I think I can I think I can I think I can

Well the big day for my first sprint triathlon is coming up on Saturday. I cannot tell at this point if I am nervous, terrified or just in shock. The good news is, I have done two swims that were longer than the swim leg of the upcoming race. My swim last night was done without stopping. Of course I had the usual malfunctions, water in my goggles, swallowing the entire pool, unable to get the fins off. My coach, Karen, had put out several toys or tools for me to grab and use to be able to keep swimming. I had prior to last night been taking 30 sec breaks every two laps or 100 yards. Last night if I had a 5 second break after 4 or 5 laps that would have been a long break. So I finished the distance. I know I can make it the complete distance on Saturday. Now I just have to be able to get out of the water, take off my wet suit and get on the bike before everyone else has finished the race. :-)

Which leads me to wet suits. What in the world was God thinking when wet suits were invented. He must have gotten a good belly laugh. Apparently there are several kinds of wet suits but for a tri, one needs a slick wet suit to decrease resistance in the water. My Coach Missey let me have one of hers which I picked up on Saturday. When she gave it to me she said, make sure you lube up before you put it on. I was like "lube up"? She said yes, spray some pam on your body or use some oil but get lubed. Well in my mind the thought of rubbing myself with cooking oil like a giant turkey did not seem very appealing. Therefore, I made the executive decision to just put the wet suit on without any lubrication.

Surprisingly the wet suit went on with relative ease. I was thinking to myself what is all the talk about turning my body into a greased pig? This was easy or so I thought. I walked around the house for a few minutes just to get the feel of the wet suit and then decided I needed to take the suit off and cook dinner for the girls. I really wasn't too worried about this part as I had such an easy time getting it on, I figured what the heck it should slide right off. Well that did NOT happen. After ten minutes of struggling, I was finally able to get my arms out, another ten minutes and I had the suit down to my waist, ten to fifteen minutes more and I had slid it over my thighs and onto my calves. Twenty minutes later, I had my left leg out BUT my right leg was stuck. There was no amount of pulling, tugging or pushing I could do to get this thing off my leg. It was as if the suit was magnetic or had suctioned itself to my leg.

Well the girls were frustrated because it was after 8pm at this point and they had not had dinner. I decided the only thing I could do would be to walk into the kitchen with the wet suit still on my leg, dragging the rest behind me. For the next thirty minutes, I cooked dinner, walked around the house doing some cleanup feeling like I was dragging a dead body around with me. The kids were laughing hysterically, the dog and cat were both chasing me and attacking the wet suit. I definitely should have created some sort of video and sent in to America's Funniest Home Videos. I think I would have won. Finally I had all I could take and I was determined to get this wet suit off. I sat down on the floor. I had both kids grab the ends of the suit and start pulling. From the top of my calf I was pushing with all of my strength, the wet suit finally popped off my leg. WHEW! I was glad. But then I realized......I don't have an hour to transition from the swim leg to the bike leg of the race. If it takes me that long, I am afraid the race will be finished before I ever get on the bike.

So at this point the question is: Too wear a wet suit and be warm or to skip the wet suit and deal with the cold water? This will not be an issue at the IMFL as there are actually wet suit removers, volunteers who stand after the swim exit specifically to get you out of your wet suit before you get to bike transition. They don't have these volunteers at any other distance.

Hmmm! Something else to think about before the weekend!

Have a great day!
XOXOX
Elizabeth