A Few More Race Pics

Aunt Gloria took the great snaps below

Run Splits are Available

If your run splits were missing like mine for the initial reporting, they're now available via link below, along with the other splits, rank overall, rank in age group/sex, etc. I think this reporting is going off the official gun at 8am rather than the true time we jumped into the water, as it's showing a 4 minute lag in my overall time and I jumped in at 8:04.

http://events.bazumedia.com/event/ALC2008

Race Pics

A few initial pics (courtesy of Clif Bar, the Chronicle and my sis).

No Shark Bites

The race was absolutely incredible. I honestly couldn't have asked for things to go any better than they did. I completed the race in 3 hours and 26 minutes and the swim alone in 34 minutes. I was hoping for a 4 hour finish and a 45-50 minute swim, so I'm incredibly pleased with the time. The weather was 'epic', as described by the locals and race committee, with not a cloud in the sky and no wind.

At 8:04 am I took a flying leap out of the boat (with one hand holding my goggles in place) and the fun began. The swim was really technical since you have the visible current pulling the water out of the Bay at that time in the morning, so we had to focus on a landmark that wasn't any where close to the swim finish. And if we did focus on the swim finish, we would most likely end up a couple miles further down the shore (most likely around the Golden Gate Bridge). I stayed w/ Gary Emich's swim advice the day prior (thank you Gary) w/ a focus on Sutro Tower (the city's tallest landmark) at my 1 o'clock the entire time and I ended up right at the finish line. As I was swimming, it seem like there was no way I would end up at the finish but I knew not to even question Gary's advice as he's the gent who's done this swim 520x, the world record holder and has done it all 520x without a wet suit.

The swim was the most enjoyable part of the whole race. Funny how that works when this specific swim was one of my biggest fears in life just three months ago.
The bike and run both went well. I lost 11 of my 22 gears 1/2 way through the bike I don't think it hampered the performance at all. If anything, it made me work harder and maybe shaved off a minute or two of my bike.

I had five incredible cheerleaders along the sidelines that were able to spot me at each transition and cheer, let alone settle my nerves on the two days prior leading up to the race, so a huge thanks to them.

Thanks to everyone for your support, good lucks, training swims, training advice and donations to LAF (we raised $2,800!!...exceeding my goal of $2,500). It all helped me conquer that huge swim fear of mine and as cheesy as it sounds, I now honestly look at the water between Alcatraz and San Francisco as a place with a great memory and I can only hope to win another lottery slot for the race next year.

Defending Champions Andy Potts and Leanda Cave Win Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon 2008

SAN FRANCISCO, June 8, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- More than 2,000 amateur and professional athletes competed in the 28th annual Accenture Escape From Alcatraz(TM) Triathlon Sunday, June 8, with Andy Potts from Colorado Springs, Colo. winning the prestigious event for the second year in a row. Featuring a 1.5 mile swim from Alcatraz Island to the shore, an 18-mile bike and an 8-mile run through San Francisco, this race is considered one of the most difficult triathlons in the world.

First Place:
Andy Potts, Colorado Springs, CO, time: 2:01:57
Leanda Cave, Mill Valley, CA, time: 2:15:37

Second Place:
Graham O'Grady, New Zealand, time: 2:02:32
Becky Lavelle, Los Gatos, CA, time: 2:15:52

Third Place:
Craig Alexander, Australia, time: 2:02:53
Mirinda Carfrae, Boulder, CO, time: 2:16:47

"This is one of my favorite triathlons in the world and I'm thrilled to have been able to come back to San Francisco, defend my title and win for the second year in a row," said Accenture Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon Winner Andy Potts. "Because the field of competitors and the terrain of this race are so challenging, winning today is a great confidence builder for the Olympic qualifying race I have coming up in two weeks."

Also defending her title and winning for the second year in a row is Bay Area local Leanda Cave. Athletes from more than 23 different countries and all over the nation fared well with near perfect conditions and sunny skies. A number of physically challenged athletes, including a number of war veterans, also participated and completed the race on behalf of the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

I DID IT!!

I did it!! What an incredible experience. It went better than I ever imagined. The weather couldn't have been better, which made the swim truly enjoyable. During the swim I would take a 30 second break every 10 minutes and doing a full 360 degrees of the surroundings (Alcatraz, Golden Gate, San Francisco) and the view was absolutely surreal. I'll definitely write more later but I'm a bit tuckered as it's almost midnight and I've been up since 3:30am.

Alcatraz Alert System

The race producers have set up a free service that delivers live updates on the athletes' performances during race day. You can track results and see videos of the athletes crossing the finish line. It sounds pretty slick. Click on the link below to check it out.

http://triathlon.accenture.com/SanFrancisco/

The Most Amazing Race Crew!

I'm going to have the most amazing race crew. Thanks Dad, Sis, Uncle Gene, Aunt Gloria and Cousin Kristen for making the trek and most likely dealing w/ a hyped up Perry on Friday and Saturday. :) Safe travels and I'll see in San Francisco.

ACCENTURE ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ TRIATHLON FUN FACTS

I pulled this off of the official site.

1. The waters of the San Francisco Bay are a frigid 55 degrees on average and also a major shark nursery, home to leopard sharks, sevengill cowsharks, brown smoothhound sharks, spiny dogfish sharksand soupfin sharks.

2. Perhaps the most famous “Escape from Alcatraz” was that of Frank Lee Morris, who was the brilliant mastermind of one of the most legendary prison escapes in history. Morris and two others escaped from Alcatraz on June 11, 1962, and they were never to be seen again. The story of Frank Morris and the great escape can be seen in the 1979 film, “Escape from Alcatraz,” which stars Clint Eastwood.

3. According to many sources, the Triathlon is based on a race called "Les trois sports" that took place in France during the 1920-1930s.

4. Alcatraz was once home to more than 1,545 prisoners during its existence as a federal penitentiary from 1934-1963. Famous inmates include Al Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly, Henry Young and Robert Stroud “Birdman of Alcatraz.”

5. A number of challenged athletes will be competing in the race, including two “Operation Rebound” soldiers who each lost a limb fighting in the Middle East.

6. This year there are more than 50 teams taking part in the Corporate Challenge Relay, including teams from Smith Barney, Stanford University, Salesforce.com, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Toyota and many more.

7. In 2006, Inside Triathlon Magazine named the Accenture Escape from Alcatraz™ Triathlon the number one triathlon.

8. The fourth mini-event in the triathlon is a one-mile "warm-up" run between the swim and bike leg to reduce the occurrence of hypothermia.

9. This year’s event will feature world famous athletes such as last year’s winner and 2006 International Triathlon Union Team Champion Andy Potts from the U.S.; French triathlete and one of the world’s fastest swimmers Benjamin Sanson; as well as Pip Taylor, a member of the world champion Australian Elite Triathlon Team; 2006 winner Becky Lavelle; and Jenna Shoemaker, an American and 2012 Olympic hopeful.

10. The youngest competitor this year is 10 year old Austin Hindman and the oldest is 75 year old Paul Groffsky.

We Did It!!

We achieved the goal......$2,530 as of Mon, June 2nd!!! Many, many thanks to those of you who contributed and donated to LAF. I'm honestly at loss for words of your generosity and your donations have definitely fueled the fire for me to swim/bike/run harder on Sunday.

Great Aerial Shot

Great aerial of the course. Lower left is the Golden Gate bridge and middle right is Alcatraz. From this angle the swim looks like a mere 300 yards to shore rather than 1.5 miles.

Last Big Training Brick

On Saturday I had my last big training brick. 2 miles in Lake Washington (with my friend Dave and Jeff.....thanks you two for dealing w/ the cold and going along for the ride), 20 mile bike and realizing 2/3 of the way into it my brake pad was rubbing against my front tire. I couldn't figure out why I was more exhausted than normal on the bike. Actually, was great to have 2x the workout as bike is not my strength. And then I did a 2 mile run just to get used to that weird sensation in the legs going from bike to run. My feet were honestly frozen through the swim and bike, but started warming up w/ the run.

The swim felt really good and that's the big of the three that I'm obviously thet most concerned about.

Now it's just tapering down from now until race day. Whoohoooo!!!!