Fitness Apparel

One of the things I can always giggle about is how far we've come with our athletic attire since we started our whole mess with triathlons and endurance events. By "we" I mostly am referring to Amy, Jen and I. There are others involved in our group that we train with on a regular basis, but when we started, the 3 of us were a trio and planned our training around each other.

The idea of swimming, really swimming, face in the water, freestyle stuff was sort of daunting, to say the least. We didn't know how into it we'd be and how sincere our level of commitment was, so we decided for one of us to join down at Saybrook Point Inn and Spa and we'd all use the same card for the membership, just as a tester. Now, the indoor pool at SPI is about the size of a puddle, and we apparently needed to work our way into the time slot at 5am down there, because there was a group of women (well, 2 women) who "swam" there on a regular basis. Since the pool was in fact the size of a puddle, there wasn't much room for anyone else. Especially lap swimming, which, of course, is what we planned on doing. Lap swimming. In this pool- the size of a puddle. (Looking back, I know those women got more than a chuckle out of us every day when we left.... after our 15 minute "swim.")

So we showed up the first day, Jen and I in preppy little tankini's, completely wrapped in towels because it was the end of winter... Amy in her bikini! We announced we'd be training for a triathlon -in this puddle- and would they mind if we joined them? The two women looked at each of us with the up and down, then to each other..... then in the pool, sizing it up in their minds and the 5 of us fitting in there... reluctantly they agreed, and in we hopped.

First of all, I could not swim. I could swim, like get from here to there with some sort or motion I used with my hands and feet flapping type of thing, but it looked so pitiful. At one point, one of the women (not the one I bumped into) asked me if I was trying to swim for speed or to keep myself afloat. Instead of offering to help me, she held on to the side of the pool and watched. It was entertaining, as I now know.

Amy was on a mission in her bikini, 3 strokes from one end to the other, and back... breaking for 5 minutes to tell us what hard work it was to swim.

Jen was contemplating a different suit because she was still nursing and the top was a little uncomfortable, plus, the pool was so small, and she thought we should try and -get this- lock our feet to some bars along the sides of the pool and just do the arm motion for the whole swim/workout time. We actually tried it. I almost drowned.

So then we graduated to the YMCA and bought swim caps and goggles. The first day with swim caps and goggles, the 3 of us stood in the locker room, squeezing our thighs together while laughing for a good 10 minutes. We all have really long hair, so we had to put it up in buns, and there was this protrusion of matter jetting out from the backs of our heads, underneath a very fitted rubber cap. We looked prehistoric and ridiculous! The googles added a new dimension of coolness - what those things do to your eyes is wrong on so many levels. I can't believe there hasn't been a better invention for swimmers. Just plain wrong. So of course, we tried the whole goggles-suctioned-so-tight-our-eyeballs-bulged.....We tried the swim cap on over our eyes and goggles on top......We had Amy do the ear-out-of-the-cap look because, well, her ears have a mind of their own in the swim cap.

It took us some time to get over that look. To be honest, I don't know we're really over it now. Today, when I stop at one end of the pool with one of them to chat about something, I still have a hard time looking at them through my goggles and not snickering.

We eventually moved to open water swimming, and actually bought "wetsuits" from the dollar store.... 3 matching "wetsuits," matching goggles and swim caps. Wow.

This was us in Niantic doing a swim in the waters the race was going to be in, in our dollar store "wet suits" and matching caps.

The same story applies to our biking gear.... we started out on our mountain bikes with baby seats attached. We'd meet in the wee hours of the morning, throw a helmet on, and pedal our hearts out around and around town. No hills to speak of, but man was it a workout. We were pedaling so hard on those things, the screws came loose on the baby seats and as we rode, they seats shifted from side to side. We were super cool on those bikes-we thought we were really bikers. No joke.

Here's Amy at the Niantic Tri on her brother in laws paint splattered 80's tri-bike. A HUGE improvement from the baby seat mountain roadster!

So as we improved our level of fitness and got closer to the main event last season, we adjusted our apparel and buckled down and even bought bike shorts. It's amazing what a difference a Speedo suit, good cap and goggles, bike shorts and decent bikes makes for a good day of training.

This whole post came to mind after receiving an email from our JDRF Chapter Leader. Included in the welcome email was a .pdf file with some apparel we can purchase for our ride and as part of the Chapter Team. The one thing that sent me doubled over in stitches was the "Coach Bib Short set" that our Coach could wear, if he so desired. I mean, seriously, who wears that stuff?? I can not wait to get out on the road with my camera and document upcoming swims, rides and runs. Can't wait! Half the fun of all this is the group of people and the memories made along the way. And the apparel. I wonder who will be the first in the one-piece bib set this year.....

Loaf it!