One Wish List Item Bought
Posted on April 26, 2012 7 Comments
For those of you following my Selfish Little Wishlist, it’s now one item shorter.
Catalog Photo of My New Wetsuit (Once it Gets Here)
I bought a wetsuit!
If you can believe it, renting one can cost anywhere from $40 to $65 for an entire weekend. I was kind of surprised by this, since you can rent them right outside my office on Lake Michigan for just $10 for an afternoon swim.
Once I saw that renting would cost up to $65 for my June race, I started looking into buying a discounted used suit, but nobody had my size on Craigslist (not in Illinois or Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, nor in Houston or any Florida cities) or on Beginner Triathlete (and I’ve been looking frequently for weeks). I asked some friends to borrow theirs, but nobody had my size. I checked several “wetsuit warehouse” type sites, but I couldn’t find anything in my size for under $150.
Finally, after much frustration, I found a discount code for a wetsuit in my size from XTerra for $127 plus free shipping, for a suit originally priced at $300. Score! For those of you keeping track, that’s the equivalent of two race rentals. And now I can swim in the lake whenever I want.
My only dilemma now is where to put it. Hmm. Perhaps I’ll finally get rid of some of those old bridesmaid dresses I’ve been keeping around and make way for something more useful.
Category: Money
Tags: Fitness , Spending
Comments
7 Responses to “One Wish List Item Bought”
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April 26th, 2012 @ 1:27 pm
Heh heh, I was just thinking that the wetsuit costs about the same as those bridesmaid dresses. And yet I had NO hesitation buying those, none, because I was doing it for “someone else.” What the heck?!
April 26th, 2012 @ 1:34 pm
Haha! So true, I never hesitate buying bridesmaids dresses either.
Good for you, and you will get a ton of use from it.
April 27th, 2012 @ 9:39 pm
That is awesome…
How cold is this lake that you are swimming in? Is it just unbearable without the wetsuit? What about your arms?
April 28th, 2012 @ 9:57 am
Score! Good job
April 29th, 2012 @ 12:24 pm
Jefferson: Water temps for triathlon swims can be notoriously fickle depending on what the weather does the day and week before. For a June swim in Wisconsin, I’d expect the lake temps to be between 72 and 78 degrees (but if it rains the night before it could go down to the upper 60s). If it’s above 76 degrees, I would not use the wet suit. But if it’s below, I would. I’ve never used a wetsuit in a race before; the water temps have been on the higher end thankfully, and the suits are just an added hassle. But I always have one with me in case it rains and cools down the lake the night before. Also, this isn’t a one-time need; you need one to swim in Lake Michigan, which can be quite cold during the entire summer. Plus this will extend my “tri” season for outdoor races from June to about Sept. Prior, I was mostly doing July races.
As far as my arms, good question! The suits keep your core warm, and provide buoyancy. Keeping your core warm is most important. I’ve never swam in water cold enough to need arms covered. Plus, the suits are SUPER restricting. I think I might get a little claustrophobic in one with full sleeves. Plus I’m not sure how it would affect my swim stroke.
In all, I’m really excited to own one of these! I can’t wait to take it out on Lake Michigan with all the other triathletes
April 30th, 2012 @ 11:34 pm
Not selfish! It’s an investment, and one I’m jealous of.
May 29th, 2012 @ 9:43 am
I just sold my wet suit on Craisglist.
I’ve always been tempted to do a tri. good luck!