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July 17, 2005
Escape from Alcatraz
When I first heard that there was actually a triathlon that swam from Alcatraz back to shore, I was intrigued. I was used to watching PBS or the history channel and how no one ever escaped. This was the first year I did a triathlon. My “tri-mentor”, Susan, had told me about the race and we both agreed it would be super cool to do it some day. I think that was 1998.
I never forgot about the possibility of some day doing Escape from Alcatraz. I even videotaped the telecast one year, still not realizing how difficult of a race it would be. I trained for various other races, knowing I wasn’t ready for “alcatraz”. Not to mention the logistics of flying with a bike, a place to stay in San Francisco, etc. Then about two years ago my sister moved to the San Francisco area. Then she moved into the city. However, I was getting married and all my vacation time was getting sucked into wedding and honeymoon.
So last November, I visited the Escape from Alcatraz website, which of course I had bookmarked on my computer for years now. I saw the random drawing, and I put my name in. I thought, well, if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. I also thought I might have had a pretty good chance, since they will take 1 man and 1 woman from each state.
Sure enough, the day after the drawing, I had an email on my computer saying I got in. My first thought was “no way!”, then I thought, “oh no, I actually have to do this now!”
So I paid, and got off to doing some training. Laid out a plan, and made sure it included lots of my personal favorite, “hill work”. Ugh!
I think I rode the broadway hill about 50 times. I used the computrainer to do the 2004 olympic triathlon course, which was basically like doing hill repeats with a 15% grade. I mapped out a roughly 7-8 mile run course with the most nasty hilly course I could figure out. On that one, I ran up the Broadway hill at mile 4. Right when I would hit “the sand ladder”.
We FedEx-ed my road bike to my sister’s workplace in San Francisco. Ken decided I would be riding my road bike. It has a triple up front – 52/42/32, and a 12-25 in the back. This was a very good decision.
My sister only lives about 3 blocks from the transition area. That was really nice. The fitness festival the day before was pretty good, quite a few vendors. I listened to the race talk, which emphasized greatly to follow the swim instructions to a “T”. But they also told us, if we got way off course, we would be picked up in a boat, repositioned, and sent on our way again, with no penalty or disqualification. We were also told the water was about 56 degrees. Full wetsuit and neoprene “hood” are a must.
Race morning, the transition area opened at 5am. I was down there around 5:30am or so. I put my gear in my assigned spot, and headed for the bus. I also turned in my “swim finish” bag, where you put a pair of shoes and whatever else for the short run from the swim finish to the transition area. Then I boarded the bus that would take me to the boat. At the boat dock, which is a good 20 minute ride from the transition area, they have porta-potties and body marking. Then you board the old Mississippi riverboat for the voyage to the island. Once we were under way, I started to put my wetsuit on. I made some friends with the people around me, they had gotten in on the lottery as well.
Upon reaching Alcatraz, we circled the island once, and then held position. The pros took off right before my wave. There was a helicopter and a boat with TV cameras. It was so exciting! Then it was time for my wave! There was a timing pad right where you jump, so they can time you accurately. Everyone shuffled off to this one narrow opening to jump. I thought I was going to land on the gal who jumped right before me.
The shock of the cold water was amazing. I knew mentally it was going to happen so I just started swimming, telling myself I would be just fine. Once I was a little bit away, I rolled over onto my back to get a view of Alcatraz I may never get again. It loomed large and intimidating over the water. Then I got on with it. The swim was great. I was really enjoying myself. The view of San Francisco is very beautiful. The water was cold, but I warmed up enough, and there wasn’t a lot of waves. When I finished the swim, I was a bit too far to the left, which means I swam quite a bit straighter than most people, so I had to float over a ways. It was then that I noticed how strong the current was. Basically, they have you aim straight across, but you get swept down the shore big time.
Leaving the water was great, I waved to my sister, and headed to my swim bag. The bags are in numerical order. You take your wetsuit off, put your shoes on, and then put your wetsuit in the bag and tie it shut! I got to transition, grabbed my bike, and headed off.
There was a little bit of a wind, but I was hoping not the wind that whipped up the day before, I could barely stand upright. I hit the first hill in stride, I was feeling great. Then I kept downshifting, and downshifting. Up ahead, I could hear a gal saying “I think I can, I think I can”. It made me laugh. Then I realized why. When I got there, I was in my easiest gear! The bike course was the toughest bike ride I have ever been on in my entire life. I needed all my gears. It seemed I was going either 5mph or 25+. At one point, I turned the corner and said, “holey smokes!” A guy behind me responded, “no kidding!” For that hill, I was in my 32/25 and standing. I wondered if I would flip over backwards. Another racer near by was walking his bike up the hill. If I hadn’t had a triple, I would have been hurting. I’m not sure if I could have gotten up some of those hills.
When I got back to T2 and got off my bike, I wondered how on earth was I going to run 8 miles? I took off running anyway. The run was tough, but not quite as tough as that bike ride. I’d say a good preparation for the Alcatraz run is “Dances with Dirt”. Running on Baker Beach was not very much fun. We had to traverse deep soft sand 4 times. At the end of Baker Beach you hit the sand ladder. I knew ahead of time I’d be walking up this one. So I did. It wasn’t that bad. Clif Bar had a tent at the top and they were jammin’ some good tunes. That really helped. From that point, I knew it was mostly downhill and flat until the end. The last two miles were flat and sunny. I was feeling very tired by this point. My energy revived a bit when I started coming down the finish chute.
I was very happy to have finished! I accomplished my goal. I had also made sure to smile at all the camera people taking photos on the course so I’d have good pics. I think Alcatraz was tougher than the Steelhead half ironman I did last year. I didn’t buy any of my souvenirs until after the race, my mistake. They were out of a lot of stuff, I got the last medium sweatshirt, a large hoodie, a running hat, and an XL t-shirt. Good thing I sew, I was able to make the XL t-shirt into a small/medium. Even the race shirt they gave me, a medium, I made smaller.
Posted by admin at July 17, 2005 12:39 PM