OK, I burn silly, silly I tell ya. With IMWestOz 2 months away, I’m more worried about getting seriously sunburned on the bike than about the rest of the race.
Options I see are:
Wear more clothes on the bike. Ugh, I hate this option, I like to race as close to nekkid as possible. Any ladies out there have suggestions on this?
Hit the tanning salon over the next 8 weeks to build up a base tan. Would this help?
Bathe in the waterproof 60-block first thing race morning, and just reapply as often as possible (the only thing that didn’t get burnt in Spokane was my face which had waterproof 50 block on it).
Other suggestions? I’m particularly interested to hear what other chicks have worn up top… I’d prefer to go racerback, but that’s a lot of flesh to get burnt. And I can imagine getting burnt like that is only going to hamper your run further…
Don’t eat any dairy 3 days before the race. I worked for years near the equator, that was a sure way to avoid a burn.
To get a base tan ,I would do the full body , all nude tan at a salon or out doors. think of your skin as a piece of film and measure the exposure in minutes , not hours. A good hot sunny day outside 10- 15 minutes front & back ,in full sun is a good start .
Where do you get the worst burn, legs ,back .arms ,neck ,ears ?
Dairy!!! WTF? I’ve never heard that before… how bizarre. What’s the deal there? I eat tons of dairy, so that may be a challenge…
Back, shoulders, arms are the worst. Legs (front quad and calf) are next. Ears and neck are not as bad (enough exposure I guess). So riding aero for 6-7 hr in the nice no-Ozone-layer-for-me-thanks-we’re-Aussie! Busselton sun makes my back tingle and itch just thinking about it.
My wife does go racer back sometimes, but smears on a lot of sun protection whenever she does.
We both try to avoid those dork look tans that you get with cycling. While on the bike we wear lots of sunsreen and to even out the tans we just hang out and sunbath around our pool for down time. She wears her bikini and yes, I do wear a speedo, so those cycling tans aren’t that much of an issue.
Cover up on the bike as best you can. Seems silly, but look wround for a bike racing time-trial suit in your size. It offers full coverage on the back and shoulders. I used to us one of these years ago and it worked very well. AStrip this off at T2 and put on differen gear for the run. Takes about 30 sec - 1 minute tops. Also, many are under the mistaken impression that less clothes = cooler. Not so. By keeping a layer of wet fabric, that is activly wicking or moving moisture away from your skin, you will feel cooler. It’s called the evaporative cooling effect. Depending on the conditions, bare skin looses miosture very quickly. In fact, that’s what I think happened to many at IM Wisco.
Be sure to apply the sunscreen properly. Here’s the deal: Shower with soap and water and then right after you towl off, apply lots’ of sunscreen( 30 SPF+) everywhere. The oil on the surface of your skin disrupts the absorbtion of the sunscreen. This will ensure maximum functionality of the sunscreen you use. I am fairly fair skinned and I had good luck with the Coppertone sport 30SPF
It seems you get a spike / O.D. on a vitamin (I think D ) that both milk and the sun gives you. Making it worse if your a fair skinned /euro heritage. My forearms are always tan / burned maybe 5 on the 10 scale.
I burn pretty easily too. I went tanning off and on all summer and then once a week for three weeks going into IMWI. That, plus carrying extra sunscreen to reapply during the ride kept me from burning on the shadeless bike course in Wisconsin.
P20 - Apply about 2 hours before going outside and have sun protection all day. Used it in Australia on holiday and for 2 IM so far, other than the parts I missed like back of arms, didn’t burn, good tan lines after as well.
P20 was good 'cept where your wetsuit rubs for some reason.
Burnt terribly at Switz in 2004 - didn’t make the same mistake again. Ironman SPF40 on shoulders and arms. Take a minute or two to apply in T1 and 2 - Its worth it.
Got your number? I’ll be spectating out there and will give you a cheer on!
Ditto to the cycling jersey and the sunscreen immediately after the shower. It also won’t kill you to take a little packet os sunscreen with you and apply it during a pit stop around mile 75 or so on the bike. It was good investment of time at Lake Placid this year.
Shower when you wake up, and get the high-SPF lotion on right away. I use Bullfrog gel. I spent 6 hours in the sun on Saturday in a sleeveless jersey, and the only burn I got was on my thighs where I forgot the sunscreen. That was after spending about 75 total minutes in the water, too.
Bullfrog spray gel/quickgel etc. SPF36, I apply it every 3-4 hours and never get burned. My friends ask me how come I am never tanned after all the time out in the sun. I do have a dork tan, but since skin cancer runs in my family I am very careful. Spray it on you in T1, put a bottle in the special needs bag and take 5 seconds to spray some on at the half on the bike…spray some on in T2 if you are really concerned. I have to put more on than most because I have won the “World’s Sweatiest Human” award several times.
Living in Borneo, and being fair skinned, I’ve got reasonably good at this. You have to leave time for the sunblock to sink into the skin and bond before you start. Try to put it on to clean skin at least a half hour before you go out. Then reapply before you leave. With SPF30 I get around 4 hours of no burn.
Having a base tan helps, but not as much as you might think. I remember reading that a good base tan is only worth about SPF4, so not going to do you much good.
Make sure you do your ears, as they burn badly and are real painful. Consider taping a piece of cloth to the back of your helmet to cover your neck, or getting one of the headsweats bandannas. You can burn your head through the slots in the helmet and it looks really wierd when you do.
I know some people who’ve used P20, with mixed results good and bad. It might certainly be worth it for an ironman day, but definitely try it out before you race. You have to stand around for a while naked while it bonds into your skin, and if you don’t do it right it comes off on all the clothing etc that it touches.
Just be sensible with the SPF and you should be fine, reapply regularly perhaps put some in both special needs bags. I don’t know if asking someone to do your back is seen as outside help, you might want to check that. A bottle of spray on lotion might be good in that situation as you can get more of your back yourself.
As with all things, try it out before you race.
Good luck, I was in Busselton a couple of weeks before last year’s race and it looked like an awesome course.
It’s funny how the simplist solutions make the most sense - just cover-up more( with the right fabrics). But no, I still see hundreds and hundreds of triathletes training andd racing around nearly naked and many burnt to a crisp! I guess all of these people are experts!
Another little tip that worked for me: Whenever we travel, we take home at least one of those little shampoo bottles from the hotel (usually empty by the end of the trip). After we wash it out, that’s where the sunscreen goes. I had one on my bike at the start and one at special needs. It takes up a lot less room and I leave it in my bento box, so it’s staring me in the face as a reminder to reapply.