Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon - Triathlon

At the meeting they were making what seemed to me to be a bigger deal than normal about swimming straight for the Fontana Towers over Aquatic Park. Didn't know if that was typical or maybe we were jumping into a stronger current? I've done the swim four times before this, and don't recall them emphasizing this that much. Problem was the fog was very low and you couldn't really see the towers.

Got in with the lemming crowd and before I knew it I was at the door. Race time is 7:30 and Garmin shows a 7:37 start time, so not bad. Jumped off and it was surprisingly comfortable. Never felt cold at all during this swim. Began heading straight or the towers, and seemed to be far left of everyone. Had a kayak come over at one point and steer me to the right.... I decided to sight off the Ft Mason trees for while, and I could already see the tents at the expo, so switched to those pretty quickly.

Hard to tell how fast the current was going except for two times. First, I stopped to look at Alcatraz a couple times, always a cool sight, but you could tell you were moving pretty briskly. Second, my garmin auto lapped a mile, I looked at it and it said 11:XX. Thought something was off then realized it was probably right, given the current. Fastest mile I ever swam, moving sideways. So much for T.I. :)

Also ran into the same chop I ran into last year, about 10-15 minutes in it just starts getting very choppy, making sighting difficult. I expected it this year, and just shortened my stroke some and increased cadence. Before long, it was flat again.

Pretty soon, the St Francs Yacht Club came into view and I aimed just for the left of it. Hit the buoy about 50 yds to my left and just angled into shore. Seemed like the swim went very fast, and I was happy with navigation. I stayed to the left of the main pack for the most part. Last year I felt like I kept having to overcompensate and try to reach this pack or that pack. This year just did my own thing.

2 minutes faster than 2014.

Nothing, very happy with the swim. Actual distance is over 2 miles so Garmin pace is :49/100, LOL

I had left a bag with water, shoes and a small towel. Never used the towel, only took a sip of water. Took off the wetsuit and stuffed it in the bag. Put on the zoots and started the .5 mile run to T1. This was all just very slow, happening in slow motion.

About 2/3 of the way into the run, got a sharp pain in my left calf. I've had it a couple times training this year, and it prevents me from running altogether. I had to slow down quite a bit and just try to manage it, hoping it didn't get worse.

My speed was no better at the bike, and felt as if I was in molasses. I decided to put a little body glide in the heel of the bike shoes, as I'd been getting hints of a hot spot the day before (I'd been running sockless but not riding, as it's usually not an issue). Running out of transition could still feel the calf wanting the seize.....

Meh, i am not going to win

Full disclosure, I ride this course very timidly. I am not a huge descender, and if you add the crowds, narrow roads and some bad road surface, it just makes me uncomfortable. Sharp turns at the bottom of hills. Add the climbs and my 200# and it's just a difficult course.

I had a power plan and followed it best I could, meaning I'd really back off on the climbs and just spin up. I was also riding the road bike, better handling on this course.

Route starts with about 2 miles of flats, then a nice little climb up to bridge level ,and then more climbs up to the Legion of Honor. Then a bomb down to Land's End, through Golden Gate Park, and return. Weather was perfect, if a little foggy.

I was feeling the calf a bit during the ride, so my mind was pre-occupied with that for the most part, just wanted to cross the finish line. Fog prevented most of the views at the upper elevation of the course, which tend to further take my mind off the pain

Most of the climbs are short and punchy, but there's one beeyotch of a climb coming back at Lands End. You come from sea level up a fairly decent climb, dogleg left-right and then look up at a very steep (but short) monster. My compact crank and 12-30 kept me in the saddle the whole time.

Another short climb up to GG Bridge level, then a fast descent to the flats.

Did see one crash, looked pretty bad, same place I saw one last year (Legion of Honor area). Doesn't help my timidity. I am impressed at folks going sub 1:00 on this course. There are a lot of tri bikes but unless you are at the pointy end, doesn't seem much point of a TT bike (if you have the option of a road bike). I passed plenty of regular AGers on tri bikes just riding in my drops.

AP 193
NP 231
Time a minute slower than 2014

Nothing really, this course isn't built to my strengths and not sure I could ride it much more aggressively, or would want to

Again, pretty slow. Wendy was also waiting for me there, and I walked over and told her about the calf, that I was going to start but wasn't sure how far I'd get.

I was actually relieved to hear the announcer say "They're going off for the 8 mile run... well, actually, with course changes it's more like 7." Awesome for me! :)

Nothing

Ran out of transition and onto the pavement. I could feel the calf knotting up and every time I tried to push a little, it threatened to seize totally. So I just adopted a training run pace of about 9-9:15 and decided to run as far as I could. I figured that every mile I got was one less mile I'd have to walk. I knew the course had stairs, climbs, sand, trail and all sorts of different surfaces so managing the calf would be a bit of work. They had already given us the shirt, so I really wanted just to finish so I could wear the shirt with pride.

Initial couple miles on the flats seemed to go ok. Had to swallow a bit of pride and let folks go (not that I'd catch many of them, and my run is not in the shape it was last year). All I had to do was get to the Baker Beach turnaround, then I could walk back if I had to.

Saw Potts and Lagerstrom head to head about 500 yds from the finish. Last year saw Potts about 800 yds from the finish, so not too far back this year :) Saw the pro women go past out on the Crissy Field trail.

Ended up walking the first set of stairs, like the folks in front of me, but at the top the run followed the bike course under the overpass, and they had deleted my favorite part of the run - the trail along the bluffs in and around the concrete bunkers. This run was a bit of a compromise, and not as fun as the normal course. But there was more room. After the overpass, veered onto some stairs and then back onto the traditional run course. Arend passed me here going the other way

Running downhill actually hurt a bit more than running up, but the views down to the beach make up for it. Down another trail and onto the sand. Saw Mark running the other way after the turnaround, and think he passed me on the sand ladder, which I walked all the way up. At the top there's still a .5 mile climb, so just resumed the training pace.

Running east on Baker Beach, the fog started to lift over the bridge ahead of us, and a pod of dolphins was swimming in the bay. Nice distractions.

When I finally hit the flats I knew I'd finish and was able to pick up to an 8:30-40 pace. Fell in with a gy from New Mexico and we basically just chatted it all the way in. Found out he had proposed to his fiance at the swim finish the day before. We ran all the way to the finish, it was great motivation not to back off some.

Finished and found Arend and his wife, and then Wendy found me (she always does, no idea how). Packed up the gear and got in line for tri bike transport.

Because I took the run as a training pace run, I was not beat up at all, and had minor residual soreness. It was actually kind of nice (as much as I'd have like to run hard).

Once I got over my ego and was able to remove all expectations for the run, it was actually quite enjoyable. Run turned out to be about 7.5 miles, for a 9:5X pace.

Waited in the tri bike transport line and walked back over Ft Mason (calf was hurting there...) Had every intention of hitting Ghirardellis, but a 1 pm checkout and 4 pm flight, made that impossible :( Settled for In N Out instead.


Calf


With a couple exceptions - long lines, some bad pavement- this is just a great race. Has the feel of a WTC event without the attitude. With entry, plane fare, hotel, and bike transport it's an expensive weekend, but I imagine I'll be putting my hat into the 2016 ring :)