Alcatraz Triathlon 2011

On jumping off a perfectly good boat.

The thrill of jumping off the boat makes an Alcatraz swim worth keeping on your annual calendar.  The Alcatraz Triathlon was a memorable race to freedom: a choppy dip in the bay, a bike ride in classic San Francisco fog, a run under the Golden Gate Bridge and up 400 sand steps up the beach.  We'll draw lessons from my fading memories on what went well for a fun race with clothing and nutrition, and what can be improved: lack of vision, and not pushing hard enough.

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Manage your expectations

For my second Alcatraz crossing I had signed up for this  Olympic distance triathlon (~1.2mi/2km Swim, 25 mi/40km Bike, 7 mi/11km Run) August 21, 2011 way before I noticed TriCalifornia beefed up the race description:

This is certainly not a race for the faint of heart.  Treacherous swim, fighting the strong currents ... The hills of San Francisco: sharp turns, fast descents and agonizing climbs. Throw in a beach run with a 400 step sand ladder and you have one of the most difficult triathlons in the world.

Come prepared both physically and mentally to challenge yourself as this will be a race you will never forget!

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Know your weaknesses

An Olympic distance is too short to overcome my lack of skill at swimming.  At Half-Ironman and longer the swim time becomes less and less important, e.g. 10% of my Ironman time, vs 30% at this event.  


I wish one day we'll have an Ironman San Francisco that includes a swim from Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate Bridge :) 

Know your goals and strengths

I knew I can blaze the sand ladder with good technique and after all those karate squats - 
so top 10% here was nice but understandable. Yet the goal was not to push to win any hill, not even to finish the race, but to have fun and keep getting better in a healthy lifestyle.

I was more surprised how well I ranked on the run - top 30%.  
Maybe it was self-selection - the good runners were scared of the crazy swim, 

so maybe only good swimmers who can't run jumped off the boat.

I was taking it easy on the earlier steps, or I simply executed a better race strategy by others and had lots of energy for the run.  Overall, I think at this level of exertion I can keep coming for more.  

The swim

After the thrill of the jump and initial cold shock, the swim really should be the calmest portion of the race. Unless you start worrying about something again.

Lack of Vision: Know your own destination, Choose your own milestones

Lack of visual goal 
- I didn't check what to orient to for the changed swim exit.  I should have checked for the view from the water.   With a boat start everyone starts with different angle according to their skill to counter the current.  I started doubting I am aiming to the right exit with people going in all possible directions.  Only when a POLICE jet ski dropped off a swimmer just in front of me I knew I am still on course.  That guy was probably swimming straight to Hawaii, so they just pulled him back parallel to shore.

- Don't follow others

I should have learned by now to not follow or swim parallel to people around me - 

if they are swimming so slowly they probably have no clue what they are doing either.
Here everyone jumped within 5 minutes, so there were no later age group waves with good swimmers catching up to show the way.

- Poor vision
I've done all my races with my lucky pair of goggles.

Too bad I've scratched them and they've aged quickly from pool use.  

All newer ones I train with just never fit so well (and aren't proven lucky :).  

Next time I should buy a larger batch of fitting goggles and keep spares sealed.

Overshooting to the right was OK for the changed beach exit.

Last year on the swim-only challenge I ended up left of the exit and close to eddies and back-currents next to shore.  The tip they gave this time was to stay 100 yards away from shore to avoid them. 

Choppiness:

I have lots to work on my technique for waves - my head should be moving not far behind my torso rotation.  I was reaching out too high with my neck to avoid gulping water from the choppy waves.

- Combined with too little BodyGlide on the neck - I had some major chaffing on my neck.

Great that it was the only injury I had at this event.

With many zig-zags from too far to the left against the current to too close to the Golden Gate Bridge, I covered a much longer swim distance than optimal.  The length of a coast line is a fractal and as Mandelbrot showed can be infinite

Currents weren't too strong.  With a different exit and different current speeds than last year's Alcatraz Challenge it clearly wasn't going to be a swim PR.

Swim rank: As usual 90% outswam me.  

Biking: Smile, give thanks and have fun

Passing is a lot more fun than being passed, and in the water you don't see it.  There were 470 people ahead but from here on I was the one passing :) I passed 150 people on this leg trying to catch up with anyone ahead.
- Next time should try aiming to leapfrog two people ahead.

Biking 90 degree turns after steep downhills is tricky, 
and you can't always count on a cop or volunteer warning!  
I had only one very near miss on the chase downhill.

The high school kids they had for support were a real treat.

They were at almost every corner:  and waving as you are their hero.

Do smile at them, and thank for their time, it's worth your extra breath: you get even more energized.  Smile, and have fun, and everything will feel easier.


Bike rank: top 30%.  

Running:

Running gear

+ Five fingers (Bikila) worked great for the run terrain.  I never felt a need for more protection on the off-road portions.  True bare foot running on this course would have been torturous.  I had tried naturally bare foot these trails on a training run - there were a few dirt sections with tiny rough stones that are the worst.  


Only for the beach portion real barefoot may have been more efficient.  The hardest ground (i.e. fastest) at the beach is the wet tide zone, yet with shoes on I didn't want to get them wet to avoid blisters.  

+ Calf guards worked really well for the run. They were worth the extra seconds of fumbling to put them on in T2 transition.  I may try racing with them on the bike next time as well.  

I only somewhat regret saving plenty of energy on the hills that I couldn't use further on the downhills.  The trails in the bluffs above the ocean were tricky at places - the leading runner went off course and bloodied his knees.   It was a cool morning so blood capacity used for thermal regulation was available - I could have used the extra heart rate to push myself much harder.  

Sand ladder special

The 400 slipper sand covered steps up were extra fun on the run.  The tip from Becky Lavelle to pull on the cables was spot on, (no surprise she won).   I'd disagree with other top athletes who suggested to just walk it were too tired to think.  I tried walking midway but it was more tiring than maintaining a slow run by pulling on the cables.  I realized I am more efficient running (i.e. falling forward).  As long as I had enough energy to peel off my legs off the ground, I could pull up with my otherwise unused upper body.  I passed a good number of people that never caught up in just these 2:51 minutes.

 Sand Ladder

Good hill technique and lots of squats may have helped my preparation.  Of course, some may have chosen to just walk it.

Sand ladder rank: top 10%

Run rank overall: top 28%. 

Nutrition and Hydration: Splash'n'Sip method

On a short event like this nutrition is not as critical as Ironman.

Given the cold foggy weather and little sun expected 
I didn't worry about  electrolyte loss due to sweating, or need to drink a lot.

I still prefer to be self-supported and have my own aerobar bottle + two water bottles on the bike, and a full fuel belt on the run.  I've had my share of GI issues in the past from race nutrition that my body refused to take.  
I was happy with the results of a new experiment with race drinks.

Just have a taste of  the Gatorade:  mostly splash around your mouth, and take a sip

Tasting the sweet shot coming down should fool your body to release more calories, and it also feels pretty good.  Yet there is no need to burden the GI system, and drink the Gatorade, 

just splash the cold sweetness around your mouth.

(On the other hand there were studies claiming there are sweet taste receptors in rats intestines as well, so an occasional sip may be OK.)

Somewhat of a waste to take a whole cup for a splash & sip.  

They really need 'tasting cup' servings refilled quickly to stay chilled.

Clothing

Naked is better than wet

There was a 1km run between the dumping the wetsuits at swim exit and the bike start.  I ran  that topless and I think that worked best.  My skin dried out quickly and feeling the wind in the cold morning felt good for a fast run to keep warm.  A wet jersey would take longer to dry out.  Sure, it might save time in T1 to have it on, but on cold mornings I'd rather not waste energy on trying to warm up water.

Giving to get

I enjoy racing with the TNT jersey as that's how I got into this.  Even though I am not on team, I only make personal donations to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.  There is a lot of energy and support that wearing the purple jersey brings.  Yet you get equally much from encouraging someone else when you are passing them.  "Go Team! ", "You're amazing, ".  "You're awesome" the closer you get to the finish, and "yes it CAN BE DONE - you did it!"

 3:51:35 chip time

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Follow Good Recovery Protocol

Even though I didn't have any major complaints during the event, 
I've learned my lessons.  Therefore I proceeded with most of my recovery protocol.

+ Cold water immersion immediately after the run - back in the bay.  
- There was no need for ice packs on my knees though it wouldn't have hurt.

+ A light massage with extra attention to ITB and glutes.

+ Hot water immersion and walking.  
+ Calf guards for the next few days.  

For the first time I had no injuries and forced downtime after a race.  

Great news as I planned to climb Mt Whitney several days later.