It seems that you can’t swim in a Morphsuit if you intend to submerge your face! Not only can you not see at all but the effort it takes to breathe out hard enough to clear the material of water before breathing in means that you take on about 30% of the air you would normally take in without the suit! You also take in an awful lot of water in each breath too. This is fine if you are swimming 10 meters or so but there is no way the Outlaw swim can be done like this. A big thank you to the staff at The Snowdome in Tamworth who let me practise after hours and for making sure I didn’t drown!
The options appear to be:-
a) don’t wear the suit for the swim (just for ride and run which was actually my original plan)
b) hold my breath while swimming for 2.4 miles (90 mins)
c) adapt a snorkel
d) swim breastroke
e) swim in the suit with the hood down
f) cut a hole for the mouth and eyes
B is going to be difficult, C will give me an advantage/swim aid so wont be allowed, D will take forever and miss the cut off, E is pointless and the same as A, so F seems to me to be the best option. I have my design team of engineers and seamstresses (me) working on adapting the suit.
I am hoping that with some jiggery pokery it will work and the challenge of Morphing an Ironman is not diminished too much by these necessary tweaks. The suit loves holding onto water too so it is likely I will swim in Suit 1 and then change into Suit 2 for the ride and run. Suit 2 of course won’t have eye and mouth holes.
Does this sound like it is still a valid challenge? I hope so.
In other news I’ve slacked on my weekends in training recently. It’s not a problem to not train for 2 days in 7 except when they are my long run day and long ride day. The speed on the shorter distances is improving which is great but it’s all about endurance with Outlaw for me. I particularly pissed myself off for being lazy yesterday so I had a word with myself – a stern one! I hope to make things right with a good solid week this week and next before a weeks holiday! I certainly don’t want to slip into the bad habits of last year which left me so under prepared!
I have been tinkering figures – facts, figures and all sorts of stats become relevant in the build up to Outlaw. Running is comfortably sub 8 mins/mile regularly which for me is brilliant. Cycling is hitting 17mph ave regularly which again for me is great. Last year my Outlaw time was 16:45 . I was hoping to do sub 15 this year but imagine 90 mins swim, 7 hours bike and 5.5 hours run!? Suddenly 14 hrs could be on the cards…..got to have a dream!
If you have a look at this you may well get a glimpse of Cycle Morphs first outing
Two fellow Outlaws are struggling with injury at the moment. @ironholgs & @paintedrunner. Both are determined buggers and are likely to put the challenge before health. I so hope both of them get to the start fit and well. They will be going over and over the ‘risks v the challenge’ mental dilemma and I hope it works out right for both of them.
Mrs B is ignoring the training plan I created for the Lichfield Half Marathon on May 5th. Saturdays 8 miler became a 9 miler. She is running so well and with such determination it’s great to see. Gonna have to up my game to make sure she doesn’t embarrass me!
Loads of people are still posting their daily exercise for the Poppyfields2013Challenge. We’ve just passed the £9,000 mark for Birmingham Childrens Hospital
Finally, look out for @mjgreenfield1 who in less than 3 weeks takes on the Marathon Des Sables for CLIC Sargent. A more worthwhile cause I would struggle to think of. 156 miles in 6 days self sufficient 50c temps across the Sahara Desert
Right where did I put my sewing kit………
