I'm racing the Mach Tenn tri tomorrow. Well, "racing" is kind of exaggerating really. I'll really more be swimming, biking and running at a leisurely pace so I don't pass out. It's the longest tri I've ever attempted: 1,000m swim / 16 mile bike / 4 mile run. Now I know I can do all of the distances separately, but attempting them at all at one swoop in 95 degree heat has me freaking out a smidge. But my anxiety about the race isn't the point of this post. That'll come later in the race recap. No, this post is about a different type of anxiety altogether: my first experience with a wetsuit.
You see, the Mach Tenn is open water (not in a pool) and wetsuit legal, meaning you can wear one if you choose as long as the water doesn't get above 84 degrees. From what I have been told, wetsuits are the way to go in open water as they are very buoyant and really help improve your swim times. Since I've never done an open water swim either while racing or in practice (not recommended), I was thinking a wetsuit would be beneficial and boost my confidence for my swim.
Of course, that meant that I had to go get a wetsuit. Bad news is that these things can run up to $800, but the good news is that you can rent them for $40 from Endurance if you're not ready to buy one. So off I went to see Deanna down at Endurance and rent a wetsuit.
Deanna was, as always, very helpful. She found me the correct size and handed me a bottle of Suit Juice and scooted me off to the dressing room. What is Suit Juice you might ask? I know, sounds icky, right? It's actually an oil that people use to help get wetsuits on. Deanna said to put some around my ankles and wrists and the suit should just pull right up. Yeah, right... Have you ever tried to stuff yourself into a neoprene body suit? Well, I now have, and it wasn't pretty.
I did exactly what Deanna said. I put the Suit Juice on my ankles and wrists. It started off Ok, I guess. I stepped into the suit and then tried to pull it up my legs. Kicker was, you can't pull from the outside because you could damage the suit. You have to pull from the inside. So I'm trying to pull it up, but it kept getting caught. It was tight, but that wasn't really the issue. It was more like trying to put on a pair of tight jeans after just getting out of the shower. They just don't want to go on. That's how this suit was. It fought me the entire way. So now I'm working up a sweat while trying to put this thing on, which only makes it WORSE!
After a few minutes, Deanna yells from outside the dressing room "Are you OK? Do you need help?" And apparently, I did. I was at the point where I had gotten the suit over my legs, hips and front torso, but couldn't get it over my shoulders so I could zip it up in back. Hoping that my husband and Deanna were the only two in the shop (they were), I sheepishly came out of the dressing room looking for assistance. The suit was all the way up in the front, which hunched my shoulders forward. Because I couldn't get my arms all the way in, the suit extended down past my fingers. I kind of waddled out out like a penguin. I knew I had to look ridiculous, but whatever - I needed help! Deanna AND my husband jumped into action to help me get zipped up the rest of the way. Deanna commented that she'd never seen anyone have so much trouble with a wetsuit before, especially since it was the right size. Figures. I'm a freak.
So we finally get the dang thing on and it fit fine. It's a weird feeling having a wetsuit on because you FEEL like you shouldn't be able to move, yet I was completely mobile. I could spin my arms in complete circles just like I was swimming with no problem. Great. Moving on. I headed back to the dressing room to take the thing off, which fortunately only took about 5 seconds. Which is good, because I would NEVER use one racing otherwise.
About 10 minutes later we were out the door with my rented wetsuit and a bottle of Suit Juice. Deanna said that the bottle should last a really long time. After my first experience though, I have a feeling I'll be bathing in it prior to putting on that suit again.
What's ironic about the whole experience is that since renting the suit, Nashville has had a string of 95+ degree days, so the water temperature at the race will probably be too warm to use it. The water was in the 80's earlier this week, which is more than warm enough to ditch the suit. Oh well. Maybe I'll just take it to the Y tonight just to get my rental money out of it. :-)
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