Ok, so I did the Vineman Half with my wetsuit, an Ironman Stealth sized SM. After the swim, I felt sore in my deltoids. I didn’t have any soreness in my triceps, which leads me to suspect that the wetsuit may have been a little binding, preventing free rotation of my arms and increasing muscle fatigue of the deltoids.
Now, I bought the wetsuit at the 2003 Cali Half Expo, and the IM rep there said it was the right fit for me. I did my first swim at the race, and did not have the arms pulled up high enough (no bunching of material at the shoulders) and had an awful experience. I called IM and they verified, based on my height and weight, that I had the “right” size.
Having done 3-4 tris since then, and making sure the shoulders had extra material (which feels a lot better), I still have abysmal open water swim times! I am a lifelong swimmer, can hold 10 x 100 scy on 1:20 (barely - used to be able to do 1:10, but that was when I was 16!), but my average at Vineman Half (assuming a “spot on” swim distance) was 1:40!
Assuming that I hold 1:25 per 100 during a race (since I wouldn’t be swimming as hard as in the pool and without flip turns), I’m leaving 5 minutes or so in the water!
My questions:
1 - Is the wetsuit too small, or does everyone get deltoid soreness after their swims?
2 - What is the average difference between holding 10 x 100 vs. open water 100 pace?
3 - Should I just get a sleeveless wetsuit?
Thanks!
Enoch
A dream shared is empowering. A dream kept to yourself is merely wishful thinking.
You know what? I would lay a $20 bet on the fact that you may not have had the wetsuit on as well as you could have.
None other than Mr. Neoprene himself, Keith Simmons (formerely of Ironman Wetsuits) gave me a personal clinic on how to don a fullsuit and it was a real eye opener. It also enhanced my ability to swim probably 15% (guessing).
With a fullsuit (or any suit for that matter) it is super, super, SUPER important you don the suit correctly with no slack under the arm and the legs, torso and arms pulled up and not twisted. When people complain of the neck not fitting correctly, that is usually becasue the suit isn;t on correctly.
At any given wave start I see about 60% of the people with their suits on wrong.
Oh, I should add, we have done three pool tests to see which suit is fastest, sleeveless of full, T1, Superfull, P-Flex, Metal Cell, etc.
We couldn’t tell much difference between brands of full suits. Most of the difference was subjective, not in terms of seconds saved.
But the difference between sleeveless and full suits was easily quantifiable over 100 yds for a mediocre swimmer like me (13:00 for a 1/2 mile). I can’t recall the times off the top of my head and I am out the door right now to go to the Mark Mellon Memorial Triathlon.
I think de Soto will let you try out their T1, or any of their suits for two weeks. Call them. I find it makes me about 10-15 seconds FASTER per, hundred meters, in a 50m pool.
My first with the same suit was the same. I now put it on correctly and it works like a charm. You have to really get the arms on good and make sure there is a ripple or two on top of your shoulder. Once moving the ripple will go away and be roomy for your shoulder to move. I thought exactly as you and now am a happy camper.
Hey, nice to see you here Enoch! As you already know, I can’t swim worth a damn, so take what I say w/ a grain of salt. I do know you should be outswimming me by more than 3-5 minutes over 1.2 miles, though, so there’s certainly a problem.
My questions:
1 - Is the wetsuit too small, or does everyone get deltoid soreness after their swims? I’ve never had deltoid soreness.
2 - What is the average difference between holding 10 x 100 vs. open water 100 pace? My OW pace is about 20 secs. faster.
3 - Should I just get a sleeveless wetsuit? I’d say come out to the Manhattan Beach swim w/ me(I’ll be there every week for the next 4 weeks - nothing like last minute swim cramming for IM) a couple of times and practice really getting the suit on properly. If you still have problems, go with the sleeveless. Oh yeah, If you decide to come, you should definitely walk down to the swim start this time
Hey Jay, I finally made it to this forum. Thanks for the pointers. If I come to Manhattan Beach again, maybe I’ll get you to carry me to the start!
I’m thinking of doing a 3800m TT with some folks that I get the same time in OW swims to see if I can beat them in the pool at that distance. Wanna come?
