In case you didn't realise it is a wetsuit, and yes it is draped over the front of my car.
As you may have gathered from the title of this post it is a Huub (pronounced Hoob), made famous my turning up on lots of pros recently, but probably most significantly the Brownlee Brothers. This suit is the Archimedes. Huub makes two models of the Archimedes, the 4:4 and the 3.5, which describes the various thicknesses of neoprene in different areas, but more on that later. This one is a 3.5.
Why a new wetsuit you may ask (well you might)? Basically my old Xterra was starting to fall apart a bit. It has a few nicks out of it (my fault) but when I used it at Townsville earlier this year I noticed that it was starting to develop cracks around the shoulders, plus it tore under my arm. All damage that is very difficult (impossible??) to repair. As a result it was starting to leak a fair bit and was becoming not so great. To be honest I am a little disappointed by how the Xterra suit lasted. I have only really been using it for a bit over a year. My second hand Blue Seventy lasted better than that. I pride myself on taking pretty good care of my kit and so I don't think the deterioration of the suit is down to abuse. Pretty sure anyway. Oh well, I got the suit as a random draw prize, so I can't complain to much, but still it is a little disappointing.
So anyway, Huub. Why Huub, other than the fact that they have been doing a bit of a public awareness blitz over the last couple of years. Well in short, they seem like good suits. From what I have seen they are well thought out and are a good product. On top of that though Swim Smooth coach Paul Newsome is fairly intimately involved with Huub, having been part of the prototyping process. His recommendation was a big factor as well.
So why a good product? A few different elements I think. Clever selection of the neoprene, this suit is pretty much all top shelf stuff. It makes it a little on the fragile side (no finger nails here please) but also on the super flexible side. Everywhere. Little touches like a quick break zip, also the flexible red sections on the upper arms and on the ankles which make getting it off a bit easier.
Well designed too. I mentioned above that Huub make a 4:4 and a 3.5 suit. These are aimed at different types of athletes. If you are a bit of a swimmer with a good body position, then the well balanced 4:4 suit is for you. If you are a typical triathlete with heavy legs then the 3.5 suit with slightly more buoyancy in the suit is built for you. Clever stuff.
Wait a second you might be saying, you can swim, why a 3.5 and not a 4:4. In short, it is partly because it is what I could get hold of and partly because I am somewhere between a 4:4 and a 3.5. Whilst the designs are different, the difference is a subtle one. Other than the distribution of neoprene the suits are the same. Originally I tried on a 3.5 to check sizing, however, I found that it felt pretty good, so that is what I have gone for. I imagine I would be equally okay in a 4:4.
So anyway that is the what and the why, so how about a bit of what is it like. Good is the answer. I actually had this suit on a trial basis for Challenge Gold Coast. Whilst my race wasn't great, the swim was fine. It is a bit hard to compare apples to apples because the swim was so fast, but the suit certainly felt good. I have swum this suit back to back to my old Xterra and the difference is chalk and cheese. It probably isn't a fair comparison though since I am comparing a brand new suit to a an old one. However, what I can say is that the Huub felt very precise. That is the word that came to mind when I first used it. It felt like the flexibility was exactly where I needed it. Being a new suit it also fit like a glove, very snug indeed.
All round I am a fan.
Speaking of swimming. I had swimming this morning, and my run of good Friday morning swim session continued. Once again it was a tough threshold set, but I quite enjoyed it. The session was made up of two sets the following:
4 x 100m on a turn around of 1:40 (cruisy)
2 x 200m on a turn around of 3:00 (a bit less cruisy)
4 x 50 on a turn around of 40 sec (not at all cruisy)
The intention of the 50s was for you to be pretty much at threshold, with a 50/50 chance of making them. I managed to hold them all which I was fairly chuffed about. Very solid session though. Going straight into the second set after the 50s left you wondering just how you were going to do the whole thing again. But by the third 100, once you had started to breath again it was surprising just how much you were able to recover. Anyway, very satisfying set, and quite a lot of fun.
Long ride tomorrow with the guys from Break Your Limits. There is talk of going to a place called Death Valley, which sounds just rosy.
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