Escape from Alcatraz 2015

Pre-race:  This race was a surprising blast. Originally I had looked at this as John’s bucket list race and not really mine. But I certainly didn’t want to miss out and FOMO is powerful. We signed up to raise money through Medshare, which is a great organization we didn’t even know about before that redistributes medical supplies to those in need. Thanks to generous friends and family we were able to meet our goal.It was cool that we got to also travel with friends and hang out with John’s sister’s family and parents. All in all a very busy weekend. Used the new Scicon bag to travel and it really was a cinch. Only bad thing is the fees. $150 each way. That’s hard to swallow with two bikes and two bags!

 

The swim is the part that originally seemed like it would be nerve-wracking. The day prior we swam in the bay though and it was surprisingly nice! I really wasn’t cold at all. I got this great Aquasphere Bionic suit from Podium that felt like nothing at all, but was warm. I also got this BlueSeventy cap that had wool in it that seemed to do the trick.

Swim: On race morning the waiting was the worst part! With the time change and the super early start, I felt that unmotivated/disoriented feeling in the morning. It felt like my first race in a long while when I was trying to set up. We loaded on the boat and had a good time on the trip out to see. It was 49 degrees though so the air felt quite cold. It was also really foggy so there was nowhere to sight to that I could actually see. They kept telling us over the loudspeaker to “swim to Jefferson Davis” (a boat) but we kept laughing about that because of how it sounded whether you thought it was a random person by that name or the civil war politician. Anyways, it was cool to watch the pros go off just ahead of us. Right after that you basically get herded off the boat like lemmings on Atari.

I had already planned to ‘snow angel’ so I wouldn’t go too deep under water but after I got a closeup of the distance from boat to bay, I wanted to also make sure my goggles didn’t fly off. So I held them on with one hand and sort of sculled with the other. The fear is always that someone will jump on you but it wasn’t like that at all. Well someone actually did semi jump on me but I barely noticed. Because of this risk, once you’re in it’s time to get to swimmin’  This is the part of the swim I usually hate, but I gotta tell you, this swim start was smooth and I would do it over an IM mass start any day of the week. The current and waves spread everyone out immediately so there is little contact after the start. Oh, the caveat to that is someone can be 15 feet away from you, then suddenly on top of you, also because of said current.

I was reminded a lot of the St. George 2012 swim. That was a ton more scary but had a few things in common such as I had no idea where I was going, I couldn’t see anything, and there was a lot of wind and waves. This is the best I have felt on the swim all year having finally picked up my volume a bit. That said as far as performance I got pretty far behind the other amateur competitors, but there is definitely some luck and an experience factor with this one. In fact, I overshot and ended up a bit down the shore and had to swim back. The funny part is that I was too far right so when I breathed right I saw very few fellow athletes. Thus, I thought I was completely killing the swim! Can’t underestimate the impact of the mental boost of “I’m winning” even if it turns out to not be true later!

I can’t even post my swim pics because it looks like I covered my face in mud and have quite the beard. Still not quite sure what that substance was!

Swim Time: 38 and change

T1: Post swim there is a long run to T1. In fact, there is a mini-transition where you can leave shoes to change into prior to the approximate half mile run. I had thought about taking advantage of this but instead decided to run in swim booties which I had borrowed from Michelle. Speaking of Michelle, she surprised us with an awesome great white shark hat! I was thankful the only shark we saw was that hat! I moved along pretty well but perhaps should have taken the time to remove my wetsuit first, as running with a wetsuit makes your hip flexors tired!

Recently I resolved to stop being ‘lazy’ in T1, seeing transition times affect my overall standing more and more. Also, I was inspired watching the beautiful mounts and dismounts of the juniors at Blalock Lakes and Dan Arnett’s amazing transition. So my goal was to transition ‘hard’ and I did. It was fun! I did a decent flying mount (and later, dismount) and it wasn’t a problem.

Bike: Now if there was any part of the race that was different than expected, it was the bike. Specifically, there were very steep long downhills combined with bad roads and people four wide across the course. It was like descending Neals in a pack. And if anyone has been to the Gaps with me I am always the last one down the hill! Lots of debate about which is the better choice on this course road or tri. If I had to choose again I would still choose my awesome Felt IA4 from Podium but I would be a little more prepared as far as at least looking at the course beforehand. As it was it felt a little unsafe with the crowded conditions. Also, I saw the aftermath of a serious accident which scared me into being even more cautious.

Finally, and this is a very silly mistake, I had put on my helmet the night before adjusting to accommodate for a high ponytail. On race morning, having a low ponytail instead, my helmet was crazy loose and falling all over the place. So on the downhills I am literally adjusting it going over every bump and trying not to crash all at once. It definitely wasn’t my best “free speed” moment! The climbing part was fun, though.

After awhile, I wondered where the rest of the ATC crew was. John didn’t pass me until about mile 10 so I thought that meant I was doing pretty well. He asked me where Ed was and I said I didn’t know. I have to admit at that point I thought Ed must still be behind because, how could he be ahead after I practically won the swim? (sarcasm)

Bike Time: 1h:02m:XX

Run: When I got off the bike I was very happy to have survived! Got on the run and I was feeling great. I haven’t felt stellar in a tri run this year but I felt like the ingredients came together for this one- a bit more volume and more at my preferred race weight, too. I didn’t look at my pace since I knew the about the terrain ahead. Even on the flat parts there was a lot of dirt on the path and I felt it absorbing my energy with every step. I was happy whenever we were on a concrete or asphalt part. We got to the stairs and I thought, that was it? Whoops, those were some other stairs and not the famed sand ladder. Then the soft sand part of the beach. That was a test of ankle proprioception. The whole thing is an out and back so it was really cool to see the last few miles of the pro race as we were headed the other way.

The only thing I didn’t like about this run is there are a number of no pass type zones where you get stuck in single file. Swimming faster would probably help with that one, too!On the back part of the out and back I spied a familiar kit ahead and realized it was John. I only had 3 miles left and that included the ‘up’ part of the sand ladder where I knew he would make up time on me. The up part was a trudge. I like to keep things at a pretty even effort when I race so I didn’t even try to run. I instead tried to step up at a relatively quick tempo and pull on the side rope. Once we got up there finally it was time for the fun part, the downhill back to the start.

I was passing a lot of people including some girls that looked pretty serious. I was starting to think I was doing pretty well which was cool because placement in this race hadn’t been so much on my radar. I sort of thought of it as a swimmer’s race and a good training day. The last few miles I was starting to feel fatigued but I was able to pick it up and pass a lot of people. Plus I could see John ahead of me, which spurred me on!I should add that our behaviors during this race were totally different and that’s the only reason I almost caught him… ie he stopped to look around during the swim multiple times, and even stopped to kiss his mother.  I, on the other hand, did not stop or pause for any reason and ran the last bit with the intensity of a Charlie a la John Tanner.

Run Time: 55:xx