Body Marking & Long-Sleeved Tri Shirts
I've been giving some thought to buying one of the Craft long-sleeved tri shirts to wear at IMC this year after causing myself some serious, permanent sun damage to my shoulders last year. These shirts are supposed to be 50+SPF so theoretically you shouldn't have to worry about sunscreen other than for your neck/head and legs. If anyone has experience with these, I would love to hear about it, but my very practical question is whether having your arms fully covered would cause problems when it comes time to get body marked. I would hate to spend $100+ (I would need to pay extortionist shipping rates up to Canada) on a specific-purpose garment only to be told by WTC that I can't wear it because they have to be able to see the number on my arm. Anyone have any idea if this would be an issue? Thanks.
Comments
In my opinion/experience, bodymarking is for pictures only. Any official is gonna rely on the race number on your race belt/singlet, not a smeared on your bicep or thigh. Also, there are no officials watching the body marking area for infractions
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Short answer, it's a non-issue. If it were up to me, I'd likely skip body marking all together, just put my age on my calf.
I've never had an issue with long sleeves in an IM: arm warmers on the bike, and once on a cold day in Idaho, long sleeves on the run. Nobody said nothin'. The race belt number ought to be enough, I agree. My body markings are always sweated and sunscreened to illegibility by the end of the race.
I have raced HIMs for a number of years in a long sleved top for the same reasons you are thinking about it.
It works fine and I have never had any issues with Officials about it. I get my number written on the back of my hand.
Because I was worried about it creating turbulance (and there drag), I had it altered so it fits tightly — that said, I never think about it in a race
I'm a pale Canadian, grew up in US, but now live with the vikings and fellow pigmentally-challenged folks in Denmark. I consider myself a bit of an expert on this.
HIGHLY recommend the long-sleeve option. Never has been a problem with body-marking, including at M-dot events. I've asked out of precaution ahead of time and was always prepared to pull the "I have a skin condition" line (I don't), but have never had to. It was never an issue.
I was a big fan of the Skins white long sleeve compression tops, and am itching to try their "Skins Ice" version. But its a lot of $ to fork over for a shirt. And now Fusion (an awesome Danish brand growing in Europe) has a system out...including ice packs for the pockets! Itching to try that one too.
Last year my go-to option was the long sleeve skin cooler top from De Soto. That top rocks because of the pockets in the back.
Either way, both tops have like 50 SPF. I have never worn sunscreen under them and have never had a problem. They are tight-enough to wear under a wetsuit without any issues, which is nice because putting them on in T1 can suck.
For non-wetsuit events, I usually wear a tri-suit and then throw on the De Soto coolwings in T1. Again, never any sunburn problems.
From my experience, the protection from the sun and lack of fried skin makes controls my body temp better than without a long sleeve top.
I got fried at the Texas 70.3 and need something to avoid that at IMTX. I do have two Desoto long sleeve Skin Cooler tops but that meshy & scratchy material might be a nightmare for 9-10 hours worth of biking and running. Plus it would be harder to get on after the swim. Looks like the Craft might be easier given the full zipper.
I'd love to rock the EN top and represent at IMTX but I need to stay cool and avoid getting burned to a crisp.
My only issue with the Craft shirt is that once it gets wet, it is very sheer. It is comfortable but when you are packing the extra lbs like I am, it isn't a good look. I'm debating wearing a dry fit shirt on top of the Craft for the evening run during IMTX.
Oh and the shirt works best when wet. What I do is take sips of water from my aero drink and then spit them on my sleeves on the bike. All my bottles have drink mix in them so this is the easiest way for me to get the sleeves wet which makes them cooler.
@Michael: Be careful with that switch. Here's what happened to me, despite the whole shower night before, sunscreen before bed, and more sunscreen in the morning without showering: