The Work-out of my LIFE!

Today, I think I had the work out of my life. I can't remember when I sweat so much in such a short period of time. No, I didn't try some weird running loop with hills... nor did Hector come up with some devilish thing to torment me at the gym...

I tried on wetsuits today.

Now, one would think that this would be like trying on some ordinary article of clothing. Not so much. I was mentally prepared for having to wear a skintight article of clothing in public, but I was not prepared for what it took to get in one.

It was like trying to wrestle a man eating python and loosing. Yes, these things are tight, but they're not terribly pliable. I was waddling around the dressing room penguin style trying to pull the damn thing up. Sweating profusely, I slipped and crashed in to the wall (nothing was broken but my pride at this point).

After the crash, the guy at Fleet Feet that was helping me offered me some Suit Juice--EW! That sounds nasty! I couldn't decide if it was for me to drink or something that I had to mix with my copious amounts of sweat to put on the wetsuit. It's actually in a spray bottle and you spray it on yourself. It supposedly helps you get in and out of the wetsuit easier (riiiight!).

Did you know that you could get neoprene burn on your knuckles? Me neither. But they're nice and raw at this point (and suit juice stings!). I tried on men's suits and women's suits.... Unfortunately, they don't make a women's tall.

Here's another tip...while a ponytail is a good idea to keep your hair out of the way during this process, don't zip your hair in to the back of the wet suit. It will get caught in the zipper. Let me tell you, that was super fun! There's nothing like walking out of the dressing room with your head healed high (only because if I dropped it down, I'd rip my hair out) and asking for someone to unzip me because my hair was caught. It was awesome! (and by awesome I mean mortifying!)

Something else I didn't know...to ensure a proper fit, you have to lay down and pretend you're swimming. Yep... That was me, lying on the floor in the Fleet Feet (at Piper's Alley), pretending to swim, in a wetsuit, with out water. Can you say "Beached Whale"? (Ok, maybe I'm being to hard on myself... Let's go with beached seal.) Thank God I wasn't wearing my swim cap and goggles, then I definitely would have looked extra special.

Well, after squeezing myself into 5 different suits, the Fleet Feet guy stated that the first suit was the best fit, and that he wanted me to try it on again. Again?!?! ARRRGH!

Can someone remind me why I wanted to do a triathlon again?