For my first blog entry I decided to do a race report for
the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon that I competed in on March 3. This is a famous race that has been going on
for 33 years and is a “must have” on any triathletes bucket list. It is very hard to get into, capped at 2000
athletes, you either have to qualify at a sanctioned qualifying race (there are
no qualifiers in the northwest anymore) or get in by lottery. I have entered the lottery twice and been
lucky enough to get in both times. The
first time I got in was 2007 and then again in 2012. Last year while preparing for the race in
June I came down with a still un-diagnosed illness that had me unable to train
for almost 6 months. It was a very scary
time as I was tested for a bunch of very scary illnesses and thankfully all tests
were negative and I came out of the woods at the end of June. I was able to defer my entry to 2013 with a
doctor’s note. The losing side of this
trade for me was the race date, because of the America’s Cup in San Francisco
in 2013 the race was being moved from the traditional first weekend in June to
the first weekend of March, brrrrrrr! Oh
well, at least I didn’t lose my $400 entry fee.
After a surprisingly nice end to last summer with a
successful race and the best fall of running that I have ever had, the stage is
set for me to have a great winter of training and be ready for a dip in the bay
in March. Then life happened. Soccer season, followed by the holidays and
then an unexpected move to Bend, left my training in shambles. I went into race week knowing that I would swim
well (this is my background) and run well.
The fact that the ride would be my longest outdoor ride since August did
not bode well but I was hopeful that my evolving mountain lungs might make up
the difference at sea level, literally in the sea.
Then the curse of Alcatraz slapped me again. My last day at work before leaving for the
race I started to feel a little “off” towards the end of the day. By bedtime I had a fever, chills, aches, and
was really not feeling well. I spent
Friday in bed, throwing up, etc. I got
up Saturday loaded the car and headed for San Fran. I felt pretty good but I had not eaten in
about 24 hours, my ribs hurt from barfing, and any passing of gas should be a
proceed with caution operation.
I arrived in San Francisco after an uneventful drive. Checked into my hotel and walked down to
Marina Green to pick up my packet and take a look around. The first thing I noticed was that the sun
was out but it was still windy and cold.
I got checked in and walked to the water took a picture of Alcatraz and
felt the water. Brrrrrrr! They said the water was 51-52 degrees. By the way the recommended temp for an ice
bath is 54-58. I was not looking forward
to the swim start in the morning, air temp mid 40’s, and water temp 51.
I hadn’t eaten a solid meal since Thursday night so I found
a nice little Italian joint near my hotel called Parma. I wasn’t too serious about my race and my
appetite seemed to be back so I chose the saffron risotto with asparagus and
shrimp, and my traditional one beer. The
meal was excellent and the restaurant was filled with athletes and there was a
lot of excitement in the air. I sat next
to a couple from Houston. The husband,
Adam was competing in Alcatraz for the first time so I gave him some pointers
and headed back to my hotel pretty excited about the race.
I woke at 4:00 AM and ate some breakfast and organized my
things. My go to break fast when on the
road for a race is, Greek yogurt, a plain bagel with peanut butter, and a
banana. I grabbed my backpack, put my
helmet on and saddled up for the short ride down to the transition area. There were already tons of people setting up
when I got there. I set up my transition
located the places where I would be coming in an out for each discipline and
found some landmarks on the street to find my place. In a race of 2000 people the transition area
is huge so making sure I knew where I would be running to was important. I gathered my swim things and boarded the
shuttle that would take me to Pier 3 where I would board the large riverboat
that would take all 2000 of us out to Alcatraz.
The pre-race time on the boat was very odd for me. It is rare that I am at a race by myself and
that I don’t know a lot of other athletes.
That combined with the quiet, nervous energy that I think is unique to
Alcatraz makes for the quietest 2000, wetsuit clad people packed like cattle on
a riverboat that you will ever see. I
did see the only two other people that I knew racing, Bend Pro Matt Lieto, and
soon to be Bend Pro Jesse Thomas. I
wished them both good luck and returned to the quiet. I situated myself as close to the door as I
could. If you are over 30 you are
supposed to go to the upper deck of the boat.
At 42, I swim very well and do not want to be behind tons of people for
the rest of the race so I camped out on the bottom of stairs right near the
Pro’s and when they headed out to the deck for their start I filled in the area
they had left. At 7:00 the Pro’s were
off and the rest of us piled off the boat right after. It is quite a scene, 2000 people off the boat
in 6 minutes and splashing towards the beach.
I was in the water in the first wave of swimmers and quickly
tried to get into a rhythm. I remember
that in June of 2007 the sun was shining and the bay was very calm. It was a gorgeous day to swim. March 2013 was totally different, the sun was
not out and parts of the shore were fogged in, making sighting very
difficult. There was quite a bit of wind
and the swells were pretty big and white capped. This YouTube video shows the Jump Start. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKqRayXD_VI&feature=em-share_video_user
The amount of times
that I got to take a smooth stroke or get a clean breathe, I could count on one
hand. Early on I was thinking that this
swim was going to be very hard but the people behind me that were not very
comfortable in open water were freaking out.
I swam well and noticed that I was passing some of the Pro’s that had
left before the rest of the field. I
navigated my way across the “river” that flows between Alcatraz and the Marina
and exited the water super stoked about the swim. It was hard but really fun. It is not very often that you get to do a
swim like that and those are the types of things that keep me coming back for
more.
There is a funky half-mile run from the swim exit at the
beach, back to your bike. Many people
leave a set of shoes and a towel at the swim exit. I chose to run barefoot in my wetsuit, hoping
that this would help me warm up.
 |
| Me heading to my bike. |
I got to my bike after the short run and transitioned out of
my wetsuit and into the most bike clothing I have ever worn in a
triathlon. To my wet tri shorts and
jersey I added, arm warmers, a coat, socks, shoes with toe warmers, and
gloves. I headed out on the 18 mile bike
cold but hoping to get warm quickly. I
knew going in that bike fitness was where I was lacking the most. All of my training had been on my
Computrainer indoors and there hadn’t been all that much if it. The bike is relatively short but it is very
technical and you are always going uphill or downhill. Once I got settled in and my feet and hands
started to thaw. The pain in my hands
and feet quickly switched to my thighs and calves. My thighs screamed at me at the top of every
short, steep climb for not giving them enough work leading up to this
race. The road was in much worse
condition than I remembered and there were several teeth rattling potholes and
bumps. Early on I realized that the flu
had taken its toll on my hydration.
Although I thought I had been drinking plenty over the past couple days
to get back from being ill. My calves
were tight and crampy early on and stayed that way. I tried to enjoy the ride and became a
spectator on the racecourse cheering for my friends, Jesse Thomas and Matt
Lieto. Both looked great coming back on
the bike, Jesse in 4th and Matt not far behind. I made a mental note to try and get them some
splits on the run.
 |
| Bend Local, Jesse Thomas |
I was super excited to get off the bike and start the
run. My run fitness was much better but
I knew that my dehydration issues would keep me from running as fast as I would
like. I quickly settled into a nice easy
pace feeling the tightness of my calves and looking forward to the tough,
technical course. The first few miles
of the course are nice and flat, super easy, and then you start up the
stairs. The stairs are followed by
single track with the pro’s flying at you at warp speed. I counted first place, Olympic Silver
Medalist Javier Gomez, second place Kiwi Graham O’Grady and glanced at my
watch. Here came Jesse in third place,
but over a minute back of second with less than 3 miles to go. I stopped and yelled for him to get on the
podium as he flew by (he ended up third).
Matt came by in 10th and looked really good. I kept running and really enjoyed the rest of
this course. I transitioned down to the
beach and ran the short out and back on the soft sand knowing that the “Sand
Ladder” was the next obstacle to attack. For those of you that have not heard
of the infamous “Sand Ladder” here is a video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwJxu6s4-PQ&feature=em-share_video_user
The finish line is insane!
With 15,000 screaming spectators with a grandstand, loud music, the
works. I crossed the finish line in
2:56, unfortunately not out of breath. I
was about 4 minutes slower than I had been in 2007, and I am much faster now
than I was then. Some of that could be
chalked up to the swim conditions but mostly due to being sick and not fit (on
the bike for sure). I had a great time,
all things considered. This race is an
amazing experience that every triathlete should experience at some point. One of the main things that I have learned
over the years preparing my athletes and myself for races is not to get to
upset about the things you have no control over going wrong. Just know that something may happen that is
going to affect your racing negatively and there is nothing you can do about
it, just roll with the punches, or in the case the 6-foot swells and the
flu. We get so caught up in the results
and forget about all the fun we had preparing for the race, training with
friends, and reaching new milestones.
Now I can put the curse of Alcatraz and my lost 2012 season to bed and
look forward to exploring my new home in Central Oregon and a successful (and
hopefully faster) 2013 season. Good luck
to you all with whatever is on your schedule this year!
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