Welcome to episode forty-five of the Low Tide Boyz - A Swimrun Podcast!We’ve got a special episode this week. We just finished racing Ödyssey Swimrun Austin on Sunday, November 8th and we’ll be sharing our race report from our weekend in Texas. We were super stoked to be able to race and hope that you enjoy our thoughts on how that whole thing went. (Spoiler alert: Stoke level is still super high!)Initial ThoughtsIt was a stressful week with the election, COVID, travel, and a race on the horizon. We felt better once we got to Texas and we were really happy with our performance on race day. Sure, we could have trained harder…but we probably would be saying that regardless of how hard we trained. Regardless of our level of fitness, we managed to put together a strong performance and that only a small part of what was an amazing weekend.Getting to Texas/Pre-race MeetingGetting to Pace Bend Park from AUS was pretty easy (Chipper picked Chris up from the airport on Saturday afternoon) and we managed to show up only slightly late to the mandatory pre-race meeting.Shout outs to folks that we connected with this weekend: (We’re really sorry if we missed anyone)Drew and MichaelBrooke and SamanthaAdrianTrevor AKA The Copper PaladinTrista and Amy (Who brought us a giant donut from Round Rock Donuts)MelJennyBobRick (from Florida)ChaseChrisMattMelissaGemmaKristen (RD at Swimrun Lake James in April 2021)Lee Green LIKE THE COLOR (Chris’s new bestie)The entire Odyssey team!It was also great to see previous guests of the show as well:Bronwen and Greg AKA The Boston Wet SoxAndy HewittBlake and Beek AKA Team Envol BaywatchSean and Phillip AKA The Swimrun MonksMarcus BartonJohn Stevens (he had a cameo on Gear Talk. Future full episode with John coming soon!)Lars Finanger, Race Director for ÖdysseyIt was really great to see everyone and we really appreciated all the kind words from folks saying that they listened to the podcast and found it helpful in their race prep. That night we put into practice a lot of the advice that we had learned from previous guests of the show and made our plans for the race. The main things that we wanted to put into practice on race day were: having a detailed plan for nutrition, hydration, and when to cab down (Team Precision Hydration UK and The Boston Wet Sox); focusing on technique especially fast transitions in and out of the water and at energy station (Andy Hewitt and Nicolas Remires); stay mentally engaged in the race and problem solve quickly (Mario Fraioli, Johan Carlsson, and Oscar Olsson); and Swim straight (Megan Melgaard and Jim Lubinski).Race Day: Leg by leg (Play by play)The weather on race morning looked pretty great but we were worried about it getting hot during the race. Ödyssey did a great job with their COVID precautions and the race started on time with a time-trial start where teams started 5 seconds apart. Run 1 - 2.11 miles: The start was pretty straight forward and, frankly, it was nice to finally get to race again!Swim 1 - 663 yards: The swim felt a bit short. There was no significant current in the water and the water temp was very pleasant.  Run 2 -  1.28 miles: This run was pretty straight forward. The classic Texas trails (rocky, rooted, etc.) made their appearance.Swim 2 - 1,166 yards: This swim was pretty straight forward and sighting was not a problem at all.Run 3 - 2.12 miles: This run was getting into the meat of the course and we started pushing on the runs a bit more. We made the decision to keep the tether attached the whole time. It was a new experience for us to race that way and we both felt that it was major benefit to not have to worry about putting it away and then attaching it again before a swim saved a lot of mental energy.Swim 3 - 1,145 yards: The swim entrance was at the end of a steep boat ramp. This swim was against the water current, but it wasn’t really noticeable. It was cool to swim next to the limestone cliffs.Run 4 - 3.33 miles: This was the longest run of the