Seamless motion through nature - Michael Lemmel I wanted to write the article I was looking for when I started. Something that would explain what to expect, what to do, how much to train, how much to spend and what to avoid. About Me I’m going to start with the question that always begins the excellent Low Tide Boyz podcast: “How did you get into swimrun?” In the summer of 2020, not able to leave Finland because of a Corona epidemic (perhaps you heard about it?) my good friend Jan and I drove out to a lake west of Helsinki for a swim. Jan was already participating in triathlons at this point and I was being frustrated by them. The road running and the cycling was hurting my back and the time needed to train for three different sports was impossible to find. My daughter was around two years old at the time and my wife and I were working full-time. Sitting at the edge of the lake, we were suddenly surprised by people in wetsuits and soggy running shoes. They were tethered together in pairs, swim caps and goggles donned, scrambling and sliding down the bank into the water and swimming across the lake. On the other side they pulled themselves out of the water and ran into the forest. I was mesmerised, like Toad from Wind in the Willows lying in a cloud of car dust murmuring ‘poop poop'.
We were like wolves hunting . Or perhaps, lemmings migrating . Jan had a quick look on his phone and realised we were watching the 2020 version of the Jarvestä Jarveen (Lake to Lake) Swimrun. I’d never heard of Swimrun, but looking at the staccato running and swimming sections on the route map, the idea began to make sense. Swimming and running but each section of the race was short enough to be do-able. We quickly began to justify to ourselves that this would be a lot more suitable, and a lot more fun, than a triathlon. Running in the bouncy forest would be better for my back and the shorter swimming sections would be less ‘drownable’. I might even have time to make a reasonable attempt at training for it. Later on that day, I looked at more routes and learned about the origins of the sport and it began to make even more sense. There was a great simplicity to it. No bags, no bikes, no closing roads. Just you and what you have on, getting from point A to point B and dealing with whatever comes in your way. We were like wolves hunting. Or perhaps, lemmings migrating . A few months and many hours of YouTube swimrun videos later, we signed up for the Strömfors Sprint Swimrun. It was on.
The Route
The Strömfors Sprint Swimrun is the shorter of two routes organised each year at the Strömfors Outdoor Factory. A beautiful, outdoor sports centre based at an old ironworking town near Loviisa, Finland. It's a beautiful place and well worth a visit. Did I mention it was beautiful? The Sprint route includes eight runs and seven swims with a couple of decent hills thrown in for good measure. There are three river swims, and four in lakes.
Training I basically did my training over a nine-week period. I am a fairly active person. I’ve recently started orienteering, I trek and I cycle around the city. That said, I hadn’t run more than 4km in many years and I could swim about 300m freestyle before getting exhausted. I was also very aware that overdoing the training would probably give me problems with my back and knee, so this had to be a softly-softly approach to monkey catching. I calculated that the total swimming was 1700m and the running was 9km, so those became my weekly targets. 1700m of swimming per week and 9km of running. Fortunately, it was summer and my family and I spent (as is typical in Finland) a few weeks out at the cabin where swimming in the lake and running through the forest was easy to fit in. That said, there were only three weeks when I made the target totals for both swimming and running. The main thing was that I was active and building up strength. With Jan, we trained together three times in total. The main goal was to figure out how the tether worked and practice using all the gear. Swimming in shoes and then running in wet shoes was the most fun but surprisingly not a problem. I also had a GPS from my mountaineering days which I would take on the swims. This gave me accurate information on how far I was swimming and also painted clearly the crazy wiggly routes we took across the lake.
Training conclusions I’d say that this was plenty of training to finish the course. I wish I’d done more longer swims, but on race day I had the strength to do each section . There were 3x300m swims and 1x400m and, though tired, I was able to keep going throughout. I’d also recommend running off-road and on smaller trails as much as possible. Our race was surprisingly rough at times, running through quite thick forest on overgrown or barely used paths, and it took a lot of concentration not to roll an ankle. Regarding the tether. From everything I’ve heard / seen, tether is better. However, you need to be well-practiced in using it. After three tethered swimming sessions, it still wasn’t working for us and we ended up abandoning it half-way through the race. If you are going to use one, make sure you have your system down before the race, or don’t bother.
The Gear The best thing about any new hobby is buying lots of lovely accessories. If you have money to burn, good for you. Go and spend and buy all of the exciting swimrun accoutrement you like (just think of your carbon footprint whilst doing so please). If, on the other hand, you just want to try swimrun without re-mortgaging your house, that’s also possible. The Low Tide Boyz do a great episode on this, but here’s my personal experience of swimrun on the cheap.
The Wetsuit
I thought I would just wear my full-length surf wetsuit in the race. Then we had the hottest summer since that comet that killed the dinosaurs. I looked online for a second-hand suit I could cut the legs and sleeves off, but in the end I just bought the cheapest shorty I could find (2.5mm). It was fine for the running, but the legs were quite short and I was pretty cold after the final swim. Jan just wore his tri-suit, so basically no wetsuit. He obviously runs a lot warmer than me and had no problems on the day of the race (water temperature 18-20 degrees). Conclusion: I’d say, any wetsuit will do, but if it’s hot, a full-length suit might be horrible to run in. A lot depends on the water temperature on the day of the race and your thermal resistance. Shoes
I had some Merrels I use for orienteering. The upper fabric is quite thick, which is lovely for cold Finnish runs, but I was worried they might hold a lot of water. They did, but it wasn’t a great issue. I think next time I’ll try to find something that drains quickly, but the shoes I had weren’t a problem on the day. They were also very floaty, which was great. Conclusion: If the shoes are okay for the run, they’ll probably be fine for the swim (especially if you have a pool buoy – see below). Pool buoy
Again, I went for something cheap. I chose this model because it seemed a good size: not too big to be cumbersome, but big enough to make a difference. I punctured some holes in it and threaded some elastic cord through, and that worked just fine for the swim and the run. Head have a short video on this. I had adjusted mine carefully on the many practice swims we had. Conclusion: Use it. Floating is good, cheap is fine. Hand paddles
They were slightly bigger than my hands. I think I’d like to have slightly bigger still, but I was worried about having the strength to use them. In fact, in a couple of the practice pool sessions, my shoulders were aching a bit. They definitely helped though. In fact, I think I may have been washed away without them (see race day). I basically had them on for the swims and the runs but briefly unhooked the finger bit when I was getting out of the water. Conclusion: Use them, but build up strength first because on race day there’s a lot of swimming. Goggles My normal pool goggles. Put them up when I was running. Gave them a quick rinse when starting the swims. No problems at all. Tether
We first tried some normal white cord, which was easy to see in the lake water, but didn’t have much give. Then we tried some black elastic cord which was impossible to see and if anything, too stretchy. On race day I made a combined version which we ended up abandoning half-way round (see above). Conclusion: Great if you know how to use it. Don’t bother if you don’t.
The goal is to finish and to have a good time, and both of those things are much more likely with a partner.
Partner Jan’s triathlon coach calls him the Diesel Engine. Not the fastest, nor most technically perfect, but he’ll just keep on going. He’s already run marathons, half-ironmans, long distance bike rides, etc. He’s very, very fit. I was worried about keeping up, but despite his astonishing ability to maintain exactly the same running speed irrespective of the gradient, I just about managed to stay with him. In the end, I was probably just about a faster swimmer so it balanced out well. The most important thing was his unfailing ‘no problem’ disposition. This was, after all, a team sport. If you’re doing it in a team (which I recommend) finding someone with a similar ability is useful, but finding someone you get on with makes it a truly great day out. Conclusion: Let’s face it, you’re not here to win the race. The goal is to finish and have a good time and both of those things are much more likely with a partner.
Race day Race day started early. Not as early as we had planned, since Jan’s alarm clock had other ideas, but we got there with plenty of time to sign in and pick up the swim hat. Then there was a briefing where they talked through the two courses being run that day (the full course and the sprint). There were probably all sorts of excellent tips and warnings to help the racers. I say probably, because it was all in Finnish and we probably only caught half of it. I say probably because it was probably less than half. I certainly didn’t pay enough heed to the warnings discussing the current in the rivers. More on this later. Then we went and got ready, the first group left, then our group gathered, the countdown began, and we were off.
We could have run past a bear or an elk, or a bear on an elk, and I wouldn’t have noticed.
The first run was about 1km, through a forest and barely along a path. Running behind people took a lot of concentration as you could only see a metre or so ahead and you had to be careful how your feet landed on the uneven terrain. I was concentrating so much I barely saw anything of the forest. We could have run past a bear or an elk, or a bear on an elk, and I wouldn’t have noticed. At times we slowed to a walk and then suddenly we were at the river. There was quite a drop from the bank, but the other racers had warned us. Then we swam across to within touching distance of the other side before we were suddenly whisked downstream by the current. It was an amazing sensation. Swimming as hard as I could but barely making progress. We managed to grab some roots and bank and hauled ourselves out. It was a lesson in the vagaries of river currents. A short run and short swim later and I was learning the same lesson for a second time. Fortunately the photographer on the bank had already got his shots and left, saving my blushes before I was dragged away by the laughing currents.
It reminded me of those photos of swans stretching their wings in the morning mist. Quite beautiful.
Then there was a long run up a slabby hill with great views, and a sharp downhill to a lake. The water was full of sunken logs and branches. “Be careful of your equipment” the friendly team in front said grinning, fully aware of the double entendre. There were also some tricky exits from the lakes: steep overgrown banks and hidden detritus. It was a bit more complicated than the gentle lake beaches that I’d chosen in the training swims. This was a 300m swim followed by a 50m jog then another 300m swim. Halfway through the second swim it began to rain. Looking back, I could see other swimmers almost hidden by the splash of the raindrops. It reminded me of those photos of swans stretching their wings in the morning mist. Quite beautiful. After these swims there was an aid station where I had a cup of something blue and Jan ate nachos. I was surprised by the aid stations. I imagined grabbing a cup of water and throwing in over my head, like in the marathon, but this was more like a sweet shop. I grabbed a couple of jelly beans and we set off again.
There was still a 2km run, two long swims across a lake, a 4km run and then one more river crossing. The swims felt long, the water a bit cold and the runs fast, but eventually we were back at the start/finish. Home and happy.
Conclusion
Swimrun was everything I was looking for. A competition but no one taking themselves too seriously. Swimming in lakes, rivers and the sea, running off-road. It's nature's obstacle course which opens up the world to adventure. Once you do it, each map becomes a menu of possibilities. Routes start to appear everywhere. What was formerly a barrier now becomes part of the fun. And it really is fun. Fun like you have when you're a child, climbing over things, running through branches and jumping into rivers. Swimrun is the grinning sport.
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