Inspiration, perspiration and neoprene

This weekend was chock-full of all of the above.  Okay, maybe not the neoprene, but there was more than enough of that for me...

Inspiration
On Friday I came home to this in the mail:

Every year my husband enters the lottery to try to win a spot in the Ironman Championship in Hawaii.  So far, he is 0-5, thank goodness unfortunately. As a consolation for not getting the opportunity to intensely suffer challenge yourself, they send you the broadcast from the previous year.  I love watching this thing.  Of course the pros are beyond AMAZING specimens of humanity, but I really like the segments on the "regular" folk who have overcome adversity.  These are people who have cancer, are in their 80's and have done 20+ Konas, are racing with their child, have lost 200 lbs... You get the picture.  One of the guys this past year was a double amputee vet - makes you say to yourself, "What's my excuse now?"  Anyhow, this is a much watch even if you're not into triathlons for the pure inspiration.  So I watched this while I was on the bike trainer Saturday morning to get psyched for my 3 hour indoor ride (The Russian and The Noggin were sleeping and I am a chicken when it comes riding by myself). Which leads to...

Perspiration
As it was everywhere else on the East Coast, it was super hot in New Jersey this past weekend.  Inspired as I was by the folks in Kona I was still hating the weather, especially when I got off the bike to do a run outside with my (all women) running group, the Elysianettes.  If you're ever in Hoboken, NJ you should definitely come run with us.  The group is friendly, all-inclusive and just plain fun.  Anyhow, it was hot, I was dying on the run and I was more than happy to turn around early when one of the ladies suggested it.  I felt like I was pretty dehydrated, supported by the fact that when I got home and weighed myself I had lost 4.5 lbs.  I didn't recover on the hydration until probably today (Monday). This was compounded by the fact that we decided we should go to Brighton Beach to check out what was going on with my...

Neoprene
On Sunday, The Russian, The Noggin and I went to Brighton Beach to do a little open water swimming, but mostly to test out my and The Russian's wetsuits.  Mind you, it's been 4 years and a baby since I put that thing on and it was tight when I was at my thinnest.  Needless to say, 90+ degrees, sand, extra weight and not having done this for 4 years was not a recipe for success.  I got it on (sort of and with lots of sweating and WTFs) and swam for about 5 minutes.  That's how long I lasted before heading back to shore. I didn't get it on high enough on the legs, so it was pulling on my shoulders and making them extra tired while I was swimming.  Well, at least I learned what not to do before my first tri this season.  I'm planning for another practice this coming weekend.  Hopefully, it won't be ridiculously tortuous as bad next time.  I definitely need to practice before the olympic tri in two weeks, which is in itself a dress rehearsal for Pumpkinman.  At this point, all things are done for Pumpkinman, including walking amongst lots of Russians on the beach, sweating like crazy while they (and you) wonder if you are in fact crazy.

The Russian had no such problems with his wetsuit, but there are two things to consider here: 1 - his is two pieces, 2 - he never had a freaking baby.