Who Was That Woman in the Leopard Print Full Body Swim Suit at the Emmett Sprint Triathlon 2013

[happysongbird]

Thanks, everyone! I am still reveling in the after glow of getting it done. But not for too much longer, because that won't keep the muscle tone for long and I'm getting itchy for my rest time to be over.

 

[NickW]

Thanks! 750 meter swim, 12 something mile bike, 3.1 mile run.

Those are awesome distances for the bike and run. Short enough to let you really push pretty hard. The swim might be the hardest thing for me though. Sounds like you did pretty well and you may have inspired me to do a duathalon in the future. I actually just aired up the tires in my bike tonight and am getting it set up on the trainer. I just found a little cycle shop down the road from my house so I am going in to see if I can find new pedals. I would really like to have pedals that I don't have to clip into. I know they are supposed to help with efficiency and what not, but cycling shoes hurt bad and I want to enjoy my time on the bike.

 

[happysongbird]

Those are awesome distances for the bike and run. Short enough to let you really push pretty hard. The swim might be the hardest thing for me though. Sounds like you did pretty well and you may have inspired me to do a duathalon in the future. I actually just aired up the tires in my bike tonight and am getting it set up on the trainer. I just found a little cycle shop down the road from my house so I am going in to see if I can find new pedals. I would really like to have pedals that I don't have to clip into. I know they are supposed to help with efficiency and what not, but cycling shoes hurt bad and I want to enjoy my time on the bike.

I will not wear clip-in shoes. I wear my Soft Star RunAMocs, which are also my deep winter running shoes in wet or icy conditions near or below freezing. They have enough of a tread on the sole to keep from slipping off the pedals, but give me toe room so that my toes don't go numb as badly. I like having my feet be able to get on and off the pedals in a micro second. I also think bike shoes are akin to inhibiting joints of the arm while trying to turn a crank. Seems counter productive to me.

A bike-run sounds fun. I would like to emphasize, though, that learning balance and relaxed form in the water makes the swimming a lot easier than people think. And I am not a water skipper swimmer, either. That is, I don't naturally float. I have always been on the dense side for my proportions, actually weighing about 20 pounds more than people think by looking at me. Several of my kids sink like rocks and I had to skip the "floating part" of lessons for them. The gal that I personally took swim lessons from the last couple of years confirms this being a normal variation in the population. So, not trying to be pushy about the swimming, but letting you know that it might be more possible and enjoyable than you think. Plus, I find it really is a good between-run exercise. Somehow, it really loosens up my legs. It does take time to get the upper body to be more flexible in the water, both in regards to getting form ingrained and getting the shoulders to just physically be able to extend better, so that can be discouraging to some people. It is challenging for my husband, but he still swims some and has done a handful of spring triathlons, too.

 

[Barefoot Dama]

Thanks, everyone! I am still reveling in the after glow of getting it done. But not for too much longer, because that won't keep the muscle tone for long and I'm getting itchy for my rest time to be over.

Tha't awesome Laura!!! Great job!!
Is there anything that you would do differently for next year?
Do you also get a deep desire to improve your times when people the same age or older out-performs you?
Because I do, I do, I do.

 

[NickW]

I will not wear clip-in shoes. I wear my Soft Star RunAMocs, which are also my deep winter running shoes in wet or icy conditions near or below freezing. They have enough of a tread on the sole to keep from slipping off the pedals, but give me toe room so that my toes don't go numb as badly. I like having my feet be able to get on and off the pedals in a micro second. I also think bike shoes are akin to inhibiting joints of the arm while trying to turn a crank. Seems counter productive to me.

A bike-run sounds fun. I would like to emphasize, though, that learning balance and relaxed form in the water makes the swimming a lot easier than people think. And I am not a water skipper swimmer, either. That is, I don't naturally float. I have always been on the dense side for my proportions, actually weighing about 20 pounds more than people think by looking at me. Several of my kids sink like rocks and I had to skip the "floating part" of lessons for them. The gal that I personally took swim lessons from the last couple of years confirms this being a normal variation in the population. So, not trying to be pushy about the swimming, but letting you know that it might be more possible and enjoyable than you think. Plus, I find it really is a good between-run exercise. Somehow, it really loosens up my legs. It does take time to get the upper body to be more flexible in the water, both in regards to getting form ingrained and getting the shoulders to just physically be able to extend better, so that can be discouraging to some people. It is challenging for my husband, but he still swims some and has done a handful of spring triathlons, too.

I completely agree with the shoes. I had a wreck at about 21mph on a century I was doing a few years back and I got the one foot out but couldn't get the other one out, which caused me to wreck with more vigor than I would have had I actually been able to get the foot unclipped.

I have always sunk like a rock myself in water. Back when I was a little kid and we did the floating drills in my swim lessons the teachers would get frustrated because I would just sink despite doing everything they told me to (my legs would go first and then everything else would follow). In any case, I am actually a pretty good swimmer and love swimming. I know I could swim that distance pretty well and at a decent time if I trained for it. My problem is all the people and the pulling, pushing, dragging, and hitting that goes on. I nearly drowned in Afghanistan because I got hung up on a rope and then the current of the river drug me under water and nothing I did could get me off that rope and ever since I have a massive fear of drowning (more specifically being held onto or pulled under the water by something).

 

[happysongbird]

I completely agree with the shoes. I had a wreck at about 21mph on a century I was doing a few years back and I got the one foot out but couldn't get the other one out, which caused me to wreck with more vigor than I would have had I actually been able to get the foot unclipped.

I have always sunk like a rock myself in water. Back when I was a little kid and we did the floating drills in my swim lessons the teachers would get frustrated because I would just sink despite doing everything they told me to (my legs would go first and then everything else would follow). In any case, I am actually a pretty good swimmer and love swimming. I know I could swim that distance pretty well and at a decent time if I trained for it. My problem is all the people and the pulling, pushing, dragging, and hitting that goes on. I nearly drowned in Afghanistan because I got hung up on a rope and then the current of the river drug me under water and nothing I did could get me off that rope and ever since I have a massive fear of drowning (more specifically being held onto or pulled under the water by something).

Oh, yes, I remember you talking about that. I have had a severe fear of dogs since being attacked by one on the day of my high school graduation. Puppies could make me turn into jelly. It's been better since I finally got my own dog a few years ago and did some training with her that helped me understand them better. I got her 8 years ago, but it has really only been this year that coming across loose dogs hasn't *always* included me combatting a total meltdown. But I still have to fight extreme panic in many dog encounters. It doesn't matter what facts I know, the surge of panic just comes.

 

[happysongbird]

Tha't awesome Laura!!! Great job!!
Is there anything that you would do differently for next year?
Do you also get a deep desire to improve your times when people the same age or older out-performs you?
Because I do, I do, I do.

I think next year I might be able to push the swim a little more, now that I have a handle on the open water competition some. Of course, it is a fairly small group compared to some, and I appreciate that.

I think I would also try really, really hard to make sure more of my bike-run bricks were compact. I tried to keep the transitions to less than 10 minutes during training, but I think it would be good to get them more back to back. It's hard mentally, though.

Yes, I am absolutely inspired by that gal.

 

[scedastic]

A bike-run sounds fun. I would like to emphasize, though, that learning balance and relaxed form in the water makes the swimming a lot easier than people think. And I am not a water skipper swimmer, either. That is, I don't naturally float. I have always been on the dense side for my proportions, actually weighing about 20 pounds more than people think by looking at me.

that's a good sign, I would think.
My weight has increased with strength training and swimming, but I don't think my size has. To me that says muscle.
Good for you.

Several of my kids sink like rocks and I had to skip the "floating part" of lessons for them. The gal that I personally took swim lessons from the last couple of years confirms this being a normal variation in the population.
.

My poor son had to do primary lessons over and over because he couldn't float without moving for the required 15 seconds (although his skills were weak as well for a while).
By the end though we were trying to train him to take a deep breath and hold it in his chest to give him more flotation.
For him, he is just small and has very little body fat.

So, not trying to be pushy about the swimming, but letting you know that it might be more possible and enjoyable than you think. Plus, I find it really is a good between-run exercise. Somehow, it really loosens up my legs. .

+1.
It's like PT for my legs. I hate spending time rolling and what not for my legs. The loosening comes free with swim, bonus.

 

[migangelo]

i have plenty of body fat and don't float.

 

[happysongbird]

i have plenty of body fat and don't float.

Ha! I expect most people on this forum have a high enough ratio of muscle and bone density to body fat to make any buoyancy from the fat negligible.

 

[migangelo]

even when i was a skinny kid i didn't float. i sink and have to tread to keep my head above water. i can tread really good. float, nope.

 

[dutchie53]

Yup, I have zero bodyfat and sink like a stone. I will be doing a tri next year as it is on my bucket list, I just have to find fine that allows me to use a wetsuit.

 

[Scratch]

I've always been a sinker. I think that's why I loved that one time I got to use a saltwater pool in a hotel, I could finally float on my back!

 

[Barefoot Dama]

Yup, I have zero bodyfat and sink like a stone. I will be doing a tri next year as it is on my bucket list, I just have to find fine that allows me to use a wetsuit.

Liar, NOBODY(healthy person) has zero body fat.