Brilliant stuff, well done mate. 
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@Doonhamer in swim run action too
Looks awesome with ?? lots of different swim runs ???
Do you carry your shoes? 
Would love to hear more about this one
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I’m sure they just swim the shoes on, some people used to drill them to let the water drain!
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Superb work. Well done to you Bad Dad of the Year.
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And there was one guy infront of you, what were you playing at? 
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This report could go anywhere, I really don’t drink anymore & I’m 3 pints of supermarket Breton cider down 
.
Aye, you swim in trainers, have huge paddles & a bigger the better pull-buoy tethered with a bungee around your thigh, or as I prefer around my waist & slip it into position when swimming. Normally you have a specific SwimRun wetsuit that is like a swimskin with a zip at the front - to aid cooling on run - & a few pockets to store compulsory stuff like whistles, compass, foil blanket or collapsible cup.
Today was too hot for neoprene & as I’m a peely-wally Scot I wore my trisuit. To store compulsory kit - which today was gel flask, whistle & foil blanket 
- & gels I had to crack out my home-made “Kanga-Top” to store stuff under my trisuit 
.
Yes, it’s the back of an old club vest sewn on to an older Nike base layer.
My race today was 10 runs (18.9km/500m) varying from 100m to 4.4km to & 9 swims (4.3km) varying from 100m to 800m & was what is classed as a Classic as opposed to a Sprint or a Half that were also on offer today. You can choose to compete with a partner - who often tether up for both disciplines - in all of these distances which seems peculiarly popular & if you want to do the Half or longer it’s compulsory.
Anyway, I’m in an utterly gorgeous location in the middle of France & the race was the Lac de Vassiviere Classic.
(Taken by an unimpressed Frenchman)
I took it super steady to start as I’ve only done a couple of Eliminator SwimRuns & I’m expecting temps to run up to 30°C. Today was mercifully cooler to start in fact the clouds had rolled in - I’m at 600m - & for the first couple of swims I’m praying that the people in front know where they’re going because visibility is down to 50m if your 2cm above the water…all went well for me.
In my wave start there were about 80 singles & 80 duos & as the race progressed I’d pull away from people on the run, they’d catch me on the swim but eventually the elastic would snap & one of us would pull away.
It did give me the opportunity to draft on occasion & I managed to do this on the longer swim sections of 700m & 800m…it would have been a school buoy error not to.
Nutrition is complicated doing these compared to triathlon, you can’t sit back on your bike & have a picnic & I wasn’t sure what would be on offer. Originally there were 2 aid stations but with the canicule they had put on an extra couple of water stations. I had decided to carry 120g of carbs in gel & take water on the course. The gels went down fine, but the aid stations water was - as I should have anticipated - carbonated 
, so I did without.
I managed fine, in fact I was that well hydrated that I unlocked a new skill & pissed myself 3 times while running 
in the knowledge that I could wash it away in the next swim 
.
Anyway I did ok not Bongo-Fantastico however 
, & finished 8th/70ish in 3:03 & I’m pretty sure there were a shit load of DNF & DNS.
I haven’t coughed up for the optional photo package so this is all I’ve got…
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Good work mate. I remember watching the GTN clip ( IIRC it was ÖTILLÖ ) and thinking ‘that looks bloody hard’!
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Great racing, Doon 
Carbonated water is the devil’s p1ss though 
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Yeah, I love 
but it was the same at many of the races I’ve done here 
.
I should let your mucka Greta know .
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Top splash and dashing
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Textbook Bongo. Cracking stuff mate, awesome!
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Those are both awesome
trying to get my head round swimming in trainers… no can’t do it 
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That sounds awesome! I’ve always wanted to do one of these swimrun events but the lack of an enthusiastic partner to race with has been a blocker. Great you could race solo. I’m going to pencil this race into my races to ponder list.
That is an enormous pull buoy 
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I struggle with the idea of running in wet trainers - blisters much?
Running in a wetsuit in colder climes
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I recall in the GTN film that Heather turned up with a regular pull buoy and her racing partner (who she’d just met) looked at her had this face that said ‘where is the rest of it’? 
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piss off
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Yeah fair one - i’ll shut up now! 
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I was only joking. I think it was an amazing effort..
Summary
even for a serial sandbagger!
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