Or, I should say, I completed the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon.  From their website:

“…the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon will be packed with heart-pounding action featuring a 1.5 mile swim through frigid waters from Alcatraz Island to shore, a grueling 18-mile bike race, and a demanding 8-mile run through the rugged trails of Golden Gate Recreation Area.”

They weren’t kidding when they said the run was demanding.  It was the longest, hardest 8 miles I have ever run.  I think that 8 miles was harder than the 13.1 miles on the Auburn Half Iron triathlon.  Running in the deep sand, very few flat sections, two trips up stairs, including the ‘infamous’ sand ladder

“…reach the dreaded Sand Ladder (400 steps up the cliff). This experience will drain the legs of even the best professionals, as there is nothing like it anywhere in the sport of triathlon. More than one triathlete has used the hand cable to help them walk up the stairs. The stairs are to the run what the currents and waves are to the swim.”

And yes, I used the cable to help pull myself up the sand ladder.  They even have a timing mat at the bottom and top of the sand ladder so you can see how fast you went up.  Despite e feeling like I was dying going up it, I went up in 5:55, which was 487/1690 finishers.

My overall times were 3:19:39, which was 829/1690 overall, 157/276 in my age group (males 35-39).  I did 53:37 on the swim, 1326/1690, 1:03:05 503/1690 on the bike, and 1:12:40, 728/1690 on the run.  yes, obviously I need to work on my swim, as that is my slowest discipline.  I’ll get to it…

The course was great, we took the ferry out to Alcatraz Island, and then jumped off the side of the ferry and swim cross current to the shore.  The current is actually pretty strong, you have to swim diagonal to get to the right spot.  Then, we ran 3/4 of a mile to the transition area, and then biked and ran.  Bike course was easy to me, because I ride a lot of hills, but plenty of folks said it was hard.  the run course was what was really hard to me, as I mentioned.

Regardless, it was a fun time, and well worth doing it once, especially with the beautiful views of Golden Gate Bridge, from the water, a spot most people don’t get to see often.

So, this is my report on my Oceanside Half Ironman Triathlon, on Saturday April 4th.

Drove down to O’side on Friday with my wife, and the bike on the trailer mount on the back of the car.  No problems, traffic wasn’t even very bad going through LA.  Got to O’side, checked in to the hotel, and went to race registration/packet pick.  No problems there, either.  Walked the mile down to the transition area to check it out, not so bad either.  Went back and had Pat and Oscars breadsticks and pasta for dinner, and got to sleep early.

Woke up bright an early at 0330.  Jen wasn’t too happy about the early hour, but she did a good job all weekend as my semi-official race support crew.  Thanks!  Had my morning coke and oatmeal cookie bar, and then hit the bathroom to poop.  Got everything ready and pooped again…  Drove to the race got everything unpacked, and guess what, I had to poop again.  Apparently, my body has this fight or flight reaction thing before a race and wants to purge itself of all extraneous matter.  So, I won’t bore anyone with my tales of having to poop twice more that morning.

Anyways, got everything set up in transition area, said a last goodbye to Jen and then lined up with my wave for the swim.  It was cold, I was shivering in my wetsuit while waiting for my wave to start.  We were the 10th wave, I think.  Last M35-39 wave to go, silver caps.  As we were waiting, the first pros came running back up the chute from the swim, Andy Potts in the lead, with a course record of 21:27.  Wow!  That was fast.  Finally we got into the water, and it was actually warmed in the water than not, even though the water was 59 degrees.  Got to the starting point, heard the horn and started swimming.  Didn’t get kicked, and only got ran over a couple of times.  Passed some folks from the waves ahead of us, and got passed by many from the wave behind me.  Final swim time was 40:39.  Not stellar by any means, but fine by me.

Ran up the long chute to transition, got my jersey and bike shorts on over my tri suit since it was semi cold that morning, got the shoes and socks on, gloves, helmet and sunglasses and took off.  6:17 in T1, could have been faster, but comfort was somewhat important to me.

Bike went well, got into the aero position and rode well for the first 8-9 miles, but I really had to pee, so I finally stopped at a restroom around mile 15 and relieved myself.  It was getting difficult to get into the aero position because I had to pee so bad.  After that, no more body issues for the entire race, which was good.  Got to the first narrow, no-passing zone, and apparently this meant everyone had to slow to a crawl, all bunched up.  Probably did 7 mph for about 1/4 mile through there, and then blasted off out of there as soon as the no-passing zone ended.  Finally got to the first big hill, the so-called 1st Sgt’s Hill on Pendleton, about 11-12% grade for about 1/2 mile.  Saw some people walking up it, and got really worried, but I persevered, and powered through it.  I have standard 50/39 crank with a 12-25 cassette on my tri bike, and I really wish I had a compact 50/34 crank on it!  Only had to stand a couple of times, and made it to the top of that hill.  Unfortunately, there were more hills waiting for me.  Powered through the rest of the course, and only had one mishap;  my chain came off in a downshift.  Easy fix, though, and probably only cost me about 30 seconds.  Final bike time was 2:57:54, average speed 18.9 mph.  Not bad, about what I expected.

T2 wasn’t bad, only took 4:05, but I did almost forget to take off my bike shorts.  Fortunately, my race support crew yelled at me to remind me, and I stripped them off, got my shoes on and started running.  Oh, I forgot to mention, as I was coming in to the bike finish, the course leaders were finishing their run.  Discouraging and awe-inspiring all at once…

The run was okay, but I should have run about 20 minutes faster than I did.  I ran it in 2:02:39, with a 9:21 minute/mile pace.  Since I run 7 minute miles in training, and am capable of 6 minute miles, I was somewhat disappointed.  I think I just ran out of gas.  Oh well.  The 1/4 mile sand stretch was also disheartening, as it really threw off my rhythm (such as it was)  I ended up walking the sand stretch the 3rd and 4th time through it.  The good part about the run was that it was along the Strand in O’side, and many, many people were lined up alongside and cheering.  Since we had our names on our race numbers, everybody would yell out “Good job, (your name)” to all the runners going on by.  A faux pas on my part:  as I was catching up to one girl on the last leg of the second lap, I cheered her on, saying “Good job, bring it home strong”  She turned and looked at me and told me she had another lap to go.  Ooops.

Well, got to the finish line, got my picture taken, had no need to go to the medical tent, saw the line for the massage tent and walked right on by it, and went to the food tent.  It was hot and stuffy in the food tent, but I had my finishers cap and jersey on, so it was okay…  Eat a bunch of pizza and some luke warm soda, which tasted really good.  Sat and talked with a older guy and was impressed by his stories of past triathlons.  Finally got up and walked back out to transition, packed up my stuff and met my wife and headed home.  All in all, I was happy with my first half Ironman triathlon, and want to do some more.

Overall time was 5:51:22, 195/356 in M35-39, and 981 overall place.  Got to work on my run, I think.

Couple of pictures below, first me waiting for the swim, then smiling during T2, and then me at the turnaround point in the run.

Halfway Done

Smiling at T2

Shivering Before the Swim