Prison Break - Escape from Alcatraz

Alright, Ninja followers!  Here it is…the report you’ve all been waiting for.  How I Escaped from Alcatraz!

Pre Race:

Flew into San Francisco on Friday and made it to the hotel. The Argonaut, close to Fisherman’s Wharf.  It ended up being the perfect place to stay because it was walking distance from where I rented my bike, and about a mile from Marina Green, where transition and the finish line is located.  After checking in, I went and got the bike from San Francisco Bike Rentals (I know…creative, right?) and went for a ride across the Golden Gate Bridge.  It was an awesome and beautiful ride, and definitely recommended for anyone visiting San Fran!  After crossing the bridge, we rolled down to Sausalito for a nice stroll and coffee before taking the Golden Gate Ferry back across the bay to San Francisco.  The ferry was $9.75 and well worth it.  You can find boats offering $20 tours of the bay, but in my mind, the ferry back across is a better deal.  There are amazing views and you pass right by Alcatraz.  That gave me a good look at where I’d be swimming on Sunday.  The first thing you realize is that it’s a LONG way from the prison to the swim exit.  Looking at the wind, waves and current, I realized why this swim is regarded as so tough.

Friday night and a trip to Sports Basement was in order.  As many of you may know, my current favorite pro is Jesse Thomas.  Love reading his race reports, and I'm a big fan of Picky Bars! If you don’t know about either, the appropriate links are here --> http://leapdaysports.com/ and http://pickybars.com/  If you’re an athlete you need to try Picky Bars!  Anyway, I had tweeted Jesse earlier asking for the possibility of a meet and photo…and to my surprise…

So I get to Sports Basement and find Jesse at the Picky Bar table with his better half, Lauren.  We talk for a few minutes, and I give Jesse some pointers for the race and then we have a photo op. 

  Jesse’s trademark are the aviator glasses.  I see them, and the idea strikes.  I tell him “This may be in bad form, but could I get a picture wearing the aviators?”  He takes them off his head and says “This may be a first.”  He hands them over saying “Be careful, I don’t want to have to go back to Walgreens!”  

Classic!  What can I say…he’s a great guy!  And my advice must have helped.  He took third place and was the first American finisher.  This is one of the things I love about this sport, the opportunity to race with and against the professionals and to find out how down to earth, real, and genuine they actually are.  Jesse, if you somehow manage to read this…Thanks (and add a comment to give me some street cred!).  You made my weekend! If you ever come to Madison, I owe you big time.

Saturday dawned and we decided to see some of the city by bike.  Farmers Market, Fisherman’s Wharf, Golden Gate Park, Haight Ashbury,  we saw it all.  A trip to packet pickup to get body marked (they mark your hands? Really?)

and then a short walk to the swim exit.  Now, you’ll recall I thought it was a long swim when I saw it from the ferry at Alcatraz? Well, looking at it from the swim exit, I realized it’s a REALLY LONG way!

It was fun watching others walk up and make the same realization. Since the hotel was so close to Aquatic Park, we saw a lot of people trying out the water and getting in practice swims.  I decided that at this point it wasn’t going to make any difference anyway, so there’s no point in unnecessary pain and discomfort!  So, it was off to bed in preparation for the escape attempt!

Race Day:

Let me begin this by saying it was an amazing day and an awesome experience.  As I try to describe it, I realize that this is a lot like a beautiful view.  You stand in amazement while looking at it, but as soon as you try and take a photo, you realize there is no way you can capture the true beauty and wonder.  I don’t think there are any words to fully describe the experience and on some level, I know this will be wholly inadequate, but here goes!

As I leave the hotel in the darkness of the morning, I know it feels cold.  Air temperature is about 52, but with the wind it feels mid 40’s.  Now that’s not cold at all for Wisconsin, but for race morning it was chilly.  I plan to ride the mile or so to transition, and as I leave the hotel, I fall in with other triathletes also riding there.  It’s dark and quiet as everyone get into their own “race space”.  I make it to transition and get everything set up rather quickly.  Once that’s done, I make my way to the buses.  At this race, since it starts from a boat, organizers bus you from transition to the boat landing.  Getting on the bus, we’re thankful for the warmth, and people start the usual nervous pre race chatter…Where are you from? Are you ready? Why are we doing this?  We get to the landing, and since I’ve heard the boat described as a “ferry” I’m not sure what to expect.  This is what I see

She’s a beautiful boat, and our home for the next hour or so.  Again, thankful for the warmth, athletes make our way onto the boat and volunteers direct us to different decks based on our swim cap color.  I have a yellow swim cap and I’m directed to the second deck.  Once there, there’s a bar at one end, carpeted floors and real bathrooms! (if you’re used to the  pre race port-a-potty you understand the joy).  Athletes are talking, sleeping, doing yoga, eating energy bars and generally trying to contain pre race nerves.  The boat leaves the dock at 6:30 and the race is scheduled to start at 7:30.  That means, we get on site and have a lot of time before the race starts.  Everyone crowds to the side to look at the conditions.  We see white caps in the bay, and a strong current pushing kayaks around. We also start to look at our sighting land marks.  Now, because of the current in SF Bay, you can’t swim directly toward the swim exit.  If you do, you may be pushed so far of course you can’t make it back, and you risk being swept out to sea. (not really, there’s too may safety boats for that, but without the safety boats, kayaks, etc. it’s a real risk).  After looking at the current, the waves, and the distance one woman near me starts to freak out and her friend calms her down telling her “You can do this.  You’ve trained. You’re ready.”  And this has a calming effect on everyone around. We hear a voice reminding us that this is no time to be weak.  The water is cold, there is a current, there are 2,000 athletes that need to be off the boat in 6 minutes.  The tension is getting thicker as race time approaches.  Then we see a cruise ship entering the bay under the Golden Gate Bridge.  As we all watch the ship, we’re wondering what this means…surely we won’t have to dodge a cruise ship too?  Not with the wind,  the cold water (51 degrees), the current, the waves, and the “marine life” (sharks)?  Then we’re told the race will start a few minutes late to let the cruise ship pass.  Finally we hear the national anthem, and from the side of the boat watch as the pros dive in and take off.  Then, about 30 seconds later the age groupers start.  We’re able to watch the first few and we see that nobody seems to be swimming the way they told us to.  Everybody is swimming straight to the swim exit.  Then we realize, no, their bodies are pointed the right way, but the current is pushing them.  It’s that strong!  Oh well…too late to do anything about it now.  I thought that Ironman was the craziest swim start in triathlon.  I was wrong!  This is crazy.  Everyone starts moving towards the stairs and being herded like cattle.  The mass of humanity moves slowly but steadily down the stairs.  As we approach the first deck, I can see the door.  As I make the turn, I realize the jump off point is right there. Nothing else to do, no time to think.  You cross the timing mat and jump…

The Swim:

Two thoughts occur almost simultaneously 1. %#&$ it’s COLD!!!! And b. someone is about to jump on top of me!  Without a doubt the craziest swim start ever.  The jump is only a few feet, but seems much farther.  The water is amazingly, incredibly, unbelievably cold!  At first it hurts to put your face in it.  You take a moment and find your landmarks. Then start swimming.  After about 5 minutes your face and hands go numb, and it’s not so bad.  I was told that there were up to six foot swells reported in the bay that morning, and I’m sure the last minute cruise ship didn’t help. The current was pushing you out towards the Pacific Ocean, and the wind was blowing in from the Pacific, so it gave you what I heard someone very aptly describe as the sensation of swimming in a washing machine.  If you want to know what it was really like, check out the video:

Now here’s the really freaky thing about this swim: Even though there are 2,000 athletes out there and hundreds of boats, kayaks, etc. because of the fact that they are no buoys for navigation (you sight entirely on the shore) and because of the swells, ten minutes into the swim you feel entirely alone.  You don’t see anyone. It’s easy to imagine what it would have felt like to actually attempt to escape from Alcatraz. Every now and then, if you time a breath just right, you can see another swim cap, but there can be someone a few feet from you and you don’t know it.  In a word: scary.  In another: exhilarating!

I’m a relatively strong swimmer, and this was the toughest swim of my life.  I later found out that they pulled and “repositioned” about 150 swimmers or around three times the normal number.  I talked to other athletes that had done this race before and they said it was much harder then usual.  And yes, if you heard the news, there was one death reported during the swim. (not a drowning though, cardiac arrest at the start.  Water safety crews saw him immediately and attempted CPR, but unfortunately, it was not successful.  My heart goes out to his family and friends).   It was tough.  With large swells, and wind, It was hard to time your strokes and your breath to the waves and wind.  It was hard to sight, and hard to judge the current.  I felt strong most of the race, remembering that smooth is fast, and focusing on technique, not strength.  As a result, I almost overshot the swim exit and my last few hundred yards were against a stronger current than I would have liked, but I made it.  I got to where I could stand and realized immediately this had been no ordinary swim. I found it hard to stand as I had “sea legs” and trouble keeping my balance.  As I tried to take off the neoprene cap and unzip my wetsuit, I realized that my fingers were totally numb and I had no manual dexterity whatsoever. But, the swim was complete!  No matter what happened the rest of the day, I would always have a successful Alcatraz swim crossing on my athletic resume!

T.5 :

Escape from Alcatraz is unique in that there is a half mile “warm up run” from the swim exit to transition.  You have the opportunity to have a bag there for a towel, run shoes, water, etc.  Because of the weather, I wasn’t sure if I was going to wear my wetsuit (fully or partially)  on the way to transition for warmth or not.  As I found my bag, I was feeling pretty good and warm, so I opted to strip off the wetsuit and throw on a pair of shoes.  I had also put a wool knit cap in the bag, and decided to wear that on the half mile run to keep any warmth I generated.  One of the smartest decisions all day.  So with the swim behind me, and feeling amazing, my focus changed from survival to having fun.

T1:

I run into transition feeling good and I find my bike fairly easily in a sea of 2,000.  I take my time getting ready and focus on being smooth.  I had arm warmers in transition and compression socks available on the chance I was cold, but decided not to use them. I went with full finger bike gloves and a very light Team in Training windbreaker and headed out for the 18 mile bike.  T1 was slow, including the half mile run from the swim exit, but I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

Bike:

18 miles.  Doesn’t sound like far, but on this course, It’s pretty tough.  Heading out the first couple of miles is flat and into a slight head wind.  It’s not too bad, because you realize that on the way back you get the tail wind.  Then you start climbing.  Up and up to the Golden Gate Bridge.  At this point, I hear sirens and start to see SFPD and CHP motorcycles coming down the hill at an amazing clip.  I see the CHP bikes and get the theme song from the 80’s show CHiPs stuck in my head where it stays for the rest of the bike, but that’s another story. (Hopefully you'll have it stuck in your head now too!)

Seeing the cops I think "no way, not already"…and right then, Javier Gomez flies past me on the down hill like a bullet.  Within a couple of minutes,  Graham O’Grady and Jesse Thomas go by like blurs too.  Man, I want to be like them when I grow up.  Top the first hill and then head downhill again.  Up and down, right and left. Up to the Palace at the Legion of Honor, then downhill.  Crazy fast downhills that seem fun until I realize that I have to come back up these hills. Just past mile 10, I looked to my right and there were buffalo!  Buffalo on the bike course in Golden Gate Park. One more reason this is the coolest race ever. During one of the stretches you pass through a residential are and past the house of Robin Williams.  I had read that if he’s in town, he’d be outside cheering.  Guess he wasn’t in town.  Oh well.   Heading back towards transition I have the wind at my back, the bike behind me, and I’m looking forward to the run.  Here's a video of the bike course in under 4 minutes!

T2:

Pretty uneventful, try to drink some, a change of shoes, talking to fellow competitors, a quick bathroom stop, and I’m off for the 8 mile run.

Run:

The run is 8 miles.  Like the bike, the first part is flat, and again like the bike, then the climb starts.  This is a tough run because once the climb starts, it is virtually impossible to pass. The course is mostly out and back, so you have to deal with runners ahead of you, behind you, and head on. Trail run and stairs, through an old tunnel at the Presidio and up to run under the Golden Gate Bridge.  The run continues to take its toll and you keep climbing on a very slow and technical course.  I have to watch my footing almost every step.  At the top of the hill, then there is a long descent along the road until you turn to a trail that heads down to Baker Beach.  Once you hit the beach you look and almost a half mile away is the turn around.  The signs clearly indicate that you are to stay to the left and run in the heavy sand, but some people aren’t paying attention and head to the water where its harder packed and easier to run.  Me, I don’t do that.  I choose the heavy sand.  I’m pretty sure that there would be no penalty, and no one would know, but I would know that I cheated the course and I cheated myself.  Running in sand like that drains your muscles and your spirit.  I make the turn around and get to run along the water.  It feels much better on my legs, but the sand I pick up on my shoes is wet and heavier.  Then comes the sand ladder.  One of the things that makes this race so tough, so punishing, so challenging, and so fun. About 400 “steps”.  Actually logs or landscape timbers chained together and covered with sand. Here's a video I found of the experience.

People groaning, bitching and moaning.  I, on the other hand am loving every second of it.  To everyone that complains, I say, “Come on, you know this is one of the reasons you signed up for this race!  Let’s get our money’s worth!”  “This is why we’re here!” “Enjoy the moment!”  Halfway up the sand ladder is a race photographer. This should give you an idea of my mental state at this point…

Once you get to the top of the sand ladder, it’s still not over.  You still have about a half mile of climbing before reaching the top.  During this point, you're again on the out and back portion so people are heading downhill to the beach.  You can tell that a lot of them are looking for signs of pain on the athletes coming back up.  I refuse to give it to them.  Instead I start encouraging them, telling them it’s worth every step.  I know from experience how much of a difference it can make hearing things like that.  I also know that you never know who you’re going to inspire!

After cresting the hill and taking a moment at the mile 5 aid station to empty sand from my shoes and thank as many volunteers as possible, (Especially the guy dressed up as cookie monster) I head off for the last three miles.  I come around a bend and see an amazing view.  Up on a bluff, with the Pacific Ocean stretched out forever, and the most beautiful view of the Golden Gate Bridge I’ve ever seen, I slow down and realize how lucky I am to be there at that moment.  Just a few minutes later, I run back under the Bridge and can see Alcatraz Island in the distance and am awestruck for a moment that I actually swam from there to start the day.  The last couple of miles were flat with a tailwind and I try and spend the time reflecting on the day and everything it took to get there since finding out I won a lottery slot.  Approaching the finish at Marina Green, is very cool…more and more people are lining the route cheering you on.  The finishing chute is long and ends with grandstands on both sides.  I crossed the finish line and, being careful to make sure I wasn’t blocking anyone, I dropped to the ground.  I think a few volunteers started heading my way thinking I was in trouble and had collapsed, but then I did my push up and jumped back up to finish my burpee… with a whole lot of gratitude.

Post Race:

I’ll post all my splits, even though they are incredibly unimpressive.  My goal was to have fun, finish, and enjoy every moment. I did that.  Looking back, I could have been faster.  I could have pushed myself harder.  But I honestly don’t think I could have had any more fun!  This is a race that every triathlete should do once.  It’s tough, it’s challenging, and it’s fun.

 

Feel free to leave a comment and if you have any questions, please ask.  All in all, it was a great first race of the season, and I can't wait to see what else the year will bring!