And Now for Something Completely... Sassy!

Swimming is one of those "threshold" activities: you hurt so bad for the first several laps. But once you swim past the point at which you want to die, you can just swim forever. Well, at least I can.

Now that's just sassy: the Speedo XDSkin corset-back suit. Want it too?

Today my threshold was 200 yards before I was home free to swim 2,100 yards:

500 yards free
100 yards fly kick
500 yards free
100 yards fly kick
500 yards free
400 IM

What I would like to know is whether that threshold (i.e., number of laps it takes to loosen or warm up) should get larger or smaller. But I guess I experience a similar warm-up in running. The first mile kills; but if you make it through that pain, you can run to exhaustion.

And onto style: right now I'm sporting a Solid Super Pro Speedo Endurance suit in black. It's a quality suit that has held up considerably well over several months of swimming. Growing up, I always had to have a colorful suit, which would unfailingly fade to a pastel mess. (Hint: soak your suit in vinegar.) There are some pretty hip designs out now (like Speedo's Flipturns varieties), but I think I like something that's a little more sassy: Speedo's XDSkin corset-back suit. Unfortunately, I'm tragically cheap right now, so I'll be keeping my eye on that one to be on sale. Sigh.

While I do know what to wear in the pool, I'm not familiar with triathlon gear. I don't know if I could pull off the unitard look, but I'm really interested in learning what other people find most comfortable to wear. In my younger triathloning days — when I was too young to feel weird about running around in a bathing suit — I didn't worry about transitionable clothing. But I'd like to think I could pull off this trio from Speedo: female tank, midster race short and hooded shrug. I don't know if the hood is necessary but it looks pretty awesome.

Fashion, however, is not my main concern. Not even top 10. But it's a nice thing to keep my mind off my aches and pains... and the 28 miles I have left to run before I can have the biscotti waiting for me in the kitchen. Still waiting on the iPod chip!