Welcome to episode 165 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!This week we have another installment in our Swimrun 101 series. In the episode we share our thoughts on Swimrun training…thoughts formed from our many conversations with coaches, athletes, and our own training and racing experience. For this episode we break up our discussion on Swimrun training into three distinct training categories: physical fitness, fueling and hydration, and mental preparation.Why are we doing this? We’ve noticed in our own training what has helped us show up to the start lines confident for the challenges (known and unknown) and we’ve developed a pattern or rhythm to our training, with the help of our coach, to get prepared. We obviously don’t know or claim to know all there is to know about endurance training but we’d had a lot of guests on the show that do. Make sure to check the show to get hyperlinks to our interviews to the coaches and experts that we’ll be alluding to during this episode. Anyway, we hope that you find our musings on training helpful.Physical FitnessSwim Training We’ve found that building a giant base of swim fitness leads to better race experiences and that the base helps increase your run fitness in the process. We think that de-coupling your swimming so that it is something that is always happening in the background at least 2-4 times per week will get you more than ready for any Swimrun outside of something like the One Water Race.There are a ton of resources out there to improve your swimming but at the very least any organized Masters Swim group will help get you on the path.Run TrainingWhen it comes to training for the run portion of any Swimrun, we’ve found that getting specific to both the distance and terrain in your training is the best approach. If your upcoming race is super hilly, then you know what to do. Remember that a Swimrun that has 17 miles of running doesn’t mean that you need to be able to bang out 17 miles in one shot before race day. Since the run sections are broken up, you’re usually able to get by with shorter runs in the lead up. Obviously, the fitter you are on the run, the “easier” the race will feel and the more fun you’ll have out there.Strength/Cross-TrainingWe all know that we need to do more strength/stretching/yoga/cross-training. Our approach is to start small and try to be ultra consistent. Keep nailing the fundamentals and you’ll soon build the habit and see the results on race day. Swimrun TrainingNothing simulates Swimrun better than a good’ole Swimrun practice. When you’re new to the sport these sessions are integral for you to learn the technique of Swimrun and work on all the little things that take up time during a race such as dealing with the tether, cabbing down, etc. We’ve found that as we have gotten more experienced in the sport these sessions are less about making sure that we have all the mechanics down and more about working on intensity and pace. We definitely do less Swimrun practices that we used to but we’ve developed the muscle memory for what works for us.Previous LTBz episodes about Swimrun training: Mike Olzinski (EP 3 and EP 108)Nicolas Remires (EP 14 and EP 126)Nate Helming (EP 17)Mario Fraioli (EP 30)Gerry Rodrigues (EP 32)Coach Jim Lube & Megan AMAVille EnburghJohn Stevens (EP 46 and EP 124)Joe Friel (EP 115)Fueling and HydrationGut TrainingJust like anything else in Swimrun, you need to adapt to the unique challenges that these events can present. One of the biggest is fueling and hydration. Practicing what you will do on race day and having a nutrition plan in place is instrumental to maximizing your race performance on race day. Just as one would plan how they would tackle a difficult Swimrun course, you should also plan what you will do fueling wise. This is definitely a place where we feel that we have learned a ton as a team. We feel so lucky to have been able to work with Precision Fuel and Hydration and it’s no coincidence that our race performa