Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon

**KJayEsq** · 12-20-2007, 12:46 AM

Nobody has posted a thread here for a while, so I guess I'll start one.

Escape from Alcatraz is exactly what it sounds like. You jump off a boat just off Alcatraz Island and swim to the Marina Green in San Francisco (1.5 miles of chop and ripping currents through SF Bay).

Then you do a very hilly bike ride, followed by a run that is insane.

I did this race in 2005 and the swim scared the bejeezus out of me, the bike almost killed me with all the San Francisco hills, and the run was just the nail in the coffin. I walked (actually limped

) away from that race looking like I had just done battle, but I felt amazing. Walking back to my hotel, I looked out across the water and saw Alcatraz and thought "yeah...I just survived that swim...how cool am I?"

But I didn't REALLY want to do it again.

How many people sign up for such a crazy event each year - like two?? No! Thousands from all over the world. You have to enter a lottery to get in. That's how I got in for the 2005 race. I also got in for the 2006 race but ended up on crutches from an injury that year and couldn't do the race. I didn't try in 2007 and entered the 2008 drawing on a whim "just to see what happens."

Well, I just found out I got in

. I don't know if I'm excited or if I want to throw up!!

I feel I need to try it again. Although I completed that swim in 2005, it really kicked my butt, so I'd like to try again and do better.

So...I think I'm going to take my lottery spot and sign up for the race. CRAZY!!

**sdrjeolsen** · 12-20-2007, 01:39 AM

cool, sounds like a challenge, for sure. I swim in my bathtub, run to my fridge and bike every now and then. Not sure there are many triathlons that fit my profile. Seriously though, that is really cool that you could complete such an event, I've always admired people like you. Go fot it!

**McD** · 12-20-2007, 08:50 AM

This sounds like an amazing challenge.

Just keep thinking of that huge sense of accomplishment you will get when you complete this!

I am in awe of you!

**ktsmama** · 12-20-2007, 11:23 AM

How long to you have before the escape?

**acidcookie** · 12-20-2007, 11:56 AM

This sounds like an amazing challenge! At the end of the summer a bunch of my friends and I formed a relay team to take on a 50-mile race up and down one of the mountains here and it was awesome! Though swimming the SF bay sounds even more daunting. Good luck!

**wulong32** · 12-20-2007, 12:56 PM

That sounds awesome!

**KJayEsq** · 12-20-2007, 08:37 PM

Originally Posted by ktsmama

How long to you have before the escape?

It's in early June (the 8th I think). The timing is a bit off as I'm scheduled for an Ironman triathlon in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho a few weeks later, but I figure it will be good for some last-minute hill training on the bike.

Time to get a little more serious about training! Winter swim training is kind of a drag

. Brrrr!