Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon : Official Thread (Page 2)

Thanks everyone for the feedback - road bike it is...

I better get back to wet and windy training in the UK.

Pete

Better make your reservation soon.  I would think all the better rental bikes will be booked up real soon, if not already.

Andi, I note that you are renting a bike, can you give me some details, who to contact etc.

I'm travelling from the UK, so if renting a decent bike is a viable option it will make my trip a lot easier to plan.

Thanks    Neil

It was worth it to me.  I wore a neoprene cap under my race provided swim cap.  I also had on my full wetsuit.  When I first got in, I had the "wow cold" reaction, but before 5 minutes had passed, I was comfortable everywhere except my hands and feet and they were numb moments later.  I had a great swim. 

I highly recommend the brand that fits you the best.  I don't remember which one I have, but it does not have the velcro chin strap.  (that was just annoying)

Have a great race!

Can't answer your question, but I did recently use your screen name in Scrabble for big points.

I'm interested in the answer to aeons' question, too.

Has anyone done both Escape from Alcatraz and the San Francisco Tri at Alctraz who can compare the two events? It seems a lot easier to get into the San Francisco Tri, so I'm wondering if it's a big drop in event quality, a tougher course, or perhaps it's just branding. Any thoughts anyone can share?

The neoprene swim cap is great!  But, one caveat: if you get one do NOT get one with velcro around/under the chin area as it chafs HORRIBLY.  Get one that's one solid piece around the chin area.

With that said I had a friend who did it the same year as me WITHOUT a neoprene cap and she was very small with very little body fat.  She just doubled up on her regular latex swim cap (she wore the one she usually swims with under the race given cap) and she was fine.  So, don't worry about the extra expense if it's a problem.  You can also buy them at Sports Basement race weekend if you change your mind.

Sadly, I waited too long to rent a bike (yes, I did, shame on me) and all the rentals in my size were sold out.  So, tribiketransport it is.  I recommend checking as the race nears to see if any bikes free up in your size, because there will be cancellations/no shows.

Less than two months to go!  How's everyone's training coming along?  I'd love to schedule a group swim at aquatic park and dinner the night before the race if anyone is up for it!  I'm the only one I know going from the Atlanta area.

Also, I plan to do the "water world swim" (an outfit that leads dozens of swims in the bay every year) in the bay on Friday or Saturday a.m.  It's kind of expensive at around $100 BUT it doubles as a vacation excursion and training all in one.  You get to see ALL the landmarks from the WATER, they teach you the currents and what to swim for based on your pace, and there's plenty of photo ops, too.  It's a drop in the bucket all things considered!  Let me know if you're interested and I'll post a link!  I can tell you that when I did this in'08 it is what made the race so much more enjoyable and unstressful, and I had an excellent swim finishing dead-on right on the beach!

Andi

Tri California used to run the Escape from Alcatraz (EFA).  They split w/ the race owners and started their own race which is pretty much identical to EFA except there's no warm up run, it's a different time of the year, there's no branding and no lottery.  It's smaller and less crowded.  EFA's bike course is HORRIBLY, DANGEROUSLY crowded!  Some folks complained that at SF tri @ Alcatraz the swim was much harder at that time of the year (rougher, changing tides), but the bay is unpredictable at best and I don't think time of year necessarily dictates swim difficultly.  If you didn't get into aclatraz and want the experience, IMO why not do this race?  It's also cheaper!

For the record I was scheduled to do this race in 2010 (I had already done the "official" EFA in '08) and got injured literally the night before I had to send my bike on tri bike transport.  I had to back out of the race.  Otherwise, I would have totally done it!

Andi

Transition area question:  Are there assigned spots or is it first come first served?

We're trying to get some details worked out with our nanny service that's watching the kids at our hotel while we race, and I'm not sure what time to tell them to be there.  We're staying at the Holiday Inn Fisherman's Wharf, anyone have a suggestion what time we ought to leave the hotel in the morning?

I'm #1065.  I love the new facebook app where it'll post results on your facebook page as you crossover the timing mats!  COOL (if it works)!!

If you haven't yet, check out all the videos - they are awesome and especially with swimming/sighting - very helpful.  I sighted all those landmarks in 2008 and came in dead-center on Marina Green Beach.  Videos are at the EFA website under race info => race tips.

ONE WEEK!

Andi

Thanks for the post - Signed up for the FB app.  Hope it works.

Getting excited (and nervous)

Agreed - I hope it works.  I think this is the first year they've done this. Four years ago my hubby signed up for text updates.  He got the text that I finished about 30 minutes after we met and I'd already gotten my stuff out of transition!

Something reasonably close to live would be nice!

Fixed the nervous part for you!   You'll love it and rock it.

Andi

Technically it's probably always advisable.   The low will be low 50s and the high will be mid-high 60s. Not sure what the UV index will be but right now it looks like Sunday will be 100% sunshine!  For me personally, that's not drench-myself-in-sunscreen kind of weather and I probably won't wear much except on my face/neck/shoulders/arms.

Andi

I've been doing some reading, and though it's advised that you wear shoes between swim out and transition, I've read (mainly through race reports) that some people were glad they ran barefoot or wished they ran barefoot vs. searching for their special needs bag.   For those that have done / watched the race, do a lot of people run wetsuits on, barefoot?

The majority of athletes go to their bags and put on shoes.  When I did it in 2008 there was A LOT of small gravel type of rocks on the road/sidewalk (I mean, would it kill them to sweep that area!?)  Because of this I opted for shoes.  I found my bag very quickly - it's incredibly organized.

This year I plan to check out the run to transition and see how clean the pavement is.  Then I'll decide if I will use shoes or not...  I'm trying to smash my 2008 time (due to health problems I weighed over 30 pounds more then) so every little second counts.

Andi

Honestly?  From my experience, not really with precision but it doesn't hurt to try a guesstimate.  I tried to last time and totally underestimated how much slower the bike and run are compared to other "regular" or standard courses.  This year I have a much better idea of where I want to be - no "pie in the sky" goals like last time! But they are aggressive for me.  I want to try to break 3 hours minimum but would love to do a 2:52:59 or less (a bit more lofty but doable on a really good day and if I am assertive on the bike).  Last time I weighed over 30 pounds more and did a 3:22 without racing, just completing.  I also was not training nearly as consistenly as I have this time - not even close.

But you could probably look at how you normally finish percentage-wise in a very competitive race for each of the 3 disciplines and then look at your AG EFA results and see where that %% for each discipline would put you.

To give you an idea, one of the women from my neck of the woods (All-American I believe) did the race I think last year and biked it in 17.5 MPH (her normal flat oly would be around 22 MPH) and ran it in 7:36 minute mile average (she runs a hilly oly in around 41 minutes or 6:40ish miles).  Pro women average just over 20-21 MPH I believe - not fast for only 18 miles.

Keep in mind with the bike (and the run, too, actually) that passing can be a pain the @$$.  I didnt do it downhills in 2008 and got stuck behind people who had NO BUSINESS biking this course because they rode the brakes the whole time.  It is VERY crowded on the bike course especially and I found it too dangerous to get over to the left on downhills to pass.  It was frustrating.  The run is similar in that you will not be able to pass in some areas... 

For AG women, being near or just over one hour on the bike and sub 8 min. miles on the run almost certainly puts you in the top ten finishers in your AG (probably top 5) unless your swim and transitions just suck!  It's just not a fast course, but it is a fun one!!

Andi

Excited! Andi thanks for the above post.  I had no goals really for this race but of course we all have an idea of what we're hoping to see and now I will definitely downgrade time (impressive that your friend's run time is almost a minute per mile slower! yowza!).   I am already a slow biker so sounds like this course will be very humbling for me!! Kate