I've ahd this question for a long time and now I se it being address for runners at least, in the NYT
www.nytimes.com/.../new-york-city-marathon-a-restroom-plan-can-relieve-some-worry.html
I've been lucky that I've always been able to finish the 2.25 mile "race" I do without it being an issue. One year I was in the porta potty for the official start. Another year, I found a bathroom immediately after coming out of the water. I swam kinda fast that last quarter mile or so, too!
I prep at bit before hand - I usually eat high fiber cereal and fruit for breakfast, but on the race day, low fiber cereal and maybe a banana for fruit.
Still I'm a bit concerned on how to handle the inevitable.
Do you just drop your drawers and not worry that there are people swimming after you in the race? Ewww! Would I explain to my kayaker what I was doing? Some kind of plastic cleanup bag?
Nothing seems like good solution.
I imagine that in a marathon, it's more likely than not I would need to deal with this.
I’ve done a dozen or so 25K or longer swims and I’ve only had “issues” in one race and that was because I tried to compensate for lack of training with an overabundance of calories. Bad decision! Thank goodness for murky water and a headwind.
Maybe I’ve just been lucky, but for all the other races I’ve never had a problem and a lot of these have been 10+ hour swims.
My best advice is if you have concerns about any aspect of a swim, then in your training simulate your racing conditions; do a 3 hour swim, feeding as you would in the race and if you have “issues” then in training find ways to mitigate them so you don’t have problems come race day.
I’ve done a dozen or so 25K or longer swims and I’ve only had “issues” in one race and that was because I tried to compensate for lack of training with an overabundance of calories. Bad decision! Thank goodness for murky water and a headwind.
Maybe I’ve just been lucky, but for all the other races I’ve never had a problem and a lot of these have been 10+ hour swims.
My best advice is if you have concerns about any aspect of a swim, then in your training simulate your racing conditions; do a 3 hour swim, feeding as you would in the race and if you have “issues” then in training find ways to mitigate them so you don’t have problems come race day.
