The Escape from Alcatraz 2007
San Francisco is fickle weather-wise. They say they sell more sweatshirts there than in any other city and I arrived two days before the race when they no doubt were “in the black” with sweatshirt sales.
rn
I’ll be honest, if I didn’t tell a bunch of people that I was doing the race this year, I would have bailed out based on the weather coupled with sub par training. I was proactive in treating my injuries to my lower back and right knee but I’m learning that as masters age grouper (48), I require more time to heal. My training log had a bunch of circled R’s on it. That meant that the runs were dashed due to an injury.
As I was in a Safeway near Fisherman’s Wharf buying my prerace yogurt, pb&j and chocolate milk, I overheard a conversation about the whales that had swam to Sacramento but there was doubt as to whether or not they were back in the ocean or still in the bay. I conjured up what could have been a scene in a Seinfeld episode. I’d be swimming when water spewing out of the whales blow hole would aim right at me and force me under water.
At 5am on June 3, 2007, I had a 10 minute bike ride to Marina Green transition zone with a cold mist from the fog making my face wet. I boarded one of the busses for Pier 3 where our double decker San Francisco Belle ferry was waiting adorned on one side with huge red Accenture Escape from Alcatraz banner. The ride out to the middle of the bay near Alcatraz was eerie with grey skies. I commented to a fellow racer that the water looked calmer than last year until he pointed out the distinct line of chop chop about a third of the way toward our destination. The paparazzi arrived in several small boats panning the scene with their cameras to film the televised race.There were purported to be 1800 athletes this year up by 100 from the year prior. The lower deck contained everyone under 40, the male and female pro field, and physically challenged athletes like guys who were missing limbs from the war in Iraq or Sara Reinertsen. Sara represents the Challenged Athletes Foundation and is missing her right leg which was amputated due to a birth defect and she wears a prosthesis. The upper deck was for everyone over 40. Ladies, note that there were only 132 women over 40 compared to 523 men over 40. Please email me at bikegirl227@cox.net if you are interested in this race so I can give you tips on how to qualify. We were warned not to swim a straight trajectory to the yacht club exit. The race started an hour earlier this year for a more favorable current. Everyone debated as to what they planned to sight for since there are no buoys but just a vast open bay. I was cold on deck while waiting for the pro field start and I started jumping up and down and doing half jacks to warm up before the 56 degree plunge. The below deck racers were in the water jumping in one after another. Those of us on the upper deck were called downstairs. Like last year, the volunteers shouted at us to “JUMP JUMP GET OFF THE BOAT”.Triathlete Magazine’s May issue suggested to jump from the boat with legs wide and then legs together after you hit the water. I tried it. It worked. You sink less when entering the water like a skin diver. Like last year, I surfaced after the jump and said to myself, “it’s not that cold”. Like sugar entering boiling water, we all dissipated in the pea green salty water. I searched for someone to draft to no avail. My Ironman skull cap chin strap decided to do the rubby rubby rubby thing under my neck during the entire swim. My neck was being rubbed raw with each and every head turn and my neck was stinging in the salty water. When I exited at the yacht club beach, I noted a significant swim time savings of 8 minutes from the year prior due to the swifter current. My husband commented that I looked like I had escaped Hangman’s Noose not Alcatraz by the red lines under my neck from my chin strap.
{mosimage}The 18 mi. bike ride was hilly and quite scenic as we rode on undulating hills along the Pacific. We rode past Seal rock and you could hear the seals arf arfing in conversation with one another. The run starts out with a mostly flat 2 mi. stretch along the Presidio bordering the bay on a sand packed trail. From there we climbed 152 steps up from sea level to street level. Less than a mile on the asphalt we were ushered down a sandy trail to sea level again and on a mushy sand turn around on Baker Beach. We passed the sandy trail that we entered Baker Beach from and continued down the beach and headed back toward the Golden Gate Bridge but then had to climb the challenging 400 step sand ladder back to the asphalt level. From there we went back the way we came and had to go down the 152 steps again until we reached the final 2mi. flat section. They are 8 of the toughest miles you can do with elevation gain and drop, narrow twisting trails shared by people heading toward you full speed ahead and mushy sand turn arounds. It’s a race that has it all from swift sea currents to biking hills and decents with hairpin turns and quad busting steps.
On a recovery walk across the Golden Gate Bridge the day after the race we spotted a large dead whale floating under the centermost point of the bridge on it’s way out to sea. One of its fins had been severed no doubt by a ship passing by. I guess it was still in the bay when we swam by. I’m so glad I did not bump into it the day before!
If you’re looking for the ultimate challenge, consider Alcatraz in 2008. Go to www.tricalifornia.com to see how to enter this race. Oh and don’t forget to pack a sweatshirt! rn
