Wow! Alcatraz is simply an incredible race in one of the most beautiful and scenic urban venues anywhere. While San Francisco is known for it's cold summers and foggy mornings, the weather for the 2008 Accenture Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon couldn't have been better--mid-70's, lots of sunshine, and clear blue skies!
With the strong 3.5 mph current, by the time you jumped in the water you were instantly 10 feet or so from the side of the boat.
I had a stomach cramp during the first couple miles of the run and even walked for a bit to try and work it out. It finally went away as I approached the first climb...not sure if it was the Cytomax which I wasn't used to or what as I haven't had a stitch like that in a long time. The infamous sand ladder was a long steep climb up a sand dune lined with telephone poles linked together with rope. There is a wire railing along both sides of the ladder that you can use to pull yourself up as you go. It was fairly crowded when I approached so I just walked up it along with most of the other athletes. The rest of the run had incredibly scenic views and some fast downhills where I really got rolling. I felt good at the end and finished strong amidst a cheering crowd of spectators.
I finished in 2:41:42 which was good enough for 34th place (top 20%) out of 203 athletes in the Men's 30 - 34 age group. I'd highly recommend this race to anyone and hope to do it again in the future!
I headed up to the event with my friends Seth and Anne. We got up there early afternoon on Friday, registered, checked out the expo, and went for a quick swim in Lake San Antonio. Friday night was chill just hanging out and chatting with other campers. The campground was crowded by Friday evening, but not as noisy as I expected.
As for my race, I was happy with my results. I was hoping for a sub 5:30 performance and went 5:21. I had a decent swim just staying in the middle of my wave. The bike was very tough right from the start. At mile 2 there is a long steep climb to get out of the park and my hr was still sky high from the swim. 
My bike computer wasn't working, so I just settled into a comfortable hr and went with it. I passed quite a few people, but also had a few minor mechanical issues (dropped a chain and my front hub kept squealing) that I had to stop for which probably cost me a few minutes. I finished the bike in 2:54. Of course the run was hilly as well and running on trails was something I didn't do much of in training. I almost rolled my left ankle on an early descent so was very careful with each step afterwards. There were parts of the run that I walked up because they were so steep and I'd only lose a few feet to the guy ahead of me that tried to jog it. I was pleased with my run of 1:50 given the course.
It's very scenic course that passes Central California vineyards, lakes, and lots of hills. All the climbing make it very tough at times, but they also provide a great opportunity to really push the downhills which I enjoy doing.
After much waiting and anticipation the weekend of our big trip to Phoenix to visit Grandma Gilbert arrived. After bailing from work on Thursday afternoon, we loaded up the car and headed out of the city in an attempt to miss most of the evening traffic. Our plan went fairly well, but the 91-West was horrible (as usual) and we lost about 40-minutes sitting in stop and go traffic because we were too cheap to take the toll road (and didn't think traffic would be so bad so early in the day). Lesson learned.
We also got together with Uncle Matt and Aunt Beth for dinner several nights. Fortunately, Liya was in a great mood the entire visit. Everyone who saw her had to squeeze her chubby legs and ask all about her. Liya almost always greeted these inquisitive faces with smiles and her excited kicking.
We had a wonderful time visiting Grandma, Matt, and Beth and can't wait to see them again soon. Though after another 7-hour drive home...we'll look into flying next time!
After a quick transition I headed out on the bike. The first 30 miles were mostly rolling hills, but the last 26 had a couple of major climbs. In addition to the climbs, the wind picked up during the second half of the bike and we faced a headwind back into transition.
When it was all said and done, I cut 18 minutes off last year's time to finish in 5hrs 15mins. I had hoped to go closer to 5hrs, but need to work on my bike if that's going to happen anytime soon!
