Brick Workouts
June 10, 2013My first duathlon
August 4, 2013Oh boy, has there been a lot going on recently! OK, that’s a gross understatement, but more details will take me on a tangent that will beyond bore you. 😀 Regardless, I’ve been working crazy hours, traveling for work, trying to fit in a brief vacation, and oh yeah, eat & sleep. I can’t believe that it’s almost August. So to belatedly fulfill a promise for some product reviews, I have finally written this post.
Summer has been so wickedly hot that I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to figure out the clothing situation. With a lot of trial and error, I think I finally have the right combinations so I don’t melt everytime the temps get higher than 80 degrees. I’ve also solved the “what to wear while I’m swimming” dilemma.
I finally got my swim skirt from Hydrochic and it was definitely worth the wait. The extra long swim skirt with no pants (style SPNL302-NP-0-CHRCL-BTM) is a charcoal color and although I would have preferred black to go with my De Soto Women’s Carrera tri capris, I already have on so many colors that it really doesn’t matter. Part of the challenge with so many layers is trapped heat. My ah-ha moment (or ahhhh moment) was when I found the Pearl Izumi Women’s Elite In-R-Cool® Tri S/L Jersey. I got mine from Zappos. It’s made for triathlons so I don’t have to worry about it staying wet for the entire race. To quote the website: “In-R-Cool® technology activates with your perspiration for up to a five percent decrease in body surface temperature. coldblack® technology reflects UV rays resulting in a reduced fabric surface temperature and cooler personal climate.” It really delivers – I love it. I wore it on a bike ride with a heat index of 100 degrees. I could really tell the difference versus a prior ride in similar conditions wearing a standard bike jersey. Since the material worked so well, I got a cycling shirt in the same material. The hot pink shirt in the picture is a swim shirt from Kosher Casual under my tri shirt. I cut out the lining and also cut about 4 inches off the bottom so I don’t have so much extra material. Add goggles and a swim cap and viola I have my swim outfit ready to race.
My other great find for summer are my De Soto Cool Wings made with Skin Cooler™ fabric. The cool wings turn a short sleeve shirt into long sleeves and also offer sun protection. When they’re wet the quickly cool your body. Love this product so much I bought four of them. I wore them on my bike/sightseeing trip to Canada. It made a regular short sleeve shirt functionally modest without adding the extra bulk of wearing a second shirt under the short sleeved on. I found out about them from Joanie at TriSports when I was in Tucson earlier this month. It was 103 degrees (108 heat index) while I was there. I wore my cool wings and wow–the heat was more than bearable.
I hope that this helps other women who want to be active, but didn’t know that modest choices of workout clothes are available to them. If you have any helpful suggests to share, please include it in the comments.
If at first you don’t succeed, tri again!
