Escape From Alcatraz, June 9th, 2019
WHAT a RACE! It took me 20 years to get here and I loved every second of it, kind of! ;) I saw this race on TV a long time ago and said to myself, “I want to do that one day…”. This was my first introduction to the sport of triathlon and I knew, one day that I was going to compete in this race. However, as life got in the way and I lost my focus, it took me nearly 20 years to start on the triathlon journey and conquer one of my oldest and most haunting goals!
Welcome to Escape From Alcatraz! Try to become one of the few that make it out alive and can talk about it! Try to become…an “Escapee”!
Race Gear:
Swim: 2XU Wetsuit, Roka Goggles, 2XU COMPRESSION FULL ZIP SLEEVED TRISUIT
Bike: Cervelo P5 Disc, Zipp 404 wheels
Run: Nike air zoom pegasus 35 shield shoes, Nike Sunglasses, Boco Hat (St.George 70.3)
The Race
Accommodations:
I stayed at the Infinity Hotel (use the link to get your USAT discount) which is located less than a 1mile walk from the swim start and smack dab in the middle of restaurants, bars, and stores. I was easily able to walk to and from the registration and event tents. This also made it very easy to setup up my transitions and pick up my bike and gear post-race.
Registration:
The registration was a very easy process. On Saturday morning you walk down to the village with your ID and USAT card. The lines moved fast as everyone seemed very experienced with the process. I picked up my race packet with my race numbers, then over to get my shirt, backpack, and other goodies. With your registration, you have the option to pick out a nice duffle back or backpack along with several other options. I elected for the running hat, a portable phone charger, and sunglasses holder. They also offered beanies, water bottles or calf sleeves. This was a nice added perk for the $700 plus entry fee.
Race Morning:
Since I was close to the swim start I was able to afford my self a little extra sleep and not stress over timing my ride on the shuttle like most athletes. I woke up at 4 am, did my morning meditation and made my coffee.
Nutrition: I brought most of my own food to ensure I had healthy, organic options. Along with my coffee and water, I had 2 hardboiled eggs and sweet potatoes. This was a shorter course so I didn’t need to eat as much as I did for the Half Ironman. Simply good, clean, simple and balanced food…real food! I take my Onnit day pack of supplements with my meal.
I grab my bike gear, nutrition, and wetsuit and head out the door. It’s eerily quiet outside, no cars, bikes or people, not even a cat wandering the streets this early. I walk alone down the city streets of SF, the sun is just starting to peak out of the darkness. It takes me about 15 min to get to the Marina where my bike is waiting for me. I set up my bike nutrition which was only one bottle of water and one bottle filled with SFuels. SFuels is my new fat based nutrition mix that is all I’ll need for this race. I did not consume any solid fuel for the whole race. Then I set my helmet, shoes, socks, gloves and a towel to wipe off and dry my feet prior to putting on my socks and bike shoes.
From there you board the bus that takes you over to the boat. I mixed in my new Kion Essential Amino Acid supplements (EAA) into a water bottle which I sipped up until the start and took 2 Beta Alanine pills 45min-1hr before the swim start. I normally take 4 Beta Alanine but I ran out.
The Swim:
The swim is a beast! This was the part of the race that scared me the most. I can admit that this was very intimidating. In most races, you start on the shore, swim a loop or two and back to shore. Not here! Here you are dragged about 2 miles off shore into choppy, very cold, deep, shark invested waters and told to jump off the boat and get your ass to shore. You must swim perpendicular to the shore, even though your destination is far to your right (see pic). The logic is that the strong current will pull you towards the Golden Gate bridge and if you keep focusing straight towards the shore you will eventually be pulled into the correct spot. Now, if you try to beat the current you will loose and end up under the bridge. Once you jump off be sure to hold your goggles so they don’t flop off your head. Then once in the water start swimming towards the shore. You are taught to identify a few land marks on shore, like the tower or Fort Mason. AS long as you keep swimming straight towards those land marks you should be ok. Always keep the Dome (Palace of Fine Arts)to your right when swimming,
I will admit, when you’re out there, the shore seems so far away. I found myself isolated for most of the swim I wondered if I was way of course. I swallowed a lot of sea water and battles through some heavy chop! However, I ended up doing fairly well and finished the swim in 36min. Which you can see was a little longer than 1.5miles, now my longest swim to date. After this swim, I feeling much more confident for the Full Ironman distance.
T1:
Once you hit the shore you climb up some wet, sandy and very slippery steps where there are the “wetsuit strippers” waiting for you. No, not sexy girls or guys dancing…They help strip your suit off for you. Then it’s a 1/2 mile run to the bike. Many elect to have a second pair of shoes to run in. I went barefoot, running over the sand, grass, pavement, and gravel. This was a little rough on the feet but tolerable and saved me time which I needed after my sock disaster. I decided on my high ankle compression socks which proved to be very difficult to put on with all the grass and gravel stuck to my feet, costing me some valuable time, *note for the future, smaller, flexible minimalist socks.
The Bike:
Once on the bike, you head out on a winding, up&down, bumpy 18-mile course that takes you through the most beautiful parts of San Francisco. This particular course was tight! There were several occasions where I was riding wheel by wheel and having to break hard on several occasion as we hit a few tight turns. There was a lot of large speed bumps that forced you to be focused and holding a tight grip on your handlebars or else you’d be going for a different kind of ride.
Nutrition: For the record, I’m a low-carb athlete. I consume little to no carbs during my competitions and training, mainly using fat as my fuel source. (This works best for my body). On the bike, I have two bottles, one water and the other was a new fuel source called SFules. SFules is a “keto” style, fat based powder that you mix in your water. This worked out great! I consumed only the SFuels and water on the ride. No solid food like nut butter or fat based bars as I do on longer courses.
There are a few very steep but short hills that will challenge you. The scenery is spectacular as you pass through Presidio, Ocean Beach, Lincoln Park, along with beautiful views of the Golden Gate Bridge. As quickly as it starts, it's over and you’re back to the transition for the run.
T2:
With my shoes, hat, sunglasses, belt and knee brace *(still battling an old injury) all laid out, it’s a quick change from the bike to the run. I swap out all my gear and I’m off on the run.
The Run:
This was the most fun run I’ve ever raced! It has everything from, grass, stairs, forest, beach, sand, concrete, dirt and a tunnel! You need to make you way back up to the hill you already climbed on the bike. There are a few climbs to make that happen, one of them being a wacky, narrow staircase that you have to share with runners going and coming.
Nutrition: In my running belt I have Kion EAA. I only took 2 of these, along with water on the run since it was only 8 miles.
Once you make it to the top you get a nice downhill section however sometimes running downhill is just as difficult on the body. You’ll find yourself sprinting downhill, running between trees, up and over rocks and sticks as you make your way to the beach shore. Then it’s a good stretch along the beach, in the soft sand as you run past beachgoers, fishermen, and surfers. AS you approach the Golden Gate bridge you’re greeted with the hardest part of the run…the Sand Ladder! Yup, you need to get back up the hill and the 400 plus, sand-covered steps is the logical way. So up you go! Most use the handrails along the sides to help them up, they actually encourage it because they know you’re doing this on tired legs. I did that the first 10 steps but got frustrated because people were kind of coasting…I needed to go faster, harder…for me! So I decided to shoot right up the middle and pump my arms, bypassing everyone and getting up the treacherous Sand Ladder in only 2min 40 seconds. Good enough to be in the top 2% in my age group and 70th overall in all ages.
At the top you see the ocean and beach shore, only then realizing the distance you just ascended, awesome! From there you have another but short climb and then into “true escapee” territory. There's a series of metal stairs from an abandoned structure, as you climb up and down this thing. Then you must duck down the enter a dark and wet tunnel…I felt like I was really escaping from Alcatraz! Once you’re out the other end, its another crazy descend down those same stairs from the first few miles where you finally meet sea level again for the final two miles. I ran hard the last 2 miles, hitting sub 7 min per mile! Bursting down the finish with my arms high and a smile on my face. Andy Potts even gave me my medal! Very Cool!
The Finish:
To be honest, this race scared me the most of any race I have competed in even though it was a shorter course it definitely was a beast of its own! The swim is what was the most intimidating and my longest swim to date. Typically I walk of the shore, into the water and loop back around to the beach. Here, they take you way off shore, make you jump into the dark, choppy abyss and say “Swim back to the shore”…much different. You can over shoot the finish and end up under the Golden Gate bridge and a 35min swim can be over 1hr just like that! Thankfully I stayed calm, focused and trusted my training. Accomplishing the swim with a new PR. Again, I learned a lot that I will take into my training and future races. This is by far my most rewarding and satisfying race to date! Next up is NYC Triathlon in July! Looking to set a new PR and destroy all three legs of this race!
Post Mortem:
I always break down my positives and negatives from the race and learn from them for next time.
-Just keep swimming straight and do not over think it.
-Ditch the damn compression socks, in fact, go sock-less for shorter distances all together! This will improve my transition time and can save me upwards to 5-7min.
-Train harder on the bike. This is my weakest event and I know I can save tons of time by getting my legs stronger!
-Avoid the ropes on the sand ladder and just go for it from the beginning. I used the ropes for the first 10-20 feet then ditched the crowd and went straight up the middle. My sand ladder time was 6th in my age group and 70th overall, top 2% and 4% respectfully. I can win this section next year!
Thank you,
Greg Pawlisa
