Escape from Alcatraz Race Report

Escape from Alcatraz is a race I have been wanting to do for a while. It was one of my goals in life to complete the Escape from Alcatraz race. Now I can check that goal off, because today I completed the Escape fro Alcatraz race.
Eventhough this race was one of my life goals I didn't take it too seriously. I didn't train too hard for the race, plus I've been eating like crap. Going into the race I told myself I was going out there to have fun. I didn't care how I did as long as: 1) I finished the race, and 2) I finished close to 3.5 hours.
I didn't stress too much about packing for the race and the night's stay in the City. When I did my Ironman Race I started packing four days in advance, checked and rechecked everything I packed. This time I just threw things into my transition bag and called it a night.
I spent the night at my friend's place in the City. He and his girlfriend live in a nice little studio in Nob Hill. It was me, my friend Cecilia, and the two who live in the Studio (Alex and Natalie). My bike and gear made for a tight squeeze.
Alex is a super good artist. He's making some extra cash painting shoes. I know it sounds weird, but people are willing to pay upto $300 for a pair of shoes. Here's a pair he's currently working on:
Cecilia and Natalie decided to go out last night. They didn't come back to the studio until 1am. Of course they came home drunk and loud which woke me up. They stayed up for a while talking and laughing. They finally went to sleep about 1:30am. As soon as they passed out Alex started to snore, and it was SUPER loud. I couldn't fall back asleep. He finally stopped snoring around 2:30am; that's when I finally passed out.
I woke up at 5am. I had my hammer shake and 1/2 bagel with Nutella. I grabbed all my stuff and headed Downn to the race site.
Race day morning started off looking beautiful. The sun was shining and it wasn't too cold. I went to the transition area (TA) and found my spot on the bike rack. The space allowed for individuals to set up their TA's were super small. It made organization a requirement.
I threw all my gear down on my TA towel: running shoes, race belt, helmet, and I racked my bike with my bike shoes attached to the pedals.
After setting up my spot in the TA I jumped on the bus over to Pier 3 where we would load onto the ferry to Alcatraz. The ferry was full of nervous energy. Some people looked as if they were on the boat ride to storm Normandy beach.
I wasn't worried about the swim. The only thing I was nervous about was the water temperature. It was reported to be 55 degrees, and that's freaking cold.
The ferry pulled up next to Alcatraz. That's when we were told to jump overboard. I wanted to get it over with, so I jumped within the first couple minutes of the swim start.
I hit the water and started swimming immediately. The water wasn't too cold, but that didn't stop people from freaking out. Within the first 50 yards of the swim I could hear people yelling to be pulled from the water.
About 10 minutes into my swim my goggles started to leak. It made it difficult to spot landmarks to know where I was swimming to. I stopped about four different times to drain my goggles and figure out where I was supposed to go. I also had to stop a couple of times because I swallowed a lot of water. There were some rolling swells, but other than that the water was relatively calm.
The swim went by quickly. Once I reached shore I had to run 1/2 mile to the TA. I decided to run barefoot. I thought "It's only 1/2 mile. Plus it will be on grass". Unfortunately it was on cement, and it was rough cement. Towards the end of the short run I could feel the bottoms of my feet start to feel a little raw.
I quickly found my bike, threw on my helmet and took off on the bike course. By now the fog had rolled in and it was overcast. The cooler weather turned out to be a blessing; it prevented my from overheating.
I didn't push too hard on the bike, but I didn't take it easy. I kept my power output around 270 watts. I was surprised at how many people struggled on the small hills around the Legion of Honor. I pushed a little harder on the uphills to pass people.
One thing I wasn't used to in this race was ability to draft off of people. I'm used to keeping a 4 meter gap in between bikes. The ability to draft off of others made passing a lot easier. What didn't make passing easy was the roads.
The roads on the bike course were so jacked up. I wish I was riding a bike with suspension. A couple of times I felt as if I were going to be bounced off of my bike. I'm just glad I decided to ride my older bike without my race wheels.
There was a lot of people out there that had their super expensive bikes with super expensive race wheels. They must have been freaking out on some of the rough roads. I've heard stories of carbon race wheels breaking on this race course because of the rough roads.
The fun thing about the course having some steep hills was going down them. It seemed like a lot of people had a hard time descending. Not me, I just peddled harder. My max speed on a downhill was 40mph.
The return course back was uneventful. As I followed the course back the towards the TA, I could see the majority of people were just starting the bike leg of the race. Heading the opposite way I could a steady flow of people. It looked like a mid day's flow of traffic on a freeway. People were trying to pass each other any way they could. I'm sure there were a few crashes on the course.
As I approached the final straight away of the bike course I peddled harder. I was going 26mph on the flat road towards the TA. Once I neared the TA I unstrapped my bike shoes, took my feet out and put them on top of the shoes. This allowed for a quick dismount at the TA.
I ran into the TA, racked my bike, put on my running shoes, and took off onto the run course. I forgot to put my heart rate monitor on so I had no idea how hard I was pushing myself. I pushed myself at about a 7 on my RPE scale. I loved the run course. I used to run that area all the time when I lived in San Francisco, I lived .5mi from the run course.
I hit the 4mi mark and stepped up my pace. We were running on the beach so it made it a little more difficult. At the end of the beach there was a sand ladder. A lot of people struggle on it, I know I did. However, I ranked 17th overall on the "Sand Ladder Challenge".
I maintained my pace up until mile six, that's when I turned it up again. The last two miles I was pushing hard. I finished in 2:41:24.
After the race I still had a lot of energy, which leads me to believe I could have pushed harder earlier on in the race. That is something I need to learn to do. Overall I achieved my goal of going out there and having fun. Maybe next time I can take the race more seriously and place in my age groups.

Race Weekend

One of the races (Escape from Alcatraz) I've been wanting to do for a while is coming up this weekend. However, I haven't really been training that hard for the race. I almost don't really care how I do in this race. I have no doubts that I will finish, but I don't know how hard it will be. Hopefully I struggle to much to finish the race. I know the swim is going to be hard.
The swim is the whole reason I wanted to do the race. Not many people can say that they have swam from Alcatraz. I've done the swim last year at a different race. It wasn't too hard, but it was warmer than it will be this weekend. Last I heard the water is going to be in the mid 50's. Damn, that's cold!
The last time I did the swim I almost got sick. The water was super salty, like a pirate - arrrrr!, and the rolling swells really did a number on my stomach. I'm hoping this time around it won't be that harsh on my stomach.
After I'm done writing this I need to pack. Here's my list:

• Wetsuit
• Goggles
• Squid Lid (Hoodie)
• Body Glide
• Bike
• Helmet
• Shoes
• Spare tube
• Co2
• Levers
  
• Glasses
• Run shoes
• Visor/hat
• HRM
• Pump
• Towel

That's all I can think of right now. I'm sure I will think of more. I planning on having my hammer shake for breakfast (2 scoops of Sustained Energy, 4 serving of Hamer Gel, and 12oz. of Water). I will also eat a bagel with Nutella for breakfast.
Well, it's time for me to pack. Oh, so much fun.

So Much Anger

The boss strikes again. It started at 7am this morning. As soon as I walked through the door his negative attitude covered me like a dark rain cloud. He was upset because three employees were not going to be in today, and he had plans to leave early.
He said his usual "I can't ever leave. I can plan something six months in advance and some one will call in sick and ruin it". There is a grain of truth to this statement. In the past people have called in sick on days he had planned to leave early, but it happens less than 5% of the time. However, it's that 5% that sticks out in his mind and sends him spiraling into pissy rage.
I really need to give him the number of a therapist. He's making me lose my mind.

Another day at the office

Work has become such a depressing place to be. I wish I could find a new job because I need to get out. There's only one problem though, my boss is my father. That's right, I work at a family business. Don't get me wrong, working as a family member in a family business has its perks, but lately the negatives have been way out-weighing the positives.
The root of the problem, both for me and the business, is my father. He is such a negative guy; he's negative about everything. If an employee messes up, or a customer does something to upset him he takes it personally. In his mind he feels that they purposely do these things to say "F-you" with their actions. However, that's not the case. Most of the time the employees make an honest mistake.
The problem is when an employee does something the boss doesn't like he doesn't address the issue when it happens. Instead, he bottles up his feelings which usually turns into anger. Then every time the employee makes the same mistake, which they don't know they are making because the boss hasn't addressed the issue, the boss becomes more and more mad. Then the employee who was making the same mistakes will do something minor and the boss will blow up at them. The employee usually has no clue why the boss tore their head off. The boss really makes a hostile work environment where every one is walking on egg-shells.
Almost all of the employees are afraid to ask the boss any questions because he usually gives off this vibe that the person asking the question is stupid for asking the question.
I really wish I could get him to go to therapy, but my half-assed attempts have been ignored.
There's way too much to write about my work situation. This will definitely be a work in progress.

Swimming and the Gym

This morning I went to the gym to do a swim workout. This was a tough workout. I had the pleasure of doing an 800yd timetrial (an all out effort). I remained consistent for most of the timetrial (TT), but my muscles became super tired after the first 200yds.
Thinking back on it, I probably could have pushed myself harder. I have a hard time digging deep in workouts, and especially for swimming.
I swear, my TT speed is the same, if not slower, than my normal pace. I guess my form goes to shit when I try to speed it up. Plus I waste a lot of energy.
Anyways, after my workout I was in the locker room at my gym getting ready for work. In the locker room there is a TV, and it's usually tuned to ESPN. I guess they were talking about the Duke Lacrosse rape scandal.
While I'm getting dressed I hear some douche-bag (DB) say "exotic Dancer?!? Why don't they call her what she is - a stripper? She's probably a whore too!"
The guy who said this was super loud, and every one in the locker room could hear him. The gym I belong too is a little more affluent than most other gyms. The people here are supposed to be educated, but this DB sounded like he was some frat boy. The sad thing is this DB was a 40 something man.
I have no clue why this bugged me so much, but it did. I guess it had to do with the fact the DB was so loud. Some of comment is true, the accuser is a stripper, but the anger in this guy's tone just rubbed me the wrong way.
I'm usually a really chill guy. I don't usually automatically dislike people that I haven't met, but there is the special few who send out that vibe. The vibe that says they are obnoxious a-holes. The same vibe this DB sent out.
The good thing about this country is we allow people to be obnoxious a-hole DB's and say what they want. The bad thing is some people take up this right to be obnoxious a-hole DB's.