Looong-Form Alcatraz Race Report

This race seems similar in scale to Ironman. Huge fitness festival, supreme organization, 2,000 racers, lots of folks in from out of town. Packet pickup and the pre-race meeting were a breeze. Race morning started with at 430a wakeup and instant oatmeal in the hotel bathroom while Teegan slept. Smooth ride over to the race, quick TA setup, and then off to the ferry with some friends (great story on Matt here)—nice to be able to skip the shuttle buses. Body marking, successful trip to the porta-potty, and onto the ferry—all very smooth. Everything ran on time to the second—the boat pulled away from the dock at exactly 700a—1 hour to race start. I relaxed, chatted with some new friends, kept hydrated (plus another successful bathroom trip), checked out sighting for the swim and spent a little time checking out Alcatraz—cool to be up close again. Suited up at about 745a—no nerves—feeling ready. At 750a, there was a short prayer and then the national anthem. At exactly 800a, the pros started. They got a 15 second head start and then it was an absolute fire drill getting off the boat. There were timing mats at the door so you walked out, looked for a clear spot in the water and jumped off—about 8 feet down to the water.

Even though I had a hand on my goggles, I picked up a little water when I entered. Then as I came up, I felt someone slide down my back, but no damage done. Swam a few strokes to get clear and ended up with someone else’s goggles in my hand (they had apparently been floating—why don’t people put goggles on under their caps?). Spent a few seconds kicking on my back to adjust my goggles and do a mental reset after the crazy entry, and then I flipped over, sighted my navigation point, and hit the gas. Even though I was off the boat just ahead of the middle of the race start, there were tons of people in the water and it took a while to move into a good position. So I swam along the outside of the pack for the first 10-15 minutes until I moved mostly clear of the masses. The current was stronger than expected and there was a lot of chop in the bay. This was a much rougher swim than the other time I did it in ’05. For a while, I found a clean pair of feet and took a ride, but the chop was too much to make it worthwhile and I swam on my own for most of the way. Swimming from Alcatraz to the shore is more or less like swimming across a river—you swim perpendicular to the shore just about the whole time. I took in a fair amount of saltwater and was surprised by how rough it was, but I came to shore near the front of the race (57^th best swim time of the race). Coming out of the water, we ran a gauntlet of spectators and into T0—quickly out of my wetsuit and into an old pair of running shoes. The run to T1 was about 2/3 of a mile. Some folks ran barefoot in their wetsuits, but I passed a ton of them—I think the decision to take the time to put on shoes was a good call. Smoothly into T1 and quickly out onto the bike course.

My plan had been to push the swim as much as possible since it’s my strength anyhow, but also to get out on the bike ahead of the masses. The bike course is very technical—steep climbs and descents with sharp corners, all on pavement that’s in pretty rough shape. The course is beautiful—it climbs and descends the roads next to the bay, past the Golden Gate Bridge and loops through Golden Gate Park. Hands down, the most scenic course I’ve ever been on, but there wasn’t a lot of time to sight-see. The bike wasn’t as hard as I expected and I didn’t push too hard overall—I think it was just the right level of effort with good balance between hammering and resting. Big efforts on the short, steep climbs and then soft-pedaling and coasting on the downhills. I made careful turns but there was tons of space to pick a line so it was all good. I got passed by a few folks but didn’t notice anyone in my age-group. (It was impossible to tell race-rank on course because of the 6-mintue start window anyhow.) The bike course is mostly an out-and-back and as I returned, I could see the main part of the race going out. It looked like a big charity ride—bikes 4-wide, drafting, lots of yelling, folks getting forced into bad lines in the corners. It’s just what happens when you put this many riders on such a short course. So my plan to be out front was a good call. I rode the last few miles very hard into transition still feeling strong as I cleared my head for the run. After another good transition, I was quickly back out on course.

I hadn’t been able to preview the run course—I had only read the description and talked to friends about it. I thought I knew about what to expect but wasn’t fully prepared for how tough it would be. The first two miles were flat and mostly on a nice wide trail. At mile two, we made quick turn onto a set of about 50 railroad tie steps and then a steep, twisty, up-and-down section that included a tunnel that started with about 7 feet of clearance but moved down to about 4½ feet by the end—duck!! After about a mile of twists and turns, we came out on the road and began a steep downhill that moved onto a twisty dirt trail and then dumped out on the beach. This downhill was the most painful part of the race for me as I kept my speed in check to avoid wiping out on the dirt. We ran through the soft sand down to the hardpack and then again onto the soft sand to the turnaround. From there, it was back past where we entered the beach to the sandladder (a few hundred log steps held together by cables that took us from the beach up onto the bluff). I walked the sand-ladder (as was my plan) and got up with relative ease. This was probably a mistake not to push—looking at the results I gave up a lot of time here. It’s pretty much downhill from the top so it wouldn’t have been a big deal to have gone hard. Oh well…

Back along the trail, through the low tunnel, down the stairs, and out onto the flat path with a tailwind and 2 miles to go. I pushed very hard and passed several folks then came flying through the crowds that were several people deep in the last mile. I came into the long finishing chute still pushing but I took the time to look up and enjoy the experience. Across the line with a big hand clap and a smile—a memorable finish—I knew this was a good day for me.

2:44:44 overall, 11^th in my age group (out of 253 finishers) and 102^nd overall (of about 2,000). I know I left a little time on the course (as is often the case), but this was as close to perfect execution of a race plan as I’ve had. I loved this race and highly recommend it—definitely should be on any triathlete’s bucket list. That said, I don’t expect to be back anytime soon (but I’ll do it again someday)—it’s expensive to travel to and race this one. But that doesn’t take away from the great experience.

Many thanks to all of my friends and family for their support, to Pansy for making me a tough runner (well, tougher than I used to be), and extra-special thanks to Teegan for arranging travel plans, meals, and logistics—my trip was easy (and race-focused) because of you.

I’m leaving tomorrow for Cycle for Sight in New Mexico. I’ll keep blogging so check in often. And please consider donating—it’s an incredibly important cause. No amount is too small. http://www.cycleforsight.org/html/donate.html.

Thanks for following along.