Escape from Alcatraz

I think they have a lottery...could be wrong but I thought I read that somewhere

Yep. They do have a lottery. I got into it this year and I just got back from doing it. I had never done a Triathlon before and when I signed up with a few friends, I was the only one that made it. Apparently its tough to get in. I don't know how many people get selected in the lottery. Anyways, it was "be careful what you wish for" because once I got in, I had to learn how to swim! After swimming lessons and a Sprint distance triathlon, I felt I was ready to tackle Alcatraz. It was tough but worth it!

So lucky....I envy you....is there or can we expect a race report

You "lucky" dog!  Would you do it again next year?

I just raced the 16-U age group at Escape from Alcatraz this year. you have to qualify at one of the Escape to Alcatraz races or win a lottery spot. The top age group finisher in each age group get a spot at Alcatraz. Only Escape to Alcatraz qualifier race in California is Scott Tinley's Dirty Adventures. Theres more info at the Tri California website. You can get all the info you need here... http://www.tricalifornia.com/alcatraz/2005/and it tells you how you can qualify.

I am definitely going to try and do it again next year. On account of being my first real triathlon (I did a sprint to get me warmed up) I didn't push it very hard and just trained to finish. I was pretty scared about swimming the Bay but I had the chance to do a triathlon clinic back in March that let me do the actual swim, bike and run course albiet on different days. Unfortunately on the day of the swim during the camp, the weather was pretty rough and they said that had that day been the day of the race, the swim would have been cancelled. Nevertheless, I was still able to do part of the swim in really rough conditions. Since it was the first open water experience I had, I pretty much freaked out and floated there for about 10 minutes (helped to have a wetsuit) until I gathered enough courage to try swimming. During the camp, I was barely able to do some freestyle strokes and pretty much breastroked the whole way. I sure am glad I did the camp because it definitely increased my confidence in the swim, or at least I knew what to expect out of the swim. What it really did was make me resolve to really learn how to swim and get to the pool as much as I can.

The day of the event was the perfect weather and the water was pretty calm - as calm as an ocean swim can be. The water was about 58 degrees or so I'm told but it was really easy to get acclimated. The currents were pretty strong though. Its a mass jump from the ferry into the water. I immediately got into a rythm swimming freestyle but after a while, I was like, "where did everybody go?" Since the current is so strong, you have to swim perpendicular to the current to get to the bay or else you'll end up out into open water past the Golden Gate Bridge. Since I wasn't paying attention, I had been stroking for a while with the current and ended up away from everyone. I than hunkered down and started sighting more often but current really had me by now. A waverunner came and said they needed to reposition me so I held on to the back while she dragged me a bit out of the current. I was afraid something like that would happen but oh well. It was a really long swim for me and I ended up swimming well into shore and actually ran a bit on the path on the side by the water. At least the swim was over. During T1, i was putting my wetsuit away and fiddling with the bag they provided us. A volunteer said that they could do it for me but I was like, "I don't care about my time, its no big deal, I'm just happy to be here!"

The Bike was awesome. The course is really technical with lots of steep uphills and down hills. I really paced myself and felt pretty good and I ended up passing a bunch of people. I later learned that Michellie Jones (She won it 7 times previously)had actually crashed out on a down hill reaching for a water bottle. The course gets really windy by the shore and the roads are really bumpy. You really had to be careful hunkered down in aero position lest you hit a big bump.

The run was spectacular. Running and looking out over the ocean by the Golden Gate bridge and running on Bakers Beach with the waves coming in was simply awesome. Since I was used to training in Utah at a higher altitude, I hardly felt myself breathing. I would have pushed the pace but my quads started cramping up right before the sand ladder. I was disappointed I couldn't run up them like I had in the training run.

Overall, I am happy i did it. I was disappointed that i was "repositioned" and I wish I had pushed harder but i felt good even at the end of the race. Next time I'll know better!

I just learned I got into the New York City Marathon - another lottery. I better buy a lottery ticket since I've been so lucky getting in. I want to do a half ironman and eventually a full Ironman next year.