by Kcurly on January 26, 2010
And, no I don’t mean, Dr. Miracle (rolls eyes).
I’m talking about Miraclesuits!!
If you’ve ever been swimming and you’re heavy on top, then you know the pain of the typical swimsuit’s lack of bra support. While training for my triathlon, I could not find a swimsuit that gave me the type of support I was looking for. I always ended up wearing my sports bra under it. That’s a fine solution, but it makes me feel bulky and I also worried about ruining my bras.
I saw these being raved about somewhere and it entered my little mind to try them out. They are pricy though. The prices range from 60-130 bucks! However, lucky me, there are a lot on eBay. I found one in my size for 40 dollars.
This is the suit I have and LUVS it!
Let me tell you, I LOVE it. It is the only swimsuit that I have ever seen that gives me boob support AND makes them look good! It also gives me a nice coke bottle shape with gathering at the waist. Um, not that I’m trying to look cute at the pool, but *shrug*. It’s nice to just put on one item of clothing and then hop in the pool.
Even if you’re not a swimmer, these are nice for vacation. They also have a lot of different styles, some that include covering for the tops of the thighs.
Yes, they have strapless suits too. I haven't tried them, but they are supposed to be supportive as well.
So you might be asking if these are supportive enough to run in? Not for me. I used them for training. But it would’ve been nice to have just worn the suit and then slipped on some shorts for the triathlon.
Oh well, maybe Miraclesuits will come out with a trisuit! They actually are supposed to be coming out with a new jean. Dare I hope they make some that make me look like I have an awesome butt?!
by Kcurly on October 9, 2009
First, let me say that I am no wonderstar athlete. I am overweight, I am slow, but darnit, I’m out there and giving it all I’ve got! I never thought I’d be able to do something like this. Sure, there were people out there who did this, but never would it be me. It’s a dream come true.And more to the point, it’s a dream of my own doing.
But on the way to that dream has been a lot of fears. At the top of the list?
Openwater swimming
Well I must go ahead and admit something embarrassing: I almost died at a water park wave pool!
It’s true, ask my best friend. We’d just finished up 6 weeks of swim lessons and I decided to take my little self over to the deep end of the wave pool during a trip to the local water park. I knew it was a mistake as soon as I couldn’t feel the bottom anymore. That was one of the most frightening times of my life. I remember getting my head above the surface only see my friend at arms length, looking helpless (She wasn’t fool enough to try the deep end). I eventually made my way back where my friend informed me that several of the lifeguards had been signaling each other in my direction. One had even grabbed his flotation device.
“Why didn’t you help me?” I asked her, once I caught my breath.
She blinked. “What, so I could drown too? ” She replied. I couldn’t blame her, she was right.
Later that same trip, I convinced myself that I needed to go back in the deep end or I would be scared of water for life. As I made my way to the red line that divided the deep and shallow ends, a whistle blew in my general direction. I looked up to see one of the lifeguards waving me back to the shallow end. Dammit!
I guess they didn’t feel like getting wet that day.
Sooo, ever since then, I have been deathly afraid of water and swimming, as opposed to the general fear that I had growing up. Getting in the pool this time around was like starting all over again. I felt like I’d never had a single lesson. I started out just going to the pool and trying to get comfortable again, seeing what strokes I remembered. I could do the backstroke and that was a panicky situation, even. I then signed up for 2 private lessons at the Y. My instructor was helpful, but I felt like a lot of the lesson was being taken up by a lot of fluff. And at 20 bucks a lesson, I couldn’t afford it.
I started going to the pool (a shallow one) and making it to either end as best I could. I would backstroke mostly, then freestyle, and taught myself to sidestroke. Let me tell you, swimming was rough! It felt like I was using my whole body and I was exhausted after a couple of strokes. Also, the issue of getting water up my nose was constant. After several weeks of practice I met once more with another swim coach who told me that my form was perfect and that I just needed to practice. Having expected some sort of miracle or swimming secret, this was not what I wanted to hear. Also, I admitted to her that I needed a trick for swimming in deep water. Her answer was a shrug and ” Just swim”.
I found my way to the deep pool and to my surprise emerged alive!
But she was right. The only thing that helped tremendously was practice. I did also get a new book called Total Immersion, which I will do a review on later if anyone is interested. I can now swim my 1/3 mile with no problem. I went from not being able to do half a length this past April, to doing 24 lengths without stopping.
My coworker, who is training with me, took me out to a local body of water where I got comfortable swimming. Let me tell you, being out there in that murky water with fish jumping within feet of you and waves is very intimidating the first time around. Now I find it almost fun. Wait, not fun. I find it doable. And not terrifying, which is the most important thing.
I feel confident in my abilities. My next goal where swimming is concerned is to get my 3 year old swimming so that he won’t grow up afraid of water the way I did.
