Wetsuits: Long sleeve or sleeveless?

[Veronica]

Oh Wahine...

I went and looked at Alcatraz because I am enjoying the training and I thought, "Hey, why not..."

It's such a big event, you have to qualify to go and that just seems like too much work and way too serious.

V.

[NJBikeGal]

I don't know about the experiences of others, but I would recommend sleeveless. I found that wetsuits with sleeves were difficult for me to swim in. It was a lot more difficult to rotate my shoulder with all that extra material around it and after a very short swim in a full suit, my shoulders were KILLING me! Now, this could have just been poor fit, or my own personal issue...but that's my .02!

[jesvetmed]

V: My friend did Alcatraz.... BRRR BRRR BRRR.... that's what he remembers! VERY cold waters!

[tabbs]

I am going with full. The more boyancy the better!

[Veronica]

I did my first swim in my wetsuit the other day. 1000 yards in 17:20, about 1:43/100.

Compare to a mile that I did two weeks ago in 31:30, about 1:50/100. I did both swims with about the same average HR, 149 for the mile, 145 for the 1000. (My husband would say, "You're not working hard enough , pal.") I don't plan on doing my swim much harder than that. It is my strongest leg and I need to save as much for the run as I can.

The wetsuit will save me 2 minutes on the swim, but how long will it take me to get the darn thing off?

V.

[HillSlugger]

I did my first swim in my wetsuit the other day. 1000 yards in 17:20, about 1:43/100.

Compare to a mile that I did two weeks ago in 31:30, about 1:50/100. I did both swims with about the same average HR, 149 for the mile, 145 for the 1000. (My husband would say, "You're not working hard enough , pal.") I don't plan on doing my swim much harder than that. It is my strongest leg and I need to save as much for the run as I can.

The wetsuit will save me 2 minutes on the swim, but how long will it take me to get the darn thing off?

V.

Far less than 2 minutes! Start getting your arms out while you run to transition.