Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon - TriathlonOther


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San Francisco, California
United States
IMG
Total Time = 4h 03m 21s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Got into San Fran on Friday. Took a pretty funny shuttle ride from the airport to the hotel with this older couple from back east. The guy felt the need to read signs aloud as we passed them! Got to the hotel and just settled in before exploring around a little. Saturday, Amy and I headed over to the pre-race meeting to get some info and get all signed in.

I have been such an amazing slacker these past months after IMAZ and kept telling myself I would start training soon. Unfortunately the race date arrived before the 'soon' date came around, so I just decided to crank through the race, try to not suffer too much and cross the finish line.
Event warmup:

Woke-up @ about 4 am, grabbed my stuff and quietly headed out of the hotel room. Amy always makes it out to the race starts but since we start next to the island I felt it would be better for her to sleep in and make it to the swim exit, good decision because otherwise she would have been waiting hours just for me to get out of the water! Arrived at the race site, set-up my transition area, dropped off my swim exit bag and tried to stay warm. Went ahead and rode one of the buses over to the dock and waited to get on the boat. They let us on the boat about 5:45 and then I just napped and talked to people around me to pass the time. It was cool when the boat got going and we headed out towards the island, that's when you could feel the energy level rise everybody stoked to get the day started.
Swim
  • 40m 22s
  • 2414 meters
  • 01m 40s / 100 meters
Comments:

My plan was to set a nice relaxed pace and get out of the water feeling good. I only swam 2 or 3 times this year but always feel comfortable in the water, so just cruised along slowly, sighted far to the left and let the current push me sideways. In the middle of the swim I swam a little breaststroke and turn around to look at Alcatraz Island, the views were super cool! Swam right to the beach exit and I was out of the water.
Took me a bit to get my wetsuit off my heels but I finally won that battle and got on my extra running shoes to make the 1/4 mile or so run to the main transition area.
Transition 1
  • 13m 35s
Comments:

Quick switch to the bike shoes and out on the course I headed! Time includes run from swim exit.
Bike
  • 1h 24m 58s
  • 18 miles
  • 12.71 mile/hr
Comments:

I rented a bike for this race because I didn't want to travel with my bike for such a short ride. It was a flat handled road bike because I got the rental idea a little late and that was all they had, but it got the job done. Just spun my up the hills and cruised along, trying to save something in the legs for what I knew was going to a tough run. The bike course was really cool but I was glad when I got to the downhill section that takes you back to the marina and transition!
Transition 2
  • 03m 29s
Comments:

Took my time getting ready for the run, downed a GU and headed out.
Run
  • 1h 40m 58s
  • 8 miles
  • 12m 37s  min/mile
Comments:

Ran as much as possible, had to walk up most of the hills, but the beauty of the race course kept me going. The running along the beach with the little waves crashing next to you was awesome! I hit the turn around and ran back down the beach towards the sand ladder. Hauled myself up the sand ladder with quite a bit of help from the cables! I actually started to feel better the last couple miles of the run as we headed back towards the marina and the finish line!
Post race
Warm down:

Found Amy, collected my stuff and headed back to the hotel for a nice shower and a couple of beers with lunch!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I should have trained :)

Event comments:

This race was a fantastic experience! It was extremely well run and easily the most beautiful course I have raced on! The only negative I found was the disorganized way you had to pick-up you transition bags after the race. They were in this huge corral in piles loosely sorted by number and they wouldn't let the athletes into this area. Everyone is trying to get the attention of a volunteer to find their bag for them. Almost all the volunteers were trying very hard to do a good job but it was set-up poorly. When people are to try to bribe the volunteers to get their bag it is not a good sign! Everything else about this race was awesome and I would highly recommend doing it!

And then we went to Napa and enjoyed some tasty wines!




Last updated: 2010-01-28 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:40:22 | 2414 meters | 01m 40s / 100meters
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Below average
Suit:
Course: From the boat next to Alcatraz Island to the Golden Gate Yacht Club beach.
Start type: Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 13:35
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:24:58 | 18 miles | 12.71 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Below average
Wind:
Course: Pretty impressive bike course through Golden Gate Park. They squeezed quite few hills into 18 miles, I was impressed!
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 03:29
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
01:40:58 | 08 miles | 12m 37s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Bad
Course: Unbelievably beautiful run course! Along the marina up some hills on a trail, and down to Baker beach and back.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 5