Race Report Part 2: Escape From Alcatraz Bike and Run

The swim report is located here. 

Bike
The bike portion of the race was rather uneventful.  I knew I would be facing some serious climbs, this is SF after all.  My best description would be a mountain bike course on the road.  By this I mean, the climbs were steep and long, however it’s nothing I haven’t faced on a mountain bike course. 

My bike time was slow at 1:14. This put me mid-pack.  I paced myself way too slow and didn’t take advantage of the down hills.  I knew I had an 8 mile run ahead of me, but I still could have gone faster. 

The bike I rented was a Giant Defy.  The fit was terrible (size L).  I was to stretched out on it  The frame size was correct, the stem just needed to be half the length.  My lower back was screaming by mile 9.  My chain did fall off the front rings twice probable costing me a couple minutes, but it was an easy fix. 

Run
It’s no secret I’m not a runner.  I’m an 8:30 minute pace type of guy.  The run course was very close to an Xterra trail run.  The surfaces changed constantly and there were some steep stairs that needed to be climbed.  Some how my nutrition fell out of my back pocket so I had zero nutrition with me.  Thankfully there were enough aid stations to over come that.  I do recall my nutrition falling out during Steelhead 70.3, but running on a street I could hear it.  This running was mostly dirt so it probable hit the ground quietly. 

A tough part of the run was the beach run.  However, that was just about a mile, with half of it on the shoreline so the ground was half packed.  The other half was very deep sand.  It destroyed your calf muscles.  If that wasn’t enough, the beach run ended on the sand ladder.  For survival reasons I walked up the ladder like everyone else.  However, I probable could have picked it up a bit. 

After the sand ladder was the final long climb.  That hill seemed to go on forever. However, at the top, it was all downhill.  There was a lot of downhill stairs that you had to be careful on. I was worried about twisting an ankle so I took it carefully. I still ran down, just did so with caution.

Running underneath the Golden Gate Bridge was cool and there was some beautiful scenery that helped you forget about the pain.  I did finish the last two miles near an 8 minute pace, so I was happy with that.  It was a very long 2 miles. 

The finish line was really cool.  I’ve never been through a finish line with grand stands and very loud cheering crowds.  I really helped you the last few hundred yards and definitely put a smile on your face.  For a brief moment you forgot about the pain and just reflected on the fact you conquered Alcatraz.