The Search for a Tri Suit
By now you should know that when I set my sights on something—be it a marathon or an antidote to shin splints—I can get pretty obsessive about it. The upcoming Animo tri was not an exception. With my training in running, biking, and swimming (more emphasis on the swim portion to avoid potentially embarrassing incidents at the pool) in progress, I had to worry about what to wear.
For two weeks, I pondered over this issue, surfed the net, and asked several friends exactly what should be worn to a mini-sprint. Marga advised me to purchase a tri suit and achieve that “Lara Croft” feeling (with the option of pouting my lips just like Angie). Mary Anne told me she was sticking to a bathing suit with leggings and pulling a singlet on top of it for the bike and run. Annie lent me her Speedo long sleeve rashguard with matching teeny-weeny biking shorts (which did end up looking too tiny for my not-so-size-0 body).
Aaah, so many options, so little time! Early this week, I surrendered to the idea that no one really cares what one wears because they are too busy doing their own thing. Wear what is comfortable and easy during transitions. One that doesn’t need to be squeezed into, pulled down, or yanked up all the time. So, I opted to purchase the tri suit: the most convenient option but not necessarily the cheapest one. I never knew tri suits cost so much:
Speedo Bodyskin, Speedo BHS……….P13,000++
Orca tri suit, Bike King BHS……….P5,000
Epic tri suit, ROX BHS……….P2,500
Do you have to ask what I ended up buying? Last Monday, I dropped by ROX (yes, on that stormy evening) to make the big Epic tri suit purchase. I liked the material (available at Bloomingdale’s store in Shang) and it fit well, like second skin. One wouldn’t even know this was locally manufactured. I was slightly concerned about the color (I wanted a black one to make me look 10lbs. lighter) but settled on the only one available, a grey/aqua/white design.
Buying the tri suit was quite an adventure. I love ROX and all (it’s my new favorite store in Manila) but that night was terrible. I was alone in the dressing room when a blackout occurred. When I tried to pay with my card, they couldn’t process it due to the blackout so I had to part with my cash. They did not allow for a 10% discount from my Nike+ Human Race participation; in fact, the cashier had no idea about it. Last but not the least, it took them more than 5 mins to look for my umbrella which I left at the door (they had apparently used it at the 2/F! What?!)
Oh well, I’m not complaining. I’m happy with my tri suit. I took it for a 650m swim test yesterday and it passed with flying colors. My only prayer is that I don’t have to run to the little girl’s room too often on race day—zipping in and out of that thing alone is a wannabe triathlete’s worst nightmare.
