Ok, from time to time I have noticed that male triathletes will shave parts of their body before they compete in a triathlon. While I have no problem with someone doing such a thing, I just have to ask what is up with that.
I’m not sure if I consider myself a triathlete, but I have completed a Sprint, Olympic, Half-IronMan, and an IronMan – so I have some experience. I’m just trying to figure out the advantage of the body hair shaving. Does it save time on the swim having no body hair under the full body wetsuit? Does it save time from the wind resistance of the leg hair on the bike? Does it “shave” off some time on the run by not having that chest hair flapping in the wind? I’m just at a total loss.
My arms and legs are full of hair, so if at IronMan Louisville I shave that off will I go from a 14 hour finisher to maybe a Kona Qualifier – with the amount of hair on the legs and arms I would hope to get a big gain from the shave.
If I shave my chest hairs (the couple of them that have grown), then it just makes my belly look bigger – so that isn’t good.
I will admit that I do shave my head myself in front of the mirror on a by-weekly basis. I have always hated going to the barber shop and loved the idea of always having my hair short and easy. So, a couple of years ago I just started using the hair shaver on my hair every couple of weeks. I’m sporting the “Matt Lauer” hair cut.
So, instead of training harder for IronMan Louisville 2008 – I think I’ll start practicing shaving my legs and arms……NOT.
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4 comments:
It totally cut like an hour off my time allowing me to finish before the midnight cutoff :)
-jwm
Fo' sho' - you shave your legs, you're Kona bound. Period. Didn't you know?
My reasons: One, all the lycra and spandex is more comfortable, especially pulling off the wetsuit. Two - if you get road rash of any kind on the bike, it's infinitely easier to keep clean and heal up with shaved legs. Three - unless you're Michael Phelps, body-hair drag in the water is pretty negligible. But it does feel pretty smooth, and I know it sounds dumb but the sensitivity helps me be more hydrodynamic - I can feel my form better. Four - just mental. It means its triathlon season, baby.
I completely agree with you!
What's up with the hair(less)?!
Glad somebody said it.
Well, ya gotta admit though that Steve in a Speedo has gotten some pretty good mileage out of his shaving extravaganzas -- his times ain't too bad either...
(Can a woman give her $.02 on this? -- Whoops, I just did!)
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