Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon - TriathlonOther

Chuck and I got on the boat pretty early and had our pick of where to sit. We figured out which side of the boat we would be jumping from and grabbed a spot right next to door and windows on the bottom floor. We had a good hour before the swim start, so we hung out on the boat, chatted with a few first timers and veterans about navigating the swim. One guy gave me a good tip that I'm glad I listened to. The race director kept telling people to aim south towards the Fontana Towers to get 'across the river' and then turn west where the current will bring you to the beach. Well, the Fontana Towers looked pretty far east from where the swim finish was, so I was nervous about sighting correctly so I don't overshoot the exit and end up having to swim up stream. Well, a guy who's done this swim many times told me that he was going to aim closer to the Fort Mason piers and the red roof of the Yacht Club because he was a stronger swimmer and didn't think the Fontana Tower route was the most direct (and fastest). I started getting nervous and told Chuck I felt like throwing up. I usually get nervous before any swim of a race, but my nerves were really elevated. I was wasn't worried about sharks or the water temperature, I was worried about navigating wrong and having to swim upstream from the Golden Gate Bridge.
As we arrived at The Rock, we still had 15 minutes until the start. I put my wetsuit on and took some pictures of everyone on the boat. I noticed a guy sitting down with hand paddles on. He was missing his legs. Chuck and I gave him a thumbs up and he smiled. We then saw a guy with a big heart drawn on his chest with a black marker. He had a heart transplant a year ago and was excited about the challenge ahead with his new heart. I was so inspired and instantly felt at ease wondering what I was worried about. If these guys can do this, why am I nervous? My hat goes off to those guys and I thank them for my inspiration when times get tough in a race. I think about what they're going through and it gives me strength to press on. Well, before I knew it, we saw the pros line up on the edge of the boat and I realized it was almost show time. We had a great spot next to the door and window where we got to see the Pros dive off. Everyone was pumped up and cheering as we heard the announcement that we had 1 minute to go.
I put on my goggles, turned to Chuck with a smile and said, here we go. Let's do this! Good luck and have fun. That's when the horn blew. I looked out and saw people jumping in the water from both ends of the boat. Even though we were right at the edge of the door, Chuck wanted to let a lot of people go ahead of us so we can use them to site for us. I then realized we were standing on the timing mat. So, our time officially started. I told Chuck, we might as well go ahead and go since our time is ticking away. He agreed and I jumped in first. He did a flip off the boat right behind me and we were off.
When I entered the water, I was actually shocked...not that the water was so cold, but that it wasn't as cold as the day before. It felt comfortable. I was relieved and soon got into my rhythm. I felt great during the swim, but remembered it feeling weird that the water that was going into my mouth was cold and salty. I've swam in the ocean before (not during a race), but the water has always been warm. So it was just a strange feeling.
During the first 5 minutes, I sighted off the Fontana Towers like we were told. I also remember being advised to keep 2/3 of the people on my left and 1/3 on my right. Well, I looked around and saw more people on my right. I quickly decided that the longer I aimed for the Fontana Towers, the more likely I was going to end up at those Towers. The finish looked so far right that I decided to aim for the gold dome which was just left of the exit. As I continued to sight off the dome, I felt like I was heading directly towards the exit. After about 15 minutes, I flipped over on my back to check out the views. I saw Alcatraz behind me, the Bay Bridge on my right, and the Golden Gate Bridge to my left. It was a beautiful sight. I hope to never forget that image of being in the middle of the bay surrounded by such famous landmarks. After doing breast stroke for a few seconds to enjoy the view of San Fran, I got back to freestyle. The water started to get rough at spots and I swallowed a little salt water. I started to feel the rhythm of the waves and timed my breaths to catch the lulls so I wouldn't get a wave splashing into my face. When I saw the red roof of the yacht club and the crowds of people on the beach, I realized I was getting pretty close. I looked at my watch and saw my time was 25 minutes. I was shocked. I was anticipating a swim time of 45 minutes. I knew I only had another 5 or 6 minutes to go, so I was stoked about how fast the swim was. As I approached the beach, I swam until my hand hit the bottom and then stood up and ran in. I began to wonder if Steve would even see me. He was expecting me around 45 minutes, so I wasn't sure if he'd be looking for me yet. So, I immediately took off my cap and goggles hoping he would recognize me faster. And a few seconds later, he did. I heard him yelling so loudly for me and was shouting out how fast my time was. I smiled so big and just realized that I survived the swim from Alcatraz. And incredible feeling of adrenalin came over me and I just yelled back to him how much fun that was.

Nothing

I ran into the mini transition area where I stripped my wetsuit, found my bag, put on my Newtons, and stuffed my wetsuit, goggles, and cap back into the bag. I began the .7 mile run to the main transition area with Steve yelling behind me. I love having him cheer me on. It gives me such a boost.
I ran into T1, put on my bike stuff (decided it was warm enough to skip the arm warmers), and ran my bike out.

Nothing. I debated whether to wear shoes or not between the transition areas. The roads were rough so I decided to wear shoes even though it would add a few minutes to my transition time. After talking to a few people afterwards that ran barefoot, I realized I made the right decision. Their feet were sore from that run.

Overall, the bike was great. After the first 1.5 miles of flat road, you quickly realize how hilly San Francisco is. I was glad I had a compact crank to help me up those hills. I definitely used my easiest gears for this course. I liked that it was an out and back course because I got to watch the pros head back on the bike. I got to see who was in the lead and it looked like they were all hauling butt. Those guys amaze me at how fast they can ride up some of those hills. The course was very technical. I felt strong on the up hills, but very timid on the down hills. I didn't want to go screaming fast downhill because 1) the roads were very rough and I was afraid of hitting a pothole or huge crack in the road and get thrown from my bike, 2) the race directors said we could get penalties if we cross the yellow line and aggressively pass people on the downhills were it could risk everyone's safety, and 3) many downhills had sharp right/left hand turns at the bottom, so I wanted to take them slow so I wouldn't crash coming into the turn. The scenery was beautiful, though. We passed by the Golden Gate Bridge, the Legion of Honor (highest point on the course with a nice fountain), road by the cliffs with gorgeous views of the ocean, and into the Golden Gate Park. The roads were very rough and made me nervous. It was actually so nice when we entered the turn around in the Golden Gate Park where the road was paved. Finally nice, smooth road where I could fly in my aerobars. But that didn't last too long. Then it was back up some of those screamers that we came down earlier. During one of the smaller climbs, my chain came off. Luckily I was able to get it to catch the small crank ring and shifted it back in place without having to get off my bike. Ugh, I hate when that happens. At least I recovered this one quickly.
During the long climb up the coast past Bakers Beach, I saw Hunter Kemper running down the hill with Bevon Docherty in the chase. Those guys were flying!
After the last long climb, we had a fast downhill and flat 1.5 miles into transition. I took that time to spin a higher cadence and get my legs loose for the run. As I approached transition, I heard Steve yelling for me. I smiled, pumped up my hand, and yelled back at how much fun I'm having. Yes, I'm one of those people who love pain and keep a smile on my face (most of the time) as I'm racing. I just love the adrenalin of racing. And this course just fed into that more than any race I've ever done.

Nothing exciting (thankfully) happened in transition. Took off my helmet and sunglasses, slipped on my shoes, put on my knee strap, grabbed my visor and race number, and ran out.

Nothing

I ran out of transition and soon heard Steve yelling for me. I was wondering how Chuck was doing and Steve said he was only 1.5 minutes ahead of me. That was great. I didn't think I could catch him, but I knew I'd get to see him at some point since it was an out and back run. I settled into a pace that I thought I could hold for the entire 8 mile run (excluding the beach and sand ladder). I was holding a 7:20 pace and felt pretty good. The first 2 miles were flat as you ran along the waters edge towards the Golden Gate Bridge. I soon saw Hunter Kemper cruising towards me. He was in the lead with a mile to go and looked strong. About 40 seconds later, I saw Bevon Docherty, then Andy Potts 20 seconds later. About a mintue later, Macca and two others were running in a pack trying to gain on Andy. Seeing those guys took my mind off the long run I had ahead of me. But soon I was back to focusing on my run. At mile 2, I began the long 300 foot climb on windy trails, steps, through a tunnel that starts around 8 ft high and ends around 4 ft. I made sure to duck low as I've heard people talking about bonking their head on that tunnel. Then it was more trail running, down some stairs where I almost had a head on collision with Michellie Jones (sorry MJ), and then a windy narrow trail as we continue to climb. With my heart rate skyrocketing, I finally made it to the top where I hit the road. It was then downhill on road and onto the trail and more stairs to take us down to Baker Beach. I hit the sand and ran towards the water where the hard packed sand was easier to run on. I was heading towards the turn around on the beach when I saw Chuck heading towards me. He had his camera out and we yelled at each other. He told me to hurry up and I told him to wait for me. haha I couldn't run any faster than I was. I hit the turn around and ran the last part of the mile on the beach towards the sand ladder. I saw Chuck hit the ladder taking the steps 2 at a time. That was awesome! I was wondering how long he'd last until he started walking. He made it about 10 steps before he slowed. Very impressive. :) I came up to the base of the ladder where the sand was so thick. I remember saying, holy crap, this is the worst part right here. Just as I was saying that, a camera man brought up his video camera in my face and started filming. I hope that won't make the it on TV because if he kept filming, he quickly saw that I took my time walking up each step. I wasn't about to run up those like Chuck did. My legs were already on fire and my hips/glutes were so sore from the injury I've been dealing with. As I walked up the sand ladder, I made use of the cable railing on each side. At first, I was on the left side of the ladder, but I soon realized that the steps were covered in sand and the right side was still showing the wooden beams where I could get more leverage. About half way up, I looked up and saw Chuck standing on the side, filming me as I climbed up. It was great. We then continued to climb the rest of the ladder together and began to run the rest of the race together. At the top of the ladder, you think the worst is over. But you quickly realize there's still a hill you have to continue up until you reach the top. Chuck and I ran together through the trails. I told him the worst is finally over and it's all downhill from here. He said he was hurting and we still had 3 miles to go. So I quickly reminded him that "anyone can fun a 5k". Dan would always give that advice for our half ironman races. Chuck agreed and we picked up the pac. He sped up ahead as he was a much better at descending down the stairs and trails than I was. As we hit the flat trail, I caught up to him and we ran side by side the rest of the way. As we could see the finish line in sight, he got out his camera to film it. He looked at me and said, "you're not wanting to sprint this thing in, are you?" I said definitely not, I had nothing left in me to do any sort of sprint. I wanted to soak up every second as we ran through the finishing chute. He said, good, and we turned the corner and into the chute. I saw Steve right there cheering and I ran over and gave him a quick hug. Chuck filmed the whole thing as we ran down the long chute and crossed the line. They announced our names as we crossed the line together. It was awesome! I was so excited to be done, yet a part of me was sad it was over. My favorite parts of the race were anticipating Steve cheering for me as I approached transitions and the finish line, and having Chuck on the course with me during the last 3 miles to talk to. There's no doubt I wouldn't have enjoyed the race as much without him. I'm glad it worked out like it did and we got to share the finish together. It was by far the hardest race that I've ever done. But it was also the most fun I've ever had. What an amazing event. I will never forget it!

My hip/glute pain hindered my run. But luckily the knee strap prevented any knee pain, which could have brought me to a walk if it acted up.