fat girl little wetsuit......

I try to refrain from calling myself fat but the title suits the post. I know I say I am a big girl all the time, it is because I am. I haven't lost one pound this whole time! Good thing I don't post what I eat cause it is insane how much I love good food :) My body has totally changed though and I see a HUGE difference. Besides at some point after becoming single I just decided to be happy in my own skin and not care. So I don't let my looks hinder me, or be self conscious. God tells me ALL THE TIME how beautiful I am to Him!!!! Seriously that is enough in my book!!!

So one thing I love about this journey is I have learned that setbacks are temporary, being flexible is a must and no matter what happens don't give up.

So when I broke the valve on my bike tube I didn't get too upset even though I am sooooooo busy I really didn't know how to get over to a bike shop. My day off was just jam packed. Did school with my son (oh never mentioned I home school did I....now I am in the insane category right?), then his bowling league, then the bike shop...
Here is where the mom role and parenting stuff creeps in the blog...
I was sooooo excited to actually go to the bike store and check some stuff out while I got the repair. I prepped my kids before entering, you know don't touch, no running, no playing etc etc...HA
Got in the store they immediately climb on the kids bikes, run around, my son trips, my daughter hides, has to go potty, etc etc...
Don't get me wrong I am giving the looks, telling them to stop but I guess the bike store is equally exciting for them. I did not get a chance to look around. I wanted to get the heck outta there! As I was paying I started to say "kids quit running you are gonna knock over the biii" could not even get the word bikes out as the row of bikes come crashing down like dominoes....
SIGH, red face mom, the gracious worker says don't worry it happens AND even gave me a free water bottle (God is good all the time & if you check the wish list a water bottle for my bike was ON THERE)!

So our next stop is the wetsuit warehouse. The company that makes, sells triathlon wetsuits nationally is located here in San Diego! I called and turns out they rent wetsuits too!! Perfect! I don't want to buy one until I finish this race and decide if I am gonna keep doing races. I am equally excited to go get fitted for a wetsuit. I am glad I can try it before I get one too! My mentor said get a full suit (they have sleeveless as well).
Little did I know what I was about to experience...
again the talk with the kids before we go in. My daughter was actually asleep until I had to put her down to go in the fitting room. The man working the counter gave me a mens full suit to try first. OK really I wish the girl had helped me....the mens wetsuit did not fit around certain areas, so here I am in a tiny box (fitting room) in a non air conditioned room, trying to squeeze myself into this suit I did finally pull it over my curvy parts but it wasn't going to fit right. I peeled it off and went out and said no this is not gonna work. By this point I am sweaty, stressed, my blood pressure is up and my son has found a tennis ball that he thinks is totally acceptable to be playing with in the show room. The girl working the counter says you need to try a womens suit cause it accommodates for the curves....well duh (and by the way every one asks your height and weight FUN!!!)
So I try the womens suit OH MY WORD the bottom definitely fits better around my curves (her words not mine...I say lumpy parts haha), but I cant get the top part around my upper body (I got curves and lumpy parts up there too). So I put my shirt on and come out and tell the girl I need help I cant get in on. At this time my daughter is running in and out of the racks about to knock every bit of wetsuit down. The guy says something to her and I tell both my kids to come get in the tiny box with me cause they cant just chill.
So the girl comes in and says were you trying to get it over your shirt? No I cant walk out of the fitting room topless so I had to put my shirt on to come ask for help. So I have to take my shirt off in front of this poor defenseless girl (sorry chick hope you can get the image outta your brain) and we get the top pulled up and zipped. I tried to manipulate the suit to fit properly but the amount of sweat pouring from my body created some sort of suction that no force of gravity could fight...I was DYING DYING I tell you!!!! Now mind you race day it is early morning, cold out and I am not in a little box so it should be easier to do this. But I felt like I was suffocating!!! so restricted. I just didn't think I could swim feeling like this. It is so hard to really gauge being in the not so ideal conditions. So I say I think I want a sleeveless, I just think have my arms free will be more comfortable. Do you want to try it on she asked. NOOOOOOOOO I say full well knowing I have to....
at this point the sweat is literally forming a small pond on the floor, I peel that wetsuit off and take the first breathe in 20 min I am able to....keep in mind my kids are sitting on the floor beneath me playing tag! I say please just sit still or I may have to knock your heads together, they say "yeah lets knock our heads together!!!! 1-2-3-" and yes they did.... (this really all did happen to me)
So I try on the sleeveless at this point due to the sweat (which my son was nice enough to point out "wow mom you are very sweaty") it was so hard to get the suit on, I am literally feeling faint and nauseous...I got it on, my friendly girl clerk has disappeared (I assume she was scared off by topless tri-kate) and I have to ask the guy to zip up the suit. I must say the sleeveless was more comfortable given the situation. For the race this time really it should be just fine. I will have to think more about a purchase in the future which style to get. I think I will feel better having my arms completely free to move around during the swimming. We are beach camping next week so I will have time to try it before the race.
One of the aspects of the race I was so fearful of was the cold water at least now I have the suit to hopefully keep me from geting hypothermia...

ah the adventures of tri-kate!!! I am sure this is all part of the journey to being a tri-athlete! challenges come in all different ways....