Ready...Set...

So I've been packing the ol' bags for the race in DC this weekend.

Not an organized person by nature, I work best off of checklists.

Here's the SWIM check list:

• Swim Cap


• Giggles


• Wetsuit


• Towel


• Body Glide


• Sunscreen


• Baby Shampoo

We've discussed the cap and giggles (with baby shampoo de-fogger) in previous posts and the towel is self explanatory, but the rest may be new to some of you.

Sunscreen is a given, but must be sprayed on AFTER the body marking and NOT rubbed in, but rather, allowed to dry on the skin.

The wetsuit is a relatively new thing for me, and though I have, during this week's taper toward race day, been out swimming 300s in it, I still cannot help but feel as if I am attempting to swim wrapped in a rubber taco.

It is not a comfortable thing, a wetsuit. To look at it, you might think it was made for a much taller version of the littlest Stink - a lass with a waspish 21 ish inch waist and freakish proportions. You would be wrong, of course; I am expected to wriggle and jump and squat and pull and pant and gasp my way into this contraption and then...then, I am supposed to swim smoothly down the river in it.

This is an interesting concept.

When I first lay eyes on the neoprene body girdle, I said to head gal Mary Anne that clearly, there had been a mix up. She, without batting an eye said. "Nope. It's yours. Try PAM or Body Glide sprayed on your ankles, under your arms and around your neck."

PAM?! Like the cooking spray?!

That evening, I sequestered myself into the bathroom with my stick of Body Glide, my can of PAM and my neoprene taco. I imagined the MAN standing outside the door hearing alternating grunts and aerosol spray shwishes and the happy domestic waft of oil from beneath the door.

I made him go downstairs.

Fortunately, I did not need the PAM, but it is quite a feat of athletic contortion to get that sucker on...and off. I propose it should be given its own race leg. (would that make this a quadrathlon)

In all honesty, if you can get past that pesky panic that sets in when your lungs are compressed, and the inevitable, accompanying claustrophobia, the suit does make one remarkably buoyant. It also really helps to limit leg fatigue. And as Trainer Bob (seen here in his own Taco) quips, it is oh, so slimming.

I imagine myself as Scarlet O'Hara with Mammy at the helm...
Hold on and SUCK IN!

SWIM gear...

Check.

This picture of the BIKE list is not a fair representation of the stuff required for this leg of the race. Much of this STUFF is hidden in the little under seat pouch. So, in addition to

• BIKE


• HELMET


• Gloves


• Bottles


• Glasses


• Ruby Slippers

and

• happy bottomed Socks (you can never be too colorful)

You also have hidden under tush

• Tool kit


• Tire thingies (to pry off a flat)


• Lube


• CO2 cartridges


• extra tubes in case of a flat

and

• weird valve adapter

Comparatively, the RUN seems blessedly simple.

Shoes

Hat/Visor

Belt (for number)

Gu or some other food-like source just in case.

Body Glide is good here too.

And I can't forget this - (well, technically, I could forget it... but I don't think they'd let me race. I'm willing to bet my Body Glide that there is a USAT rule against it.)

My TNT tri suit.

So that's it. That's all there is to it.

except...

I don't seem to be going anywhere fast.

Go figure.