On August 15, 2021 I had a unique opportunity. After trying for a few years, I finally got selected in the lottery drawing to be allowed to race Escape from Alcatraz. What an opportunity! The race begins by jumping off a ferry bait next to Alcatraz island, and athletes swim into San Francisco where they will transition to the bike and run. As race distances go, Escape from Alcatraz is only half as long (roughly) as my longest races, but the challenges of swimming the the San Francisco Bay, and riding and running up and down San Francisco’s hills make it a very tough race. I was pretty well prepared since I had already raced an Ironman 70.3 (in Galveston) and an Xterra triathlon earlier this year, and I have trained pretty consistently since, but the race still felt at least nearly as difficult as any other race I’ve done. Though the swim was about 1000m longer than expected and there was wind and chop, the water was also warmer than typical and I made it out in about 53 minutes. My sighting/navigation wasn’t great due to the chop and fog, which likely added some time and distance, but it wasn’t bad overall. My transitions were a little slow as well, but my bike and run went about as expected. I finished each in a about 80 minutes. Given the morning I had, I forgot my wetsuit and had to borrow one.. I’ll take it. More in preparation for races later, but this was a fun race and I’ll consider it a win!
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