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Alcatraz Challenge - Aquathlon


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San Francisco, California
United States
TriCalifornia
62F / 17C
Overcast
Total Time = 8h 00m
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = F40-49
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Woke up and took my time eating oatmeal with KL. We had to get to Crissy Field (transition) and be ready to ride the trolley to the ferry by 7 am, so it was nice having a slow start.
Event warmup:

Got to Crissy Field and set up transition, then hit the bathrooms and got our wetsuits on. Hopped on the trolley and got dropped off at Pier 3 to hop on the ferry. The ferry took off at 7:30 and we wandered around using the bathrooms and chatting up others on the boat. This would prove to be a good idea, because all of these people gave a hearty "GO GREYHOUND!" when we saw them on the run.
Run
  • 00m
  • 0 miles
  •  min/mile
Transition 1
  • 00m
Swim
  • 1h 05m 58s
  • 2640 yards
  • 02m 30s / 100 yards
Comments:

There were many things to remember at the beginning of this swim. They wanted all 533 athletes off the boat in 5 minutes, so we got herded out the two doors fairly quickly. Once we jumped, it was grab your goggles, fan your body out (to not sink too much), find KL and get the heck out of the way of the next jumper. We hit the water and started heading directly left to avoid an underwater hill of sorts that would put us into a good washing machine current. I got moving at a good clip to get into the right currents and tuned to look for KL, who had a bit of a problem getting into her groove. Since the Bay fills and empties every 25 hours, the currents are always pulling you one way or another, so we were told points to sight off of. After about 10 minutes of sighting, swimming, and looking for KL, I turned to her and said that I was going to do this swim again. I was having a total blast!! The water temp and animals were a total non-event, so I knew I just needed to keep sighting as I was told and keep my eyes on the kayaks. We just kept moving forward and navigating the sights while trying to swim over the 3 to 4 foot waves. Very soon...way too soon, I noticed the last sight point in front of me and right next to it was the swim finish on the beach. Hrm. Keep swimming, keep swimming. Soon, I noticed a kayaker chatting with Kathleen and then the tiny little rescue boat coming close to her. The kayaker told me they were repositioning her and to keep swimming, so that's what I did. Not 60 seconds later, I could hear my name...yep, I was getting swept too close to the bridge, too. Once we got in the boat, the nice rescue man told us they were repositioning a ton of people and that they must have pushed us off the boat at full ebb. Sure enough, a ton of people had to either swim back "upstream" or swim to the beach and run back up to the chute to transition. They dropped us back into the water and KL and I took off swimming again, finally getting out of the water after over an hour in it.
What would you do differently?:

We were told to keep each sight at 1 o'clock in relation to our nose. I think not doing that combined with the full ebb out to sea got us pushed way too far west. Next time I will try to sight better and swim a bit harder.
Transition 2
  • 03m 41s
Comments:

Took my time, as Kathleen's friends and family (whom I had not yet met) were at the swim finish cheering us on. I took time to shake hands, give hugs and thank those I could see cheering for us.
What would you do differently?:

Not a danged thing. I was having FUN!
Run
  • 1h 12m 32s
  • 7 miles
  • 10m 22s  min/mile
Comments:

Again, just a ton of fun here. We kept things evenly paced as much as possible and even stopped in the middle of the bridge to look at Alcatraz Island to see what we'd just accomplished. So very impressed with our pace, given all of the uphill we did, but maybe we were pushed on by everyone yelling GO GREYHOUNDS at us while running! That was so friggin cool! The last 1/4 mile, KL told me she did not have a sprint left in her, which was true until her friend ran up on us and said "you call that running?" Off she went with me kicking it in to catch up to her. We ended up sprinting in the last hundred yards or so and her cheering section was there, yelling for both of us. Really, such an amazingly cool experience.
What would you do differently?:

Again, nothing. I had so much fun doing this.
Post race
Warm down:

A picnic at Crissy Field with many new friends! Later, we hit the Japanese spa and I got a foot exfoliation and massage. YUUUMMMMMM

Event comments:

This was an extremely well organized race. We were told there were 700 racers, but only 533 boarded the ferry, yet everything went off without a hitch through the whole thing. There had to be 50 kayakers, 10 jet skis and several boats, plus Coast Guard on hand watching the swimmers and making sure everyone was safe. I SO recommend doing this race if you're fairly comfortable in open water.




Last updated: 2010-01-20 12:00 AM
Running
00:00:00 | 00 miles |  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance:
Course:
Keeping cool Drinking
T1
Time:  00:00
Overall:
Putting on cap, goggles and wetsuit:
Getting out of shoes:
Swimming
01:05:58 | 2640 yards | 02m 30s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
Suit: Full
Course: The ebb west toward the Golden Gate Bridge was estimated between 3.8 and 4 knots
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Time Trial
Water temp: 59F / 15C Current: High
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time:  03:41
Overall: Good
Removing cap, goggles and wetsuit: Good
Getting into shoes: Average
Running
01:12:32 | 07 miles | 10m 22s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance:
Course: 1 mile flat on a packed dirt course, 50 steps up to a path that curved up to the Golden Gate Bride, 1 mile to the other side then back to Crissy Field
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Too easy
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2010-07-20 11:45 PM

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Master
1390
1000100100100252525
Ferndale, MI
Subject: Alcatraz Challenge
Hell, total race time is 2:22:11, not 8.  Thought that meant time of day.  

Edited by gir1with1nose 2010-07-20 11:47 PM


2010-07-21 5:27 AM
in reply to: #2993833

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Master
1327
100010010010025
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Subject: RE: Alcatraz Challenge
Wow, you sound a whole lot braver than me swimming in that Bay!  Great job! AND you want to go back again, Wow!
2010-07-21 8:35 AM
in reply to: #2993833

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Expert
771
5001001002525
Farmington, MI
Subject: RE: Alcatraz Challenge

Wow, what an awesome race & report, Kimm!!  I'm so proud of you ladies!  How cool that you two could have such an adventure together!  

2010-07-21 12:26 PM
in reply to: #2993833

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Expert
1091
1000252525
Subject: RE: Alcatraz Challenge

Can you imagine how far off course I'd swim Kimm???  LMAO!  Still, you paint a pretty darn good picture.  Who knows...maybe someday I'll give this one a shot! 

Congrats to you both, and I knew you'd have a fantastic time of it!  (((HUGS)))
2010-07-21 12:51 PM
in reply to: #2993833

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Master
2202
2000100100
Canton, Michigan
Subject: RE: Alcatraz Challenge

Nice job sounds like a great event.  Not having to ship or fly the bike sounds a lot easier too.

I'll have to add some type of Alcatraz swim to the bucket list.

2010-07-21 1:12 PM
in reply to: #2993833

New user
15

Subject: RE: Alcatraz Challenge
Go Greyhounds!!! I met you guys on the boat--I too have a skinny dawg!!

You guys did great--especially in that crazy chop and current--you had fun. I also thought the chop was fun too--a washing machine for sure!

I can lend a little bit of perspective maybe. I've done Alcatraz a few times and this one was different. I agree with you on the sighting instructions. I think they gave us sighting instructions for a weaker tide. I began heading for the end when I saw the red roof of the yacht club (which we were told to do) and at some point a water ski boat tapped me and me and some other dude got dumped back east. And everyone I talked to, including my boyfriend and brother, got repositioned.

My guess is that the current may have been stronger than they thought. And the chop also a lot stronger than anticipated. Given this, you are moving slower towards the end while at the same time getting pushed a lot quicker west. My boyfriend swims this race very, very conservatively--heading east for most of it to make sure he doesn't get pulled. Sure enough, they picked him up too!

I thought the run was lovely (despite being a tad bit seasick!)


2010-07-21 3:01 PM
in reply to: #2993833

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Expert
1170
10001002525
Berkley, MI
Subject: RE: Alcatraz Challenge

How awesome Kimm and KL!  What an amazing experience!  Oh man... what a wonderful adventure you two live.  I love it!  <3

2010-07-23 2:12 PM
in reply to: #2995149

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Master
1390
1000100100100252525
Ferndale, MI
Subject: RE: Alcatraz Challenge
Sula - 2010-07-21 2:12 PM Go Greyhounds!!! I met you guys on the boat--I too have a skinny dawg!!

You guys did great--especially in that crazy chop and current--you had fun. I also thought the chop was fun too--a washing machine for sure!

I can lend a little bit of perspective maybe. I've done Alcatraz a few times and this one was different. I agree with you on the sighting instructions. I think they gave us sighting instructions for a weaker tide. I began heading for the end when I saw the red roof of the yacht club (which we were told to do) and at some point a water ski boat tapped me and me and some other dude got dumped back east. And everyone I talked to, including my boyfriend and brother, got repositioned.

My guess is that the current may have been stronger than they thought. And the chop also a lot stronger than anticipated. Given this, you are moving slower towards the end while at the same time getting pushed a lot quicker west. My boyfriend swims this race very, very conservatively--heading east for most of it to make sure he doesn't get pulled. Sure enough, they picked him up too!

I thought the run was lovely (despite being a tad bit seasick!)


How funny is it that you found my race report!  LOL!  Great chatting with you on the boat, by the way, and thanks for the shout out on the run!

This is great info you gave.  It makes me feel even better about the swim we put down.  Hopefully next time I do Alcatraz, the chop and current will be a bit nicer.
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