Woo hoo scored a triathlon wet suit

A friend of mine was cleaning out his closet, and gave me his triathlon wet suit.  He said he didn't think he would ever use it again.

Now I have to struggle through the rest of the day with this wetsuit sitting here at my desk telling me that I need to go swimming instead of working.

Cool beans!

I'm still trying to find a bike to use and my next tri is in less than 2 weeks!

Now get to training with your new to you suit!

Linn

Great score on the wetsuit. I use my wetsuit nearly everytime I go out for a Open Water Swim. The water is probably warm enough to not need the wetsuit, but it gives me a sense of security and confidence while swimming in the lake alone.

I found the first couple swims in the wetsuit to be quite different.

Good deal man.  Hope you get into some water soon!

The compression of my wetsuit hinders my breathing a good bit but I think the bouyancy benefit that you get outweighs any negative effects.   I don't have a tri specific suit but I will be upgrading before next season because I have Escape from Alcatraz (among other cold water swims) on my schedule for next year not including the Ironman races in October and November.

Have you tried it on yet and then tried to get out of it? Heh heh.  :)  If you plan on doing any tris in colder water you may want to practice your T1 wetsuit transition.  Some of the larger races have strippers (wetsuit strippers, not the lady strippers) that will yank them off of you before you go into T1. 

Chad

I was ready to sign up for a Tri when you said Strippers!!! I'll just stick to running!!

let me know when you are confirmed for the Escape from Alcatraz.  I'd love to come down and cheer for you!

He just dropped off the suit today, I haven't tried it on yet.  I'm going to the gym after work, so I'll put it on and jump into the pool tonight.

Scott

I have the best luck getting my wetsuit off while its still wet. I am stripping mine off as I'm wading up to shore. For some reason, it just comes off as easy as a stripper thong... ha ha...

Well I used it last night.  Getting into it was hard.  Getting out was pretty easy.
I felt like I was stuffing 200 pounds of me into a 100 pound bag, but it went on.

It almost seemed loose in the chest area, It seemed to let some water in around the shoulder area.  The shoulders/chest are cut back, no sleves on this thing. 

It certainly did add bouyancy to my swim, I could feel it the minute i jumped into the pool.

Scott

Ok you are all talking tri.  I want to do a sprint.  I am not too much of a swimmer.  I can run and I can cycle.     But swimming is a whole new thing.  I can swim but I poop out so fast.  I want to do the Las Vegas sprint next year.
Any input would be great.
Liz

Liz,

I'm not a good swimmer either.  The best advice would be to either take a swimming class or get some lessons.  Then... get into the water.  Routinely.  Swim 2-3 times a week and just work up your distances slowly.  Once you get more comfortable in the water, it should get easier.  At least that's how it's worked for me.  I went from not swimming at all to being able to do 1000 yd within the time limit in just over 2 months.

There are also lots of tri training plans out there.  Some give guidance for distances and others give good drills.  I don't use one, just make sure I swim and bike at least twice a week since I'm usually on some sort of running plan.  I treat my running goals as top priority and work the other 2 in as I can.

You can totally do this!  I did my first with less than 3 months of training.

Linn