Sheila Runs

So as a result of one of my previous posts/questions here about whether to buy a wetsuit online or mailorder, I was urged by several people on Facebook and Twitter to NOT do that and to go to a local shop and try suits on. Someone else also suggested using wetsuitrental.com as a good alternative to try a suit and have the rental fee go towards the purchase of a used suit. Which sounds good.

So today I went to the San Dimas location of Incycle Bikes. I called first to ask if I could come in to try on wetsuits, and they said, “Sure.”

When I walked in I was asked if I needed help by the same guy I’d talked to on the phone. He sized me up visually and decided I should wear an xsmall. Which kind of surprised me, because based on my weight and height I usually seem to be at the top of the size small range, almost into medium, in the sizing charts I checked online. Another lady in the shop, who apparently specializes in wetsuit fitting, agreed strongly that I would need xsmall because the small would have too much room in the arm area because I’m so thin (not really). So they gave me an XS in the Zoot Synergy and directed me to a fitting room to try it on.

I had worn my tri top and shorts, since I figured I should wear what I was most likely to have on under the wetsuit in a real event. Thank goodness, because these wetsuits are so tight there’s really no room for anything else on underneath! They also gave me a plastic bag, like the grocery stores use, to put over my foot and hands as I was pushing them through the legs and sleeves, so that it would slide through more easily. Apparently one would usually apply Body Glide liberally all over before attempting to don a wetsuit. In lieu of Body Glide, use a plastic bag.

Well, I tried my darndest to get that xsmall suit on. I pulled and stretched the legs, trying to get them up my calves, over my knees. I must’ve spent at least 10-15 minutes just trying to get the darn legs on. But it became clear to me after massaging and tweaking and stretching and pulling, that the crotch of that suit was never going to reach my body’s crotch in a million years. The suit-crotch remained steadfastly a good 4 inches below my body-crotch.

In the meantime I’m expecting the guy to return to the dressing room with a size small, as he’d said he would look for one. I also was becoming disappointed thinking they must not have a small or the guy had forgotten about me, since he hadn’t returned to the dressing room yet.

By now I’m also sweating and getting perspiration marks on my top between the boobs and in the small of my back, from wrestling with this darn suit, trying to be good and follow recommendations from those “in the know” and make it get on me like they said it should because they believed it was the right size. Well I finally gave up and went to look for the guy.

He did have another suit for me to try on. The Zoot Fusion in size MSH which he said was Medium Small. OK. I was able to get this one on without near as much wrestling (some). And zipped. I emerged from the dressing room. “Do I get a prize for getting it on?” I asked. So the guy says this fits me much better and is the size I would wear, and is the next size up from the xsmall I had tried on (which was a different style). Their rental rates are $25/day (for 24 hour period) and rental can be applied to purchase price of a new suit. They also sell used ones at the end of the season.

Well, I took the second suit off, it was quite damp inside from my wrestling workout. These things do NOT breathe (as you would expect) and so I couldn’t help but perspire in addition to whatever sweat I’d already worked up from wrestling. So I gave them back to the guy inside out and said, “Uh, they’re a little damp. It’s kind of a workout to get them on.”

Anyhow, he was nice and helpful. However, I look up the sizing chart online and see that actually there is another size in between the xsmall I tried and what I was  finally able to get on. Turns out MSH is really Medium Short, and that there is a Small size in between MSH and XS. Hmmm.

Anyhooo…tomorrow I’m going to drive down to San Diego and see if I can try on in person the Xterra suit that I was ogling at such a decent sale price. Only if I feel 100% totally positive about that suit will I buy it. If I have any doubts, I will pass and do something else. I can still check out suits at some other local Tri shops such as Onetri.com in Santa Ana, and there’s a tri shop in Redondo Beach and one in Irvine. And also wetsuitrentals.com to consider. I guess I don’t have to rush it. Take my time and get something that I know is right and that I’ll be happy with.