Wetsuits not just for cold water - football?

Emilio from Desoto Sports posted the following on Slowtwitch earlier this week:

Some of the highest paid pros are wearing T1 Wetsuits and they are paying full price: Tom Brady is one of them.

If you are watching tonights [New England Patriots at Chicago Bears] game, Tom Brady is wearing a T1 First Wave under his jersey. It is cut just above the elbow. How do I know? Because we sold it to him and I keep seeing it under his jersey and the navy blue shirt he has on.

But the story gets better. After he bought one just a little over a week ago before the Bears game, 3 other players from the Patriots ordered them.

....and the story gets better, Matt Cassel from the Chiefs ordered one for his cold weather games.

If you are watching the game, pay close attention to his right arm. Every now and then the you can a he has on something black as his base layer, and you can see the First Wave logo as the navy blue shirt he has on creeps up a bit.

In a later post as why a football player might wear the wetsuit top -

It keeps you warm in cold weather if you are not breaking a sweat. Think about it. He is not running very much, so it keep him warm without getting sweaty and clammy underneath. I told their trainer that it would work well for any player that is not running much....which is why their kicker, punter and long snapper all bought them.

I might start wearing a shorty on those early cold early morning commutes.

Wetsuit in the pool.

I got a swim in on Tuesday at lunch. I did another 1000 yard TT - this time I was 16:26 about 30 seconds slower. I am not sure what was up. Oh well.

With the lakes here still in the 50 degree range I decided that I needed to break the wetsuit out in the pool. I have heard horror stories about panic and what not so I have to ease those wetsuit fears.

I got dress at home and then drove to the pool Wednesday morning. The temperature was in the 30's so I was not overheating. I did get some looks walking into the gym. Chatted with Jen in the pool for a few and then did a quick warm up. The suit is so buoyant that you kind of just float. I did back to back 1000 yard TT's in the suit. My normal swimming TT best is 15:56 (1:35.6 / 100 yards). With the suit I clicked off a 14:23 (1:26.3 / 100 yards) and 14:48 (1:28.8 / 100 yards). I think that is pretty substantial. According to a swim calculator the 1:26 / 100 yards would equal a 28 minute half iron swim while my time without the wetsuit (the 1:36 time) would equal 31 minutes. It will be good to have the extra 3 minutes since I will probably be zig zagging all over the place - swimming any direction but straight. I realize that I am not a swimming speed freak compared to many of you but the improvement I have seen in the last couple of months (since Christmas) has been remarkable. The wetsuit fit perfect and I did not feel any since of claustrophobia. However, I did get very warm in the pool. My skin under the wetsuit was hot to the touch. I had a my one piece tri suit unitard on underneath so I took the wetsuit off in the pool and did some pool down laps. The water was very refreshing.

I am trying hard to embrace this TRAIN SMART NOT HARD mentality.

Long Slow Distance and SORE

I have really enjoyed the holidays (I work at a university so I have been off for about 2 weeks) but I am ready to get back into my routine. With family visiting and travelling myself my training plan has really suffered. I went for two 3 mile runs earlier in the week and then jumped back on my training plan. Yesterday it called for a 2 1/2 hour run. This should not have been much of a problem. Trying to be smart I decided to do the run slow. I kept my heart rate in zone 1 and just trudged along. About 1 1/2 hours into the run it started to rain. Then thunder. Then lightening. I would normally not mind running in the rain - in fact some of my best runs have been in the rain. But at about the 2 hour mark the run got really hard. My right hamstring started to tighten up and my feet and ankles did not feel great. Soaking wet I must have weighed a couple of pounds more than normal. My shoes were heavy with water. Luckily no blisters or hot spots developed. I took some nutrition with me on this run - a power bar type thing and a gel. I consumed the bar at 1 hour and the gel 30 minutes later. I thought this might help and I did not bonk or anything.

I allowed myself to recover the entire rest of the day and I needed it. I took an ice bath (well cold water bath) in the jacuzzi bath tub to try and reduce the recovery time. There was no immediate relief. I was so sore. My legs were aching most of the evening. After a good nights sleep my body feels much better.

I would guess that I was sore because of the time off and jumping right back into a long run. Today calls for a 4 hour bike ride. My legs will be tired after this ride but they are never sore like after running long.

On a positive note - I am down 3.8 pounds and 2 body fat percentage for the new year - 13resolutions

Swimming through the holidays - NOT

I just noticed that the pool will be closed starting this Friday through the first of the year - something like 20 days! That is going to take a toll on the swim plan for the rest of the month. Over the holidays I may brave the open water with the wetsuit and see if this is indeed possible during the winter months. I’m not looking for the OWS to be toasty but it has to be tolerable. That being said I have been getting my swimming in just fine. Having a 'real' schedule plan is forcing me to 'work the plan' and nothing is being missed.

On Monday I swam for a full hour - this was the first time since OWS in August. I can’t say that I am enjoying the swim and looking forward to it but I am not dreading it either. I’m counting that as progress.

This morning I actually pulled myself out of bed to go to the pool. I can generally motivate myself for a bike or run but the pool is a little different. Part of it is that it is just so dark right now in the morning (and afternoons for that matter). To reward myself I opened a new pair of swim goggles that I purchased sometime last year on clearance. Little things do motivate me sometimes.

My training plan called for a slow warm up and then 500 yard time trials. I am not fast by any means but I gave it a good effort.

Warm Up – 300 yards (bilateral breathing)
1:00 minute Rest Interval
Working Set –
500 yards @ 8:48
1:00 minute Rest Interval
500 yards @ 8:49
1:00 minute Rest Interval
Cold Down –
500 yards @ 9:08

The cool down was much easier than the working sets. I felt like I could continue swimming indefinitely. With that time it should give me a slow but doable ironman swim (2.4 miles or 4000 yards) of swim time of sub 1:20. I am continuing to work on the swim and hope to see these times improve over the next few months. With the pool and gym closed for much of the holiday I believe that only the swim will suffer. The running, biking and strength training can all be done in and around the house. After all, the Long Leaf Trace is in my backyard.

Common Triathlon Swim Distances & conversions
25 YARD POOL

1 length = 25 yards (from wall to wall)
2 lengths = 50 yards
4 lengths = 100 yards
¼ mile = 500 yards = 20 lengths
½ mile = 800 yards = 32 lengths
1 mile = 1700 yards = 68 lengths
1.2 miles = 2000 yards = 80 lengths
2.4 miles = 4000 yards = 160 lengths

COLD OWS swimming - maybe...

Jim gave me a call Friday night and said that the local FFN (Hudson's) had wetsuits. I asked if they were triathlon specific and of course they were not. But the price was right. Headed over to FFN Saturday afternoon to have a look around. I walked and walked around the store but could not find anything that resembled wetsuits. They had the all usual 'stuff' - coffee makers, books, cheap clothes and now even fishing poles. I asked several people working there and finally I found the wetsuit rack. They had my size. For $50 this might get me out into the lake a couple of months sooner and allow me to stay out a couple of months longer.

I tried the suit on when I got home and it fit like a glove (body glove, no doubt). I wore it for about 5 minutes and this suit is hot. It really traps the heat in!

So I have been riding the trainer quite a bit in the mornings before work. Every ride is a race or time trial. I am going to have to schedule some base mile rides or recovery rides, but right now I am enjoying setting my benchmarks.

I ran on the treadmill at lunch on Monday and did not fare as well as I would have liked. I tried to maintain my projected fantasy 1/2 marathon pace ( 13.1 miles @ 6:53 pace ). Cardio wise I was feeling pretty good even though my heart rate was starting to creep above 170 beats per minute. The legs were heavy. I would like to run the majority of the 1/2 marathon in the high 160's ( like right at 168 ). I finished the run at 30 minutes for 4.25 miles. Not what I wanted. Having to take a huge break from running has really set me back. The cycling is doing well but I have the Gulf Coast 1/2 marathon the Saturday after next ( November 29 ). This is going to prove to be a challenging race - both physically and mentally. Chad and Vic worked me over with a vengeance with the medicine ball - I think they were trying to break me on the ab bench. I really felt my core today!

Hit the trainer this morning for a 10 mile time trial - dead flat course. I kept my heart rate below 165 and was able to clock a 27:30 for an average of 21.82 MPH. Yes, this is on a trainer and indoors but the exertion and times seem very realistic.

Tuesdays and Thursdays have become lap swim days. At lunch I got a good 1500 yards. Chris is feeling ill and Laura had to prepare for a meeting. I generally prefer a group swim to keep me motivated - it can be really tough for me to put in the time swimming laps. The swim felt good and I was strong throughout. Not a bad day in the pool. I did not miss the 50 or 100 yard intervals.

Ballroom dance class tonight - this will be the first class for Jodie and I. It is class 3 of 5 so we will have some catch-up to do.