• In what was Andy’s 4th trip to the iconic Swedish island race as part of the World Swim Run Championships, he and his race partner Lars Finanger achieved his fastest ever time of 8 hours 53 minutes and 43 seconds
• Andy and his partner managed to execute a solid fueling and hydration strategy and finished strongly as they spent the last couple of hours picking off their competition

Hydration

• Andy has been prone to cramping and other hydration-related issues in the past. Considering his very high sweat sodium concentration of 1,800mg/L and a high sweat rate, he knew that staying on top of his sodium intake was going to be important
• In his attempt to stay on top of his hydration, Andy took two PH 500ml/16oz Soft Flasks which he carried in his swimrun wetsuit pocket. To save weight, he added one PH 1500 (Drink Mix) packet to each flask, but didn’t add any water to them until he reached one of the early aid stations, when he began his hydration strategy
• Once Andy had finished these bottles, he continued to take on sodium by taking nine Electrolyte Capsules, and in total he took ~3,945mg of sodium. Once his soft flasks were empty of electrolytes, he continued to fill them with plain water regularly throughout the race, totalling ~3L/96oz of fluid with a relative sodium concentration of ~1,315mg/L
• Andy’s ability to add fluids to his bottles was restricted by the on course aid stations and the fact he was unable to drink whilst swimming, so he confessed to “not getting my hydration strategy quite right, but I don’t think it was too bad”
• Interestingly, Andy’s fluid intake and relative sodium concentration were both lower than his 2019 attempt, which perhaps could in part have caused his hydration related issues such as muscle cramps in the latter stages of the race
• Towards the latter parts of the race, Andy noticed a few twinges of cramp in his hamstrings and lower legs which progressively got worse as the race ensued. Around 10 minutes before the finish line he got such a strong cramp in his hamstring he had to stop running briefly, but was able to get across the finish line after this passed. This could be due to a slight electrolyte imbalance developing throughout the race, but could also be down to a lack of specificity of training his leg muscles for this type of event, given he only signed up three months prior!
• In future, we’d recommend Andy preloads his sodium levels with a strong electrolyte drink the night before and again the morning of the race. This will ensure his blood plasma volume is optimally high, thus reducing the initial strain of exercise on his cardiovascular system, and slowing the decline in hydration expected with an event of this nature. Furthermore, perhaps taking a couple more Electrolyte Capsules along the way would bring his relative sodium concentration to be more in line with his sweat sodium concentration

Fueling

Conclusions

• Overall, Andy rated his race satisfaction 9 (out of 10) saying “it couldn’t have gone much better, but I’m a hard task master so don’t give 10s very easily”. With his partner Lars also fueling and hydrating adequately, they showed the importance of a rigorous strategy
• Similarly to previous years, Andy has said this will be his final time doing this iconic race, but we’ll wait and see how that lasts as his memories of this race begin to fade and his competitive instincts take over!