A couple of months ago, after a sobering trip to my doctor, I signed up for a short triathlon to help keep me motivated as I worked to get back into decent shape.
Other than a two-week layoff during a particularly nasty cold, my training has been going reasonbly well. I've been swimming, biking or running about five or six days a week.
I've lost about 7 pounds, which isn't as much as I'd hoped for but better than nothing. I just broke under 200 pounds, which means I could probably have made weight for the masters clydesdales class if I drank a big jug of water before the event. (Actually, do they even weigh you in for that? Or is it just on the honor system?)
But everything almost all came to a crashing halt today when I nearly died -- trying on a wetsuit.
After a couple weeks of digging I finally located the old Wavelength suit I wore back when I was doing these things in the late '80s and early '90s. It was in amazingly good shape. It is also a medium tall. Medium? I didn't think I ever wore medium.
I knew it was going to be a rough one. So I stripped down and got to work. The suit was tight on my legs, but it got really ugly when I got the chest. I got the thing zipped up, but it was so tight I had a flashback to those old football practice fumble drills when I'd end up on the bottom of the pile. I could breath, but barely. I was even a little claustrophobic. I wasn't much under 185 even back then but I guess 15 pounds is enough to make a BIG difference.
Bottom line, there's no way I could swim 25 meters in that thing, let alone 750 meters. So I'm loaning it to a skinny co-worker who's also doing the race.
I've got an full-body surf suit that's larger, but I expect the lake will be too warm. So I guess I'll wear the neoprene shorts and shirt I use for cool-water kayaking. It's not exactly sleek, but it's not like the extra drag is going to be the difference between me finishing on or off the podium. I could wear the best wetsuit in the world and ride the best bike and I'd still finish way back.
But I will finish, which is the goal at this point.
Comments
[April 29, 2007 7:44 AM]
Wylee : →http://wyleesworld.blogspot.com/I thought for sure your near death experience was going to involve having your feet clipped to a bike, but no.... you nearly die trying to breathe in a wetsuit. Fooled me!
[May 1, 2007 4:28 PM]
Mark TaylorSorry to disappoint you with the boring truth, Wylee!
Coincidentally, I got an e-mail from my sister this morning and she just had her first crash on her new bike. Couldn't get out of her clipless pedals at a stoplight. Is there anyone who hasn't done that?