The other day, I was pulling out of the preschool dropoff and had the choice of turning right, where I’d run the gauntlet of fast food, favorite sub shops and even a grocery store. Or turning left, which is largely a residential street, connecting myself to the highway, then through the outskirts of downtown, which is a food desert (and that would NOT be dessert!) I turned left. I had soup and fruit instead.
I know this is a sewing blog, and I’m getting there, promise. On Monday of this week, I signed up for a sprint triathlon – a 5k run, 13 mile bike ride and 400m open water swim in early June. I can already do the run and bike distances, so I’ll be working on time reduction there. The swim is another matter. I can probably swim 25 yards, maybe 50 comfortably, and maybe 100 gasping for air. 400? Gonna need to work on that. Plus, I haven’t run in 10 days. Or been on the bike trainer (it’s winter) in 3 weeks.
But the thing that bugged me the most about this decision is, what on earth shall I wear? There isn’t anything I do or sign up for or commit myself to that I don’t also think of what sort of gear one needs for that excursion – whether a trip to a beach destination, a ski outing or this triathlon. I plan ahead for a winter break getaway by sewing linen wide leg pants and summer tops, and I wonder if I have a pattern or two for this triathlon thing.
Jalie patterns immediately come to mind. So does Christine Jonson’s BaseWear One, with a singlet-style top and bike style shorts. I need a thinner chamois and a dry-fast one, too.
It also occurs to me in my pattern stash I have a racerback tank top style top and bike shorts pattern from McCalls, too. My goal this year is to use stuff that I have. I can purchase replacement chamois, specific for Tri garments. Plus the bonus part is I can make the top nursing friendly. I know my son will be almost two, but he’ll still be nursing and when he sees me, this is often the first thing he wants.
The small changes I made yesterday, to turn left, and this morning, to grab a homemade pumpkin bar and grapefruit instead of Quality Dairy donuts, they add up. And what gets me through it, in part, is the planning – what will the event look like, what will I wear there, how will I perform.