Saturday 18 December 2010

Wetsuit Wonderland

The wetsuit has arrived and the training has begun!

It felt amazing getting in to the gym several times this week, finally using my new trainers, and running faster, lifting more and going longer than I had expected to be able to at this early stage. It seems I may actually get round the course in less than 2 hours at this rate!

This was not the only surprise. As I say, the wetsuit has arrived, and it shocked me to the core. When I got it out of the bag I thought they had sent me a kids' wetsuit by mistake. It looked so tiny I thought I might never get in to it. However, once my boyfriend had hooked me up with a top tip - you put a plastic bag over your foot to make the suit go on easier - I was in to the wetsuit and it didn't look too grotesque. Also, the lace pattern on the front adds a nicely feminine touch I reckon. It looks like a corset or bodice top, and had £100 off in the sale. Female practicality, perfectly balanced with aesthetics.

The issue came though when I had to get the blasted thing off again. The lovely wetsuit has a fantastic back panel and a very secure zip, which ensures that no water will flood down the back of the suit and chill me to the bone whilst I'm swimming in Blenheim Palace lake! So far, so good. Unless that is, you want to get out of your wetsuit in a hurry, which nobody does do they? Except people who do triathlons. They need to get out of wetsuits quickly and without help... Oh bugger!

As the boyfriend laughed at me, and referred to what was affectionately called a 'monkey dance' as I tried to get out of the thing, he also TIMED me. Bless him. At the moment, at least 3 minutes of the triathlon is going to be taken up by me monkey dancing around and trying to get out of the wetsuit.

So, now I have an added difficulty. I have to get fit, get fast, and get used to taking off a wetsuit on my own. Great. And I haven't even begun my Christmas shopping yet.

1 comment:

  1. Catherine,

    Great blog post! I work for a triathlon-specific wetsuit company, XTERRA WETSUITS (www.xterrawetsuits.com). I've come across the question of how to get out of your wetsuit fastest numerous times.

    Did you try taking if off after you swam? The wetsuit will expand about half of size (depending on the brand) once you get into the water, so it will peel off much easier when it's wet. After you unzip your wetsuit, be sure to take it off inside out; it will peel off much faster this way.

    Great blog post! XTERRA WETSUITS wishes you the best of luck! Please feel free to contact us with any wetsuit or triathlon-related questions!
    Liz
    liz@xterrawetsuits.com

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