Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Wetsuits Rock! [and further thoughts on crazy indoor bike rides]

Tonight, the fam and I went to lake so I could take the wetsuit for a test drive. It is awesome. As I get closer to the triathlon (less than 3 days!) I realize more and more how bad a swimmer I really am. I am not going to be setting any records in the swim. I will be finishing, hurray! I'm not really worried about that. What I was worried about was not being able to handle the swim portion. In a pool I can stop and rest, there are no waves, it's warm, I can stand up, etc. When the water is 30 feet deep, there is no standing. So I've been trying to practice all manner of rest strokes so that I can make it to the end of the 400m swim.

We got to the lake and my 3 year old gladly announced (quite loudly, too), "Daddy's getting naked!" The few people that were there looked nervously at one another and didn't turn around, in case there was some crazy hippie family getting their birthday suits on. Got the wetsuit on and headed to the water. Online says the water is 65 degrees (much cooler than the 85 degree pool at LA Fitness) but it was surprisingly refreshing. I don't know how much of that was the wet suit, but it felt good.

First observation on the wetsuit, it is really bouyant. This is just awesome. And the way they fit they put my body in a much better position for swimming, than my normal flailing. The suit is probably a touch big (I've heard that if the suit is tight than it is too big!) but works well. I also noted that if I need to catch my breath that I can still do freestyle with my head out of the water without my legs sinking. That is much better than side stroke or back stroke while I catch my breath.

Overall I'm looking forward to the swim, which is a much better outlook than just last week. Dan also had a sleeveless suit that I may try out tomorrow if I have time to get to the lake tomorrow.

Now on to my continuing thoughts about riding a bicycle indoors for 100 miles. Pros and Cons as follows:
  1. PRO: It can be easier than riding on the road because you can reduce the resistance level. I have a wind trainer that doesn't allow for much control over resistance. I can add a second drum, which makes it quite a bit more difficult to pedal. However, this second drum got bent by a previous owner and produces the nastiest road vibrations. Lets just say that I would have shaken myself into little pieces had I added the additional resistance.
  2. PRO: There are no hills. Yes! Most of the hills around my house are steep. They are hard, and make for very slow riding for a mile or two after ascending while my legs try to regain consciousness.
  3. CON: There are no hills. The best part of going up hills is going down them.  Which brings me to...
  4. CON: No coasting! The hardest part to accept about riding on a trainer is that when you stop pedaling, you stop moving. No more miles, yards, feet, inches. Nothing. If I was going to complete 100 miles, I had to pedal myself there. Harsh! I imagine that it was a lot like riding a fixie with coaster brakes.
That's all for now. Thanks for visiting.

3 comments:

  1. Aaah...the joys of toddlers! ;-)

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  2. Yeah, Ernie was more than a little awkward :)

    You forgot to mention that you were wearing tri shorts under your track pants and sweatshirt :)

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  3. Yes, everyone. I forgot mention that I was indeed covered. No speedo, even. Good old fashioned tri shorts.

    I can't even believe someone might think that I stripped down to nothing in a park! :)

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