how are all the other people going to get here as they will be spending even more time in the water”. It turned out to be that some survived and some didn’t which is completely understandable. It takes courage and wisdom to abandon a race even though it doesn’t always feel like it. Finally getting out of the water at Schloss Rheinsberg and finishing (hand in hand) in the arms of our friends PJ and Nancy was truly the best moment of the day. “It was good, it was tough, it was pure survival”…
More than ever I realised that swim running gets you out of your comfort zone where the same brutal conditions apply to everyone - no matter how experienced or good you are. In order to continue doing what we love most “be humble because mother nature always wins”.
Thanks everybody for putting such a magnificent races together! It was an experience of a life time.
Thomas Schreven
Partner: Jasmina Glad-Schreven
Team: Say No! to Doping
1000 LAKES SWIMRUN - PJ
The day before the 1000 Lakes race, I took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my pant leg and dipped my foot into one of the lakes we’d be swimming in.
‘o fuck’
Having just spent the last four months training in 20°C water and 30°C land temps in the south of France along the Med, there was no way my foot was prepared for 8°C water. Turns out my entire body was not prepared for less than two digit land and water temps even with a wetsuit on. Our team (my beautiful and inspiring wife) and I DNF’d on race day. But I’m not disappointed or bummed or angry, I’m just happy we got as far as we did. Our training was exceptional and proved to us that we could make the cut off times. The cold really threw us for a curve though.
Race day I was feeling a little intimidated. I do not have a classic physique for swimrunning or any endurance sport. My body shape is best suited for a sport that would involve pulling stumps out of fields while drinking. I was feeling like a coal mining pony in a herd of thoroughbreds. Still, I love participating in any type of endurance sport.
As soon as the race gun went off, we were off and right on the pace that we had trained for. The first four some odd kilometres went well despite one little detour. Some merry prankster had screwed with some of the trail signs which sent a bunch of us on a brief detour through the woods. Still, our pace was good.
When we hit the first patch of water, something just wasn’t right. I could feel I was off my training pace. Usually, I am slightly faster than my wife, but on race day, she was much faster than I was and kept having to wait for me. Not good especially when water temps are only about 8°C. Any idle time means you’re just burning precious energy in the cold.
I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. I’m still not sure. Maybe I just wasn’t warmed up, or it was an issue of buoyancy. Since we train in the Med, the salinity gives me way more buoyancy than fresh water. Either way, this wasn’t the first time this has happened on race day. We’ve already decided that at the next race, Nancy will be towing me at least on the first few swims.
Hitting the second run through cold, foggy fields, I could sense that something was wrong with Nancy. She seemed panicky and was talking to me as though we were running for our lives. I was in front of her so I couldn’t see her face but she just kept uttering panicked phrases about how
we had to keep going and go faster. I checked my Garmin and we were well ahead of our pace time. I didn’t know what she was talking about and put her hyperactively odd behaviour down to race day jitters.
We have done previous races in similar water temps but the difference was the land temperature. With no sun and it hovering around 9°C, it meant you were simply running with the cold water from the lake still surrounding you. Even if the sun was out and it was that cold, it would have given us the opportunity to warm up because the black of the wet suit absorbs the solar heat.
That run to the next swim was cold. Even though we were only an hour and change into the race, I could not feel my heels and had to really watch the ground because I couldn’t rely on my feet to feel the ground. It was on that section of the race that race directors were running up and down the field of racers telling us that the last long swim was cancelled. The night before the race, they had already cut down a kilometre plus swim to about 300 meters.
‘If they’re changing the race as the race is going, this is going to be one long, cold sucky day.’
The second swim was longer but I finally started to get my stride back. Nancy was still ahead of me but she didn't have to wait for me and near the end of that swim I found myself gaining on some of the other racers that had passed me and was happy to have finally found my swimming pace.
Coming out of that second swim was tricky. There was a dock that I tried to climb up on but I couldn’t make my hands grip because they were so cold so chose to scramble up the bank. My legs were basically frozen stiff and I couldn't make them bend the way I wanted to so I had a couple of face plants on the way to the cut off timer.
We made the first cut off time with about 15 mins to spare. Relieved I grabbed some banana at the aid station and checked on Nancy. She was shaking uncontrollably and couldn’t be still enough to eat or drink. She looked cold but still healthy and I told her how great we were doing and that we were going to finish. She did not register what I was saying. A few minutes later, one of the organisers whom she knows, grabbed her by the shoulders and with a look of concern and said, “You don’t have to do this race.”
uh oh
I shook it off. The first time I knew Nancy was in trouble was a few minutes after that. I turned around and Nancy was dropping behind me quickly. This never happens. On race day she is the one charging. Her running pace is a bit faster than me and if she is behind me while training or racing it’s to keep my pace up. For her to drop behind means something’s wrong. I could tell by her expression that she wasn’t doing well.
A few minutes later when we came to the next swim, she backed up and said, “No.” She never says no. On training or racing, she is the first to dive into the water while I’m futzing with equipment as an excuse not to get back into the cold water. When she backed up from the water, it was the first time I could see her face. She had deteriorated greatly in the ten minutes or so from the aid station - blue lips, slurred speech, and pupils the size of an 18 year old kid at an electronic dance festival. One look at her and I didn’t hesitate. The race was over for us.
The fact that several other teams were dropping out at that point combined with one woman who was having a seizure on the ground made me realise Nancy didn’t just need some encouraging talk.
I know Nancy felt horrible and later she asked me if I was disappointed. “Not one bit.” She couldn't see what she looked like and when I saw the state she was in, I was just happy that she was ok.
The thing is that with the Otillo swimrun series you have to accept that nature is the biggest part of the race and that nature decides whether or not you will finish these races. When almost half of the race either doesn’t show up at the start line or drops out of the race because of what the weather has offered, I don’t feel as though that gutting it out was an option for us. Any disappointment I felt was quashed when I saw our friends Thomas and Jasmina come in second in the race overall, just a few minutes behind the first place winners. They themselves had some tough luck and DNF’s in the past two years and to see such incredible competitors and people finish in style made me proud just to have trained and competed in the same race as they did.
‘o fuck’
Having just spent the last four months training in 20°C water and 30°C land temps in the south of France along the Med, there was no way my foot was prepared for 8°C water. Turns out my entire body was not prepared for less than two digit land and water temps even with a wetsuit on. Our team (my beautiful and inspiring wife) and I DNF’d on race day. But I’m not disappointed or bummed or angry, I’m just happy we got as far as we did. Our training was exceptional and proved to us that we could make the cut off times. The cold really threw us for a curve though.
Race day I was feeling a little intimidated. I do not have a classic physique for swimrunning or any endurance sport. My body shape is best suited for a sport that would involve pulling stumps out of fields while drinking. I was feeling like a coal mining pony in a herd of thoroughbreds. Still, I love participating in any type of endurance sport.
As soon as the race gun went off, we were off and right on the pace that we had trained for. The first four some odd kilometres went well despite one little detour. Some merry prankster had screwed with some of the trail signs which sent a bunch of us on a brief detour through the woods. Still, our pace was good.
When we hit the first patch of water, something just wasn’t right. I could feel I was off my training pace. Usually, I am slightly faster than my wife, but on race day, she was much faster than I was and kept having to wait for me. Not good especially when water temps are only about 8°C. Any idle time means you’re just burning precious energy in the cold.
I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. I’m still not sure. Maybe I just wasn’t warmed up, or it was an issue of buoyancy. Since we train in the Med, the salinity gives me way more buoyancy than fresh water. Either way, this wasn’t the first time this has happened on race day. We’ve already decided that at the next race, Nancy will be towing me at least on the first few swims.
Hitting the second run through cold, foggy fields, I could sense that something was wrong with Nancy. She seemed panicky and was talking to me as though we were running for our lives. I was in front of her so I couldn’t see her face but she just kept uttering panicked phrases about how
we had to keep going and go faster. I checked my Garmin and we were well ahead of our pace time. I didn’t know what she was talking about and put her hyperactively odd behaviour down to race day jitters.
We have done previous races in similar water temps but the difference was the land temperature. With no sun and it hovering around 9°C, it meant you were simply running with the cold water from the lake still surrounding you. Even if the sun was out and it was that cold, it would have given us the opportunity to warm up because the black of the wet suit absorbs the solar heat.
That run to the next swim was cold. Even though we were only an hour and change into the race, I could not feel my heels and had to really watch the ground because I couldn’t rely on my feet to feel the ground. It was on that section of the race that race directors were running up and down the field of racers telling us that the last long swim was cancelled. The night before the race, they had already cut down a kilometre plus swim to about 300 meters.
‘If they’re changing the race as the race is going, this is going to be one long, cold sucky day.’
The second swim was longer but I finally started to get my stride back. Nancy was still ahead of me but she didn't have to wait for me and near the end of that swim I found myself gaining on some of the other racers that had passed me and was happy to have finally found my swimming pace.
Coming out of that second swim was tricky. There was a dock that I tried to climb up on but I couldn’t make my hands grip because they were so cold so chose to scramble up the bank. My legs were basically frozen stiff and I couldn't make them bend the way I wanted to so I had a couple of face plants on the way to the cut off timer.
We made the first cut off time with about 15 mins to spare. Relieved I grabbed some banana at the aid station and checked on Nancy. She was shaking uncontrollably and couldn’t be still enough to eat or drink. She looked cold but still healthy and I told her how great we were doing and that we were going to finish. She did not register what I was saying. A few minutes later, one of the organisers whom she knows, grabbed her by the shoulders and with a look of concern and said, “You don’t have to do this race.”
uh oh
I shook it off. The first time I knew Nancy was in trouble was a few minutes after that. I turned around and Nancy was dropping behind me quickly. This never happens. On race day she is the one charging. Her running pace is a bit faster than me and if she is behind me while training or racing it’s to keep my pace up. For her to drop behind means something’s wrong. I could tell by her expression that she wasn’t doing well.
A few minutes later when we came to the next swim, she backed up and said, “No.” She never says no. On training or racing, she is the first to dive into the water while I’m futzing with equipment as an excuse not to get back into the cold water. When she backed up from the water, it was the first time I could see her face. She had deteriorated greatly in the ten minutes or so from the aid station - blue lips, slurred speech, and pupils the size of an 18 year old kid at an electronic dance festival. One look at her and I didn’t hesitate. The race was over for us.
The fact that several other teams were dropping out at that point combined with one woman who was having a seizure on the ground made me realise Nancy didn’t just need some encouraging talk.
I know Nancy felt horrible and later she asked me if I was disappointed. “Not one bit.” She couldn't see what she looked like and when I saw the state she was in, I was just happy that she was ok.
The thing is that with the Otillo swimrun series you have to accept that nature is the biggest part of the race and that nature decides whether or not you will finish these races. When almost half of the race either doesn’t show up at the start line or drops out of the race because of what the weather has offered, I don’t feel as though that gutting it out was an option for us. Any disappointment I felt was quashed when I saw our friends Thomas and Jasmina come in second in the race overall, just a few minutes behind the first place winners. They themselves had some tough luck and DNF’s in the past two years and to see such incredible competitors and people finish in style made me proud just to have trained and competed in the same race as they did.
Järvestä järveen (lake to lake) 2016 - Thomas schreven
After a one year break from the swimrun scene due to a broken foot and the birth of our daughter we decided to register for Lake to Lake swimrun. In fact it was our first race together after Porkkala swimrun in 2015.
Filled with enthusiasm we decided to practice the course based on a course map we downloaded and printed from the website. Now it is important to know that we have a tendency to get off the course so finding our way to the first lake was really impressive. We even managed to get to the second lake after running in circles for an hour or so. The fact that our badly packed course map got soaking wet when it started to rain did not help to find our way around but hey….at least we could use it as a bad excuse for getting lost. Having practiced the course for the first 3km’s we eventually returned to the car and officially agreed (for once) that we both suck at orienteering. Thank goodness the course was going to be marked on race day otherwise we would not even finish the race.
On race day we arrived early to meet up with some friends and to get a good warmup in. I immediately noticed that everybody was relaxed and excited about doing the race. It is always so nice to meet people who share the same genuine passion for the sport.
The reason why we choose to race in Lake to Lake swimrun as our first race is because it’s short and intense. It’s was a perfect preparation for the longer swimrun races we had planned for later in the season like Solvalla swimrun and ÖtillÖ 1000 Lakes. The course is action packed with sections of technical trailrunning, hilly gravel running and some faster flat sections at the end. The race feels really intense because the organization did an excellent job at squeezing 11 swim sections in a total distance of 12kms! Just for comparison ÖtillÖ 1000 lakes also has 11 swim sections but spread over a total distance of 40kms! It turned out to be a perfect race to practice transitions, improve trail running technique and running speed. Most of all the race is so diverse and fun that it feels like you’re on a rollercoaster ride. There is hardly any time to think….it’s just GO GO GO! We arrived at the finish line after one and a half hours still with a smile on our face.….”this is swimrunning in overdrive”. For once you don’t have to worry about energy levels, efficiency or muscle fatigue because the race distance is relatively short. In my view it’s a perfect race for beginners who just want to experience the sport as well as experienced swimrunners who can use it as a training session for longer races. Also the possibility to add one or two loops would make this race even more interesting for next year’s edition.
Finally the organization of this race is first class in the sense that we did not get lost once….so the course marking is excellent in our view! The shower facilities, accessibility, parking, post-race food and drinks, prize ceremony…..everything is just there and it works! You simply can’t beat Finish efficiency is all I can say. I recommend this race to anyone!….it is one of the most FUN swimrun races I have done so far without having the pressure and stress you often see and experience at bigger international events.
Thomas Schreven
Team: Say No! to Doping
Partner: Jasmina Glad-Schreven
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