Wearing a wetsuit for the added buoyancy gain and inherent thermal protection certainly isn’t cheating and for many athletes it can be an absolutely necessity, but at a certain level of racing the competitive advantage gained from wearing a wetsuit is banned. Triathlon’s pinnacle race distance, the Ironman, and its respective championship race, Kona, have witnessed the rise of a new form of swimming garment; the swimskin.
Bred out of the need for a hydrodynamic suit that adheres to the guidelines from the scrabble list of acronymic governing bodies: USAT, WTC, and FINA, the swimskin has evolved into a textile based solution for elite open water swimmers looking to always be faster than the rest of the pack and to gain a competitive edge against other racers. TYR would say that you’re only as fast as your suit will let you be.
What is Refresh?
Swelling, muscle degradation, soreness. Every athlete has experienced each of these symptoms and to vary degrees based on each individuals unique level of exertion and natural recovery cycle. The Refresh compression garments from 2XU separate themselves from the already impressive Perform and Xform garments who use 50/70 Denier Lycra in their construction by utilizing a 150 Denier circular knit fabric to provide the highest form of compressive power and stability found in the sports industry. This rigidity augments your natural circulatory flow, enhancing the body’s natural recovery abilities all the while providing the correct level of compression so that the garment may be worn comfortably over prolonged periods of time.
What is 2XU Perform Compression?
2XU has created the first weapon in the arsenal of compression wear to utilize a combination of 50/70 denier fabric in conjunction with the properties found in a circular knit garment, resulting in superior fit, breathability and race-day performance gains. The Perform from 2XU doesn’t simply compress to impress but rather applies an ideal amount of pressure at the body’s extremities so that the levels of graduated mmHg (millimeters of mercury) enhances a healthy body’s circulatory system while augmenting muscle position and response, all without sacrificing range of motion.
Why Perform?
2XU created these race ready and high intensity training garments to assist athletes in four specific ways.
I know I’ve written about the truth concerning compression in the past and I’ve finally passed through an evaluation period on the garments where I feel confident in saying that my training schedule has seen a marked improvement in not only regularity (I haven’t been psyched out from soreness) but also in intensity. If you took time to watch the video above I explain that these recovery specific garments are actually much tighter than regular compression that you may wear on race day and as a consequence there is a bit of a learning curve revolving around the best way to put these garments on.
I’ve always read and have been told, that you should wear these garments IMMEDIATELY after working out. Which for me means, you work out, shower, then put these garments on. Treat these tights as you would nutrition and respect them as you would the 15-30 minute recovery nutrition window that you would follow with a protein shake / glutamine supplement etc.
The long sock: no longer a modern day Shark vs. Jet accessory but rather comes with added athletic/recovery specific benefits.
First compression sock I’ve ever tried. It felt like a sock. It looked like a sock. It did NOT act like a sock. I mean how complicated can these shoe liners get?
Apparently quite a bit.
So yes. I haven’t worn it in a race setting (yet, it’s only been a week), but that’s what the sock is meant for; long term performance / recovery benefits coupled with improved strike padding which results in a sock that will outlast whatever race you’re running in, no matter your level.
Frankly I like how I stand out from other runners on the trail while I’m wearing this advanced gear and I’m pretty arrogant in the fact that I’m ALWAYS wanting someone to come and race me during a workout. So far no takers when I’ve been wearing this coupled with my Ultra Tempo 4.0’s and rediculously short electric lime green running shorts.
So I’ll admit, I’ve been rather partial to my Ultra Tempo 4.0 over the past year and it’s become my little race baby. The kind of shoe that I take out once a week for a PR attempt and save for race day occasions. I loved that shoe
Too bad.
I’ve just spent the last week with the Ultra Speed and to be truthful I’ve seen it (the Ultra Speed) before. It was that one shoe sitting on the sales wall looking like a g*d*mn electric smurf with it’s blue and yellow (hear them haters talk, but there’s nothing you can tell ’em….sorry wrong color/song) lace-less smug face forcing me to pass it off as a, “sure it looks fast, but that’s what they want you to think” shoe.
My opinion after a week:
Basically I was slapped in the face by how light it is (yes, I’ve said that many times and I’ll say it once more just to piss off redundancy grammer nerds.) (more…)
It’s a roaring debate between some, others it’s a cut and dry situation, but still the debate remains: is there an added benefit to swimming with or without sleeves? The short answer is sleeved wetsuits will always be faster, but then again, only for some.
The facts:
Sleeved
If looks could kill this suit would leave competitors dead in the water
Added buoyancy (aids in sighting strokes as well)
More efficient glide stroke
Greater surface area with addition of catch panels
Increased insulation for colder water swims
Sleeveless
Added buoyancy on the legs and full range of motion in the arms. Sign me up.
Greater range of motion
Less strain on shoulders
Better feeling of the catch
Increase in comfort for warmer water
What the debate ultimately boils down to is which suit best fits your body type and the water conditions that you’re racing in. (more…)
The Kayenne features, "why yes I also fight crime" aggressive styling
I admit it. I’ve always been a goggle snob, sneering at those other athletes who wear the latest and greatest, and more often than not, ridiculously buggy-eyed face aquariums. Instead in the past I’ve followed the racing mantra that less is more, light is fast and cheap is cool meaning that socket rockets or swedes have been my goggles of choice.
All of that changed with my first real mass start open water swim. I would have been faster wearing no goggles at all after frantic failed attempts to reattach my trusty previously pool-only racing swedes when duck diving 5 foot surf simply ripped them from my face or when a swift foot from a fellow racer to the face brought with it added pain because my goggles had no padding whatsoever to shield my now bruised eye-socket from their repeated abuse.
Enter the Kayenne. Abandon all previous notions of what makes a goggle fast because open water swimming requires features that simply aren’t relevant in pool-specific goggles. With the Kayenne your vision is unrestricted, allowing you to sight any number of buoys, landmarks or racers with ease and features a one click adjustment feature that guarantees a perfect seal every time and the additional padding in the nose will safe face in a race, absorbing even the most ambitious sweep of the legs from Johnny-racer.
trihead 