Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon - Triathlon

Jumping off of that boat is probably one of the hardest things that I've ever done, but I'm so glad that I did it. Once in the water, I tried to settle in, but never could get comfortable. Pretty soon I was out in the water by myself. I kept sighting frequently to make sure I was not heading back towards Alcatraz :) The fog was thick and we couldn't make out the Towers so I just sighted to the left of Fort Mason. After a while, I could see the Fort Mason piers and then the Dome. I could see boats in the distance on both sides of me but none even close so I kept going about my business. There were some dark thoughts for a brief time about quitting and why was I doing this to myself, but I tried to push those thoughts away and focus on the swimming. Soon, I could see a big orange buoy at the beach. I was even with it by the time I could see it, and ended up missing it by about 100 yards or so. Once my hands hit the bottom, I stood up and ran back up the beach to T 0.5.


Try to relax. Sight less often. I was so nervous about getting off course that I was sighting on every other cycle. Otherwise, I'm proud that I didn't give up and wasn't picked up by a boat or kayak (either to reposition me during the swim or haul me out of the water due to missing the time cut off).

At the beach, I pulled by swim and neoprene caps off with my goggles and pulled the top of my wetsuit down. I called out my number and the awesome volunteer grabbed my bag and helped me strip the bottom of my wetsuit. She jammed it into the bag while I rinsed my feet off and threw on the shoes that I bought yesterday (those were invaluable! thanks for the advice coach). Felt good heading towards T1, but glanced at my garmin and mr HR data field was blank. I tried to get it to reconnect to the HR sensor but no luck.

Coming into T1, we ran all the way around to the back side, down the entire length of T1 and I had to come all the way back to the front as I was the 6th rack from the other end. Good news was that I only had a short ways to go to Bike out and the mount line.

maybe try to rush a bit more at T0.5 but otherwise happy with staying calm and not forgetting anything

Once on the bike, I glanced at my Edge mounted on the bike and NO DATA! No HR, cadence...NOTHING, I quickly tried to reconnect sensors with no luck! This sucked as everything was working fine during my ride yesterday. I finally gave up and had nothing to go by but feel and speed. The speed was really fun to look at going downhill but depressing going up. There was one hill that got the better of me and I ran out of gears. I was out of the saddle just trying to keep moving and finally had to quickly unclip before I tipped over. Ended up walking up the remainder of the hill. Not sure which was faster.....walking the bike or grinding it out. Speedometer said it was the same. Depressing again. Finished the hills and hit the flats before T2. Really flew here. Felt good to get into the groove.

If I had more time, I would train more hills but this probably the hilliest (grade of incline) courses that I have planned this year

Came into T2 and was quickly at my rack since the Bike In was on my side. Threw the bike on the rack and changed shoes only to have to head to the far end of the transition area and then back around. I wasn't sure where the timing mat was so my data is a bit off (the run was well short of 8miles on my garmin because of this).

maybe hustle a bit more but I think the time actually at my transition spot was ok, but the long run from my rack to the run out location added quite a bit of time. Everyone would have to deal with the distance either on the swim to bike or bike to run segment, so it was fair

Felt great for the first 2-3 miles on the gravel path. Hit the hills and followed coach's plan to run 1/3 to 1/2 up and then bomb the downhills (mostly to keep my HR fro spiking). Passed quite a few people doing this. Then after the big downhill, we made the turn onto the beach. Once we got out of the soft sand and into the hard packed area just at the water's edge, this was a really nice portion of the run. The morning fog that was so terrible on the swim had cleared and the views were breathtaking. The Golden Gate Bridge was still covered with fog though. And onto the sand ladder. I tried using the cables to pull myself up but this only worked about half the time as the other half, the cable was so low that a midget could use it. Made it to the top, goofed for the camera for a second...and hit the road. Really felt decent for the remainder and once I was back on the gravel path, I knew we were only about 2 miles out. Once I could see the marina, I knew it was time to get going. Gave what I had left until the finish line.


Nothing...was pleased with this run. Overall time was slow but when considering the run in the sand and the Sand Ladder, pace otherwise was decent.

Made my way over to food and stood in line for massage. Overall feel pretty good. More sore than I was expecting (worse than after my last 70.3 actually). The course was a bit more demanding but significantly shorter. Finally found the hubby and we stood in line again for TriBikeTransport drop off. Stopped at the food truck Señor Sisig in town and grabbed the best Filipino food I've ever had.


Speed on swim (also probably lack of confidence with sighting as this was my first OWS with no sighting buoys) as well as climbing ability on bike.


Really enjoyed this race. Was fortunate to get a lottery slot on my first attempt and only my second year doing triathlons. Had to fight mentally during the race and it was a difficult race, but so excited to finish and am thrilled with my successful escape from Alcatraz :)