This year was pretty complicated in terms of "what to wear when racing" compared to last year. Last year I wore completely different clothes for each section of the race, sharing the tri shorts between the swim and run but changing completely into new shirt, shorts, hat, etc for the run. I wondered if a good way to chop some of this time off from the transitions would be to find one outfit that could be worn all day. At the Calgary 70.3 I had only changed my shirt between bike and run and my T2 was way faster, hence, the plan this year was originally to wear the attached shown outfit underneath my wet suit, for the bike, and kept on for the run.
The outfit consisted of:
- Sugoi hat (run only)
- Oakley sunglasses
- Sugoi Piston shorts
- Sugoi tri top (Trident, I think?)
I bought the tri top from Sugoi online from their clearance section for a steal of a deal, however, there was one big problem, lack of pocket space (this jersey only had one pocket in the back, and smallish, compared to the usual 3). I had hoped to switch aero bottles to a Bontrager Aero Race Pack one that had extra storage space for food etc but alas they were sold out everywhere I looked (and still are, bizarrely, even though they still advertise them lots of places, bitter.) Thus it was that I was concerned about storage space but still planning to push ahead with my plan. Until...
Two days before the race in the afternoon a massive storm pushed in. It didn't last long but it went from warm to very cold in a hurry, with a massive wind and stormy rain. I realized that if I had been out on the course at that time, with the clothes I had packed, it could well have been the end of my day....
The only solution was to pack a jacket I thought. Which would fill the one pocket if it fit at all. At the last minute I switched to my DeSoto tri top that had 3 large pockets in the back and purchased a Sugoi Helium jacket from the Bike Barn. I was a little bitter about this choice, as buying at the last minute before IM meant absolutely full price, I think it was over $120 for a jacket that was basically a wind breaker, but it made me feel better, so...
During the race:
- I wasn't cold at all, I only wore the Helium for a short period of time, but I was glad I had it as if I hadn't I would have carried around my heavier Sugoi wind breaker around all day which would have been more intrusive
- ironically, in the future I would probably not use the Helium for most training because I would use the other Sugoi wind breaker, I am considering trying to put he Helium in my spare tire kit at the back of my bike for an emergency option if it ever rains when biking?
- faster people actually did run into some nasty rain and snow on the bike, it would have been quite helpful to have had the Helium if I was faster. As was, I wore mini mitts the whole day and they did the trick and I wasn't cold on the run at all. I talked to several people later on who had frozen during the bike and probably would have appreciated it?
Also, the Helium was so bright I didn't even have to carry reflective tape on the run, which was a bonus, I guess? I gave some other dude my reflective tape who was all worried about getting DQ'd. I doubt they have ever DQ'd someone for not having reflective tape but I guess it would pertinent/interesting to find out?
