Warning....this may be too much information for some, but this is a common subject on minds of those who train or race for endurance events... Before any extended team workout, I have to go to the bathroom about 15 times in the hour prior to leaving my house and then at least 2-3 times more before the workout or race. This is probably due to several reason: I hydrate a lot the day before...the cold morning air... the anticipation makes me nervous...and the grapefruit-size tumor that squishes against my bladder & intestines doesn't help either.
One thing that I always like to figure out in advance before I arrive at any extended workout is the bathroom situation...will there be clean bathrooms with real toilets available? Port-o-potties? Or nothing at all? If I know that there are only port-o-potties or nothing, I'll stop at the closest Starbucks prior to arriving to my destination or figure out places to go with real bathrooms along the route. I haven't yet gone in bushes like many runners or cyclists.
This coming weekend, I'll be on a man-made island in the middle of the San Francisco Bay. Yesterday, during spin workout, I asked a teammate what the bathroom situation would be like at Treasure Island. He said no bathrooms and maybe a few port-o-potties..."but you won't need them because you can just pee in your wetsuit at the start of your swim. It'll flush out when you swim. Everyone does it."
Being someone who likes to have lots of information, I searched "peeing in wetsuit" on Google and 207,000 results came back on this subject:
1) It helps you stay warm in cooler water. (SF Bay water temp is around 48F)
2) Sharks can detect bodily fluid in water and senses lost fluid as weak prey. But don't worry, sharks don't like humans and are more attracted to seals (...hmmm, SF Bay has sharks and I'll look like a seal in my black wetsuit)
2) Sharks can detect bodily fluid in water and senses lost fluid as weak prey. But don't worry, sharks don't like humans and are more attracted to seals (...hmmm, SF Bay has sharks and I'll look like a seal in my black wetsuit)
3) If wetsuit not flushed and rinsed well enough afterwards, fungus will grow and cause bad rash on skin as well as permanent stink in wetsuit.
4) Inner layer is glued on the neoprene and urine can work like a solvent on both the seams and the inner lining causing harm to the wetsuit.
5) Timex tri website: okay to use wetsuit like your own private port-a-potty with no worries, enough water gets in the suit during the swim that there is no harm.
6) After swimming in cold water for awhile, you will automatically pee without bodily control (what??!!)
The list goes on and on with 207,000 more articles and discussions on this subject. I'll lay out a plan for this weekend. I'm not ready to go this direction yet in my new wetsuit, but then again I may not be able to control the situation on my own.
5 comments:
Just had to laugh reading this -- I've heard the same thing about peeing in a wet suit. Never tried it, but it might have benefits? But then, what do you do once you're out of the water?
Good post! Being a marathoner, I don't have to worry about ruining or stinking up a wetsuit. Being male, peeing is not quite as big an issue. However, we do all our training in the city, and even though I am sure that some guys would be uninhibited (and crude) enough to not care, I am old school. Peeing on a city street (or in someone's yard) is definitely not old school. So we always look for bathrooms and some of our routes just don't have them. I always pee before leaving the house, and I try not to over hydrate. It is certainly an issue at times, not like out hiking miles from people. Art
i wanted to ask, and hope I am not prying, but what is this grapefruit sized tumor you spoke of? Are you ill? Art
Hi Art,
Thanks for the concern. It's not a cancerous tumor. Just an annoying fibroid tumor that has grown actually bigger than a grapefruit and feels almost 7" wide x 3" tall and I don't know how deep, but deep enough to put pressure against my bladder and intestines. The doctor told me my options. I'm hoping that it'll go away eventually on it's own.
Wow, that sounds pretty awful but I am glad to hear it is not cancer. Good luck with it, hope some of the options are good ones. Art
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