Jailbreak
Escape from Alcatraz
San Francisco, CA
1.5 mile Swim/18 mile Bike/8 mile Run
Splits
Total: 3:36:42 (1293/1619 OA, 251 F, 57/90 AG)
Swim: 42:42 (1307, 287, 62)
T1: 11:28 (1338, 298, 66)
Bike: 1:17:29 (1309, 263, 51)
T2: 2:35 (1004, 214, 47)
Run: 1:22:26 (1162, 227, 50)
Fashion Report: Black tri shorts, red Sugoi shimmel, Promotion Power Glide wetsuit/swim booties/ neoprene hood for the swim, black Transition Girl skirt for the run, LIT visor, & a temporary Red Lizard tat on my right shoulder
First Breakfast: 2 packets of oatmeal with dried cherries, peach yogurt, bad coffee, water
Second Breakfast: Chocolate chip Clif Bar
Race Nutrition: 3 Gus (20 min before swim, on run to T1, in T2), water, Cytomax on the run
Post Race Libation: Lagunitas IPA
You know about the race. The one that you dream of one day doing. For some, it's Boston. Others, Ironman. For me, it was Alcatraz. Ever since I saw people on TV jumping off a boat into the San Francisco Bay, I've wanted to do this race. A bit of luck at the 2007 Escape from the Gorge, six months of training, lots of hills, lots of drills, and now I can make it happen.
Our "Tour" Support Vehicle
Prologue
Chad & I got into town Friday afternoon with just enough time to drive the bike course before meeting up with our friends, Joe, Ron, & Ron's wife Liz for dinner. Ron was also a fellow Escapee. What I saw had me quaking in my shoes and was the cause of a full on anxiety attack later that night at 2 AM. While I was expecting a lot of hills (it is SF after all), I don't think I expected them to be quite so high nor did I expect that there would be a sharp left or right turn at the bottom of every one. Couple that with crappy roads and I was looking at the toughest, most technical course I had ever seen. Not to mention the possibility of having to dodge wildlife (no, not the human kind) while screaming downhill at 40 mph. Who knew there were coyotes in SF? Apparently there are enough to put up "Coyote Crossing" signs on certain roads along the course.
Are we back in Arizona?!?
Chad, Me, Joe, Ron
Up early on Saturday to meet Ron at Aquatic Park so we can do a short open water swim in the Bay. The water was cold but definitely manageable and it served to calm my nerves. We spent some time bobbing & chatting getting carried by the current before heading back to shore to get cleaned up for the Alcatraz Island tour. For first timers, the tour is great and I highly recommend it. A few coaches from Tri-California led the group and it was a great opportunity to pick their brains in a more intimate setting. They shared some nuggets of wisdom, siting tips, and described the giddy feeling they always get when finishing this race. Even Eric, a 20 year race veteran, still got giddy. We walked around a bit playing tourist before heading back to shore for lunch, packet pick-up, and the mandatory pre-race meeting. After my typical pre-race dinner of grilled salmon, rice, and veggies, it was back to the hotel to finish packing my special needs bags and to try to get some solid sleep.
Race Morning
3 AM sure came early and my body did not appreciate being made to eat breakfast at that hour. We packed up the car and drove to SF and parked under the 101 at Crissy Field. I biked the 1.5 miles to transition while Chad ran over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and back for his long run of the week. I quickly set up my spot, dropped off my T1 bag, and got on a bus to Pier 3 and immediately found Ron. What were the odds? We got body marked and just did a lot of waiting until it was time to load up the boat. Once on the boat and on the water, many of us started the rather comical dance called "Getting into Your Wetsuit". We hung out with Matt from Milwaukee who was a perfectly nice guy but started to drive me a little crazy. As the boat neared Alcatraz, he started getting more and more freaked out and telling us how bad the chop looked and how there were so many swirling eddies. I can't deal with that much negative energy when I'm trying to maintain a zen-like calmness so it was a relief when they finally opened the doors and the mass of people started moving towards them.
Yeah...That's Far
The Swim:
My mantra – Stroke, stroke, stroke, breathe, relax!
Can you believe they unloaded 2000 athletes in 6 minutes? A few jumpers every 3 seconds. I took the plunge and swam hard to get away from the boat. It was cold but it didn't take my breath away. I stopped to get my bearings and started to swim to shore.
If there were two things to take away from our talk with the coaches, it was the following: 1. The Sutro radio tower is your friend and 2. the Bay rewards patient swimmers. While the swim is technically 1.5 miles point-to-point, with a screaming 4.8 knot current you swim a big arc and actually swim closer to 2 miles as you try to make it across the river that is the Bay. It was a real-life geometry problem. I didn't fail geometry in school and I certainly wasn't going to now. I settled in as much as I could with 2000 of my closest friends. I know what the Ironman swim feels like now - three people swam over me, I got hit, kicked, punched. It wasn't long before I got into a steady rhythm of a smooth stroke with bilateral breathing, siting every 10-12 strokes keeping the tower between 1-2 o'clock. I stopped a few times to just bob and take in the sea lion's eye view of the city. It's a sight that makes you feel both small & inconsequential and on top of the world at the same time. Pretty soon, I could hear the roar of the crowd as I neared the beach and thanks to my friend, the tower, hit a straight line in. I stood up and almost immediately got knocked back due to the ebbing tide. I found my bag, toweled off a bit, threw on my shoes sans socks, and grabbed my water bottle to rinse the salt water from my mouth and take the Gu I had taped to it during the 1 km run to T1.
The Bike:
My mantra – I am a bad a$$ bike chick, relax, spin, and don't hit any coyotes!
Socks & bike shoes on, helmet & sunglasses on, and Bella and I were off. There was a small headwind on the flat going down Marina Drive so I tucked into aero and spun easy to finish waking up the legs. Now it's time to climb, climb, and climb some more. Up through the Seacliff neighborhood (I didn't see Robin Williams), past the coyote crossing signs where I giggled to myself and where I saw eventual winner, Andy Potts, on his return leg going mind-numbingly fast, by the sand ladder exit, and up to the Legion of Honor where a guy in a pigsuit was manning an aid station. Ah, San Francisco. I swear these hills looked bigger in the car. Down the Wall, crap it's steep. Down past the Cliff House where I kicked it into the big gear and prepared to get some nice quality aero speed on the Great Highway flat. Turn into Golden Gate Park where the crappiest of crappy roads are. It's too bad too since it's moderately rolling so you could conceivably build up quite a bit of speed in this section....if you don't value your neck. Then we turn around and do it in reverse. All through the race, I was riding with a guy in a blue Pearl Izumi jersey and we just kept passing and repassing each other. I powered past him on all the uphills and he took more chances on the downhills. I rode the downhills conservatively since I really wanted to live to see the run. I could see he was fading a bit though and I passed him for good on the climb back past the Cliff House which came right before the Wall at mile 12. I dropped one more gear to my 23 and just started spinning. I almost took out a guy who stopped and got off his bike street-side to hike it. A bit of a swerve and I was spinning once more. Any forward momentum is good at this point. Once I crested, this well of giddy energy just started to swell up inside me and I felt myself start to smile. Two more moderate hills and I've got this puppy nailed! Back past the pig, down through Seacliff (I didn't look for Robin Williams), charged up the last climb on Baker Beach, and kicked it into my big gear for the last downhill and flat section before T2. Two down, one to go.
My mantra – Stroke, stroke, stroke, breathe, relax!
Can you believe they unloaded 2000 athletes in 6 minutes? A few jumpers every 3 seconds. I took the plunge and swam hard to get away from the boat. It was cold but it didn't take my breath away. I stopped to get my bearings and started to swim to shore.
The Swim Start
The Bike:
My mantra – I am a bad a$$ bike chick, relax, spin, and don't hit any coyotes!
Socks & bike shoes on, helmet & sunglasses on, and Bella and I were off. There was a small headwind on the flat going down Marina Drive so I tucked into aero and spun easy to finish waking up the legs. Now it's time to climb, climb, and climb some more. Up through the Seacliff neighborhood (I didn't see Robin Williams), past the coyote crossing signs where I giggled to myself and where I saw eventual winner, Andy Potts, on his return leg going mind-numbingly fast, by the sand ladder exit, and up to the Legion of Honor where a guy in a pigsuit was manning an aid station. Ah, San Francisco. I swear these hills looked bigger in the car. Down the Wall, crap it's steep. Down past the Cliff House where I kicked it into the big gear and prepared to get some nice quality aero speed on the Great Highway flat. Turn into Golden Gate Park where the crappiest of crappy roads are. It's too bad too since it's moderately rolling so you could conceivably build up quite a bit of speed in this section....if you don't value your neck. Then we turn around and do it in reverse. All through the race, I was riding with a guy in a blue Pearl Izumi jersey and we just kept passing and repassing each other. I powered past him on all the uphills and he took more chances on the downhills. I rode the downhills conservatively since I really wanted to live to see the run. I could see he was fading a bit though and I passed him for good on the climb back past the Cliff House which came right before the Wall at mile 12. I dropped one more gear to my 23 and just started spinning. I almost took out a guy who stopped and got off his bike street-side to hike it. A bit of a swerve and I was spinning once more. Any forward momentum is good at this point. Once I crested, this well of giddy energy just started to swell up inside me and I felt myself start to smile. Two more moderate hills and I've got this puppy nailed! Back past the pig, down through Seacliff (I didn't look for Robin Williams), charged up the last climb on Baker Beach, and kicked it into my big gear for the last downhill and flat section before T2. Two down, one to go.
Charging Up Baker Beach
The Run:
My mantra – Run strong, run proud, and bring it home!
A quick change in T2 and then it was time to run. I spent the first two miles just getting my running legs under me and relaxing my body just in time for the miles of uphill trail, stairs (huh?), and steep switchbacks started. Whoa...not expecting these obstacles. And this was all before the hard section on Baker Beach! I originally wanted to pull 9 m/m for the run but had to dial back those expectations when I started seeing what the course threw at me. In addition to the mostly trail run, there was a tunnel that was 6 ft high on one end and about 5 ft high on the other end, low tree branches, and recreational cyclists wobbling down the paths while sightseeing. Due to my slight stature, I didn't have to do much ducking but at times I was weaving like a drunken sailor avoiding branches and the aforementioned cyclists. A guy following me wasn't so lucky. I passed under a tree branch right before an aid station and he figured that since I didn't duck, he didn't have to and was rewarded with a mouthful of pine. A few laughs about it at the aid station and then the downhill to Baker Beach started. I was feeling very strong and kept picking off other runners. A winding trail down to the beach and I made a beeline for the harder packed sand at the water's edge. The turnaround looks so far away when you feel like you're running in a barrel of taffy. Past the turnaround and back up the beach to the other end where the sand ladder is. Gave a high five to Ron when I saw him making his way to the turnaround, started dodging the incoming tide (who needs wet shoes at this point), and there it was - the Sand Ladder. All those years of climbing Camelback Mountain when I was living in Phoenix paid off. I picked a steady rhythm, one step at a time, and summited sooner than I expected.
My mantra – Run strong, run proud, and bring it home!
A quick change in T2 and then it was time to run. I spent the first two miles just getting my running legs under me and relaxing my body just in time for the miles of uphill trail, stairs (huh?), and steep switchbacks started. Whoa...not expecting these obstacles. And this was all before the hard section on Baker Beach! I originally wanted to pull 9 m/m for the run but had to dial back those expectations when I started seeing what the course threw at me. In addition to the mostly trail run, there was a tunnel that was 6 ft high on one end and about 5 ft high on the other end, low tree branches, and recreational cyclists wobbling down the paths while sightseeing. Due to my slight stature, I didn't have to do much ducking but at times I was weaving like a drunken sailor avoiding branches and the aforementioned cyclists. A guy following me wasn't so lucky. I passed under a tree branch right before an aid station and he figured that since I didn't duck, he didn't have to and was rewarded with a mouthful of pine. A few laughs about it at the aid station and then the downhill to Baker Beach started. I was feeling very strong and kept picking off other runners. A winding trail down to the beach and I made a beeline for the harder packed sand at the water's edge. The turnaround looks so far away when you feel like you're running in a barrel of taffy. Past the turnaround and back up the beach to the other end where the sand ladder is. Gave a high five to Ron when I saw him making his way to the turnaround, started dodging the incoming tide (who needs wet shoes at this point), and there it was - the Sand Ladder. All those years of climbing Camelback Mountain when I was living in Phoenix paid off. I picked a steady rhythm, one step at a time, and summited sooner than I expected.
One Should Not Be This Happy on the Sand Ladder
One last uphill and it was downhill the rest of the way. I kicked it up a notch and continued to pass people. Yay! There's the last aid station! One more mile after that. I grabbed a water and slowed to drink, started coughing and sprayed water on the poor volunteer. After a moment of shock and mortification, I apologized profusely and we all ended up getting a big laugh out of it. Time to kick it home. I came out on to Marina Drive for the home stretch. High fives to Chad, Joe, Chad's Uncle Robert, and all the kids I saw with their hands out. I was floating at that point. Into the finish chute for my final kick and I was done. I've ESCAPED!
I Love Running!
I now understand the giddy feeling Reed and Eric were describing on our tour. I've been smiling for hours. This was an epic race and one I think every triathlete should try to do in their lifetime. So if you ever get the chance, take it and run. It's not like any other race you'll ever do. It's simply Alcatraz.
posted by Raquel @ 3:22 PM
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