Now I’m not usually one to fall into the trap of having to have the newest, most advanced gear around. I spent 5 years working around the golf industry which is probably the worst (yes, even worse than triathlon) when it comes to everyone thinking thinking this years model (whether it be a driver or a bike) is going to be what makes them great. Me, I have clubs I got when I graduated high school in ’99, a putter I bought for $80 in ’97 and a driver I was given ’03 that is apparently “out of date” even though I can still hit it nearly 300 yards on a good day. All that I still manage to shoot in the 70s on a regular basis. How? Practice.
See I subscribe to the Miguel Indurain school of thought. When he saw Lance Armstrong and Trek spending $250,000 on designing a new bike he said this:
Don’t forget the legs.
So normally I would rather work on making myself better than trying to find speed in new equipment.
But then sometimes you really do need new equipment. Like a wetsuit that will keep you warm. And when that time comes, I’m like anyone in that I want the best. So yesterday when I bought a new wetsuit, I couldn’t help myself. I went with the top of the line 2xu suit. And I’m glad I did.
Took it for a spin yesterday at Kits pool and, no joke, was at least 5 seconds faster per 100 m. There are features galore on this suit (which I don’t have time to go through) but let me say, I’m thinking some of them should be illegal. Now maybe they’re only going to help a weaker swimmer like me but I’ve gone from hoping to get into the low 24 min for 1.5 k to thinking breaking 23 min is doable. That’s a huge jump. But we’ll just have to see.
So I’m wondering, is this cheating?
