Escaped from Alcatraz (but wouldn’t mind going back)

Over the past few years I’ve done a few triathlons mostly in New York and California and all Olympic distance (as opposed to an Iron Man which is about 4 times longer than the races I do). While doing these races I saw a race in San Francisco the Escape from Alcatraz and decided it was the one race I really wanted to do. To get a spot in the race you either have to qualify for a spot by winning your age group in one of the qualifying races, a highly unlikely prospect for me, or take a chance on a lottery. Two years ago I put in for the lottery and got a spot. Robyn and I were in the middle of our remodel of our apartment and I didn’t think I’d have the time to train for the race so I gave up my spot. Last year I put in again for the lottery for the race this June. I was lucky enough to get a spot again and this time I took it.

The race is pretty amazing a 1.5 mile swim from Alcatraz to Marina Green, a 18 mile ride through the Presidio to Golden Gate park and back and a 8 mile run to Baker Beach with a climb up the Sand Ladder.

I had a great swim and stopped about half way to look around. The view of Alcatraz, Golden Gate
Bridge and the rest of the Bay was truly special. I was wearing a wetsuit, but by the end of the swim my feet and hands were a bit numb and getting on a pair of shoes for the half mile run back to my bike was a bit of a challenge. The bike wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it might be and some of the downhills were a blast to fly down. The run was my big worry and the area I spent the most time training for. Overall I felt strong through the first half the run out to Baker Beach. I ran about a half mile on the beach when I reached the Sand Ladder. The Sand Ladder is about 400 steps up the cliff on logs that are buried in the sand tied together with cables. Needless to say it was tough and I like many didn’t run up them. My legs were starting to burn when I got to the top, but the hard part was done. I continued the run back to the finish line when with about a mile left my quads started to cramp up. I thought stopping and stretching would help. That thought lasted about 20 seconds after I stopped and my legs started to tighten up. At that point I told myself that I run about a mile to the gym every day and that I could finish this. I started running again and as the finish line got close I kept increasing my pace.
I finished in just about 3 hours and had great times in each stage of the race. Kevin, an old and good friend from when I lived in SF years ago, recently was diagnosed with leukemia. He and his family are fighting hard and aggressively treating the disease. I found out about his illness just before my race. During the race when things got tough I thought about what Kevin is going through. So this race was for you Kevin.