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Monday 15 August
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Yesterday's lyrics were The Mamas and The Papas.
The Escape from the Rock (1.6m swim/2.5m run/13m bike/7.5m run) or aka AlcaTri is not really something one would associate with "California Dreaming"
Few years ago my mate in SF introduced me into triathlon and four years ago I did the Escape from the Rock for the first time. So I knew what to expect!
We arrived too early at registration, plenty of time to check in the bikes and get marked with a number.
The conditions looked a bit mixed bag. It was a bit foggy and Alcatraz was visible. When there is no fog then there is no wind and the water is calm. According to the swim specialists perfect conditions. Calm water sounds good too me. The swim is a bit tricky as there are quite a few currents and right in front of the Aquatic Park is a 5 knot strong "river"/current, ie. need to approach the opening of the Aquatic Park from the right side.
The Escape from the Rock (1.6m swim/2.5m run/13m bike/7.5m run) or aka AlcaTri is not really something one would associate with "California Dreaming"
Few years ago my mate in SF introduced me into triathlon and four years ago I did the Escape from the Rock for the first time. So I knew what to expect!
We arrived too early at registration, plenty of time to check in the bikes and get marked with a number.
The conditions looked a bit mixed bag. It was a bit foggy and Alcatraz was visible. When there is no fog then there is no wind and the water is calm. According to the swim specialists perfect conditions. Calm water sounds good too me. The swim is a bit tricky as there are quite a few currents and right in front of the Aquatic Park is a 5 knot strong "river"/current, ie. need to approach the opening of the Aquatic Park from the right side.
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Comments
My mate got special mentioned as he did the event 21x and 8x without a wetsuit. There are possibly 3 out of 400 swimming without a wetsuit. Not to recommend, it is a long swim and one can get hyperthermic(?). Next all
particpants marched through Fisherman's Wharf and got on the ferry. Lot of nervous looks and a lot of questions. Which way to swim? Which building should I target?
17/18C and after 5 minutes it felt okay. A short swim towards the kayacks and then the horn blows for the start. Funny at the start, had to take a picture of a fellow competitor with a waterproof Kodak camera.
My plan was to stick to the left and swim towards the TransAmerica Pyramid and then when I am close enough to the pier wall, aim for the historic ships in Aquatic Park, approach the entry into the Aquatic Park from the top, ideally that I could back stroke into it
The actual swim didn't went so well, never got in a good rhythm, the visibility was not good and my googles fogged up. Had to
stop a lot and look around, did a lot of breast stroking. Not very comfortable, but mainly kept going and tried to spot the
next kayack or swimmer to make sure I am swimming into the right direction. The water wasn't too calm,felt more like in a dish
washer. Swimming up and down, looking around, thinking swam to the left but actually swam to the right. Open water swimming
is not easy. At some stage I was a bit worried as I have been 50 minutes in the water and still haven't finished. My best
swim time is 48 minutes, nonetheless kept going mainly targeting to get close to the pier wall, once there I am safe and make
it into the Aquatic Park, from there it is only 400m swim like in a swimming pool. Thankfully a few kayacks were around and
guided me into the right direction and I made it in the Aquatic Park, felt now much better as the rest of the programme is rather easy.
Made it to the beach then and must be at the very end of the field, possibly my longest open water swim, must be 70 minutes,
haven't timed myself and still awaiting offical result. In T1 got quickly out of the wet suit, felt a bit shakey but quickly recovered. Took my time and changed into running gear and set off for the 2.5m. Was already running at a much higher pace than all the other competitors and flying by. Easily picked up 20 positions. However, I backed off as I was too far back in the field and my plan was to take it easy.
a hilly three lapper around the Presidio. Same on the bike was flying past the others and felt very relaxed on the climbs, though not super fast. Didn't want to push it too hard as a 7.5m trail run was still to come.
Managed okay on the bike and back into transition. Next running towards the Golden Gate Bridge and a few steep ladders up to the Presidio again, then down to Baker Beach running on sand!!! The sand run took out a lot of energy, though the views were fantastic, not much thinking about the pain. Up again past Robin Williams house towards the Legion of Honor, turn around and back down along the beach and up a nasty sand ladder! During the run, picked up a lot of more positions and ran very easy, like on a Sunday long run.
Finally approached the last mile and was very happy that I actually made it. Still finished quite back in the field but who cares, the experience counts. The time was a PW in 3:30ish I reckon. Winning time was 2:25ish and the fastest swimmer only need 22 minutes. Asked a few swimmers and quickly realised they regularly train in the ocean, it's like a walk in the park for them. Nonetheless, respect it's pretty tough swim in my view.
My mate went a bit through a horror trip. He is quite a seasoned swimmer. He made the mistake to swim too far to the left hoping for the breakwater, which didn't come. He was already 50 minutes in the water and couldn't feel his hands anymore, so he raised his hand and yelled for helps. Kayacks were thankfully quickly available and they quickly called a bigger boat. They quickly pulled him out, got him a blanket and checked if he is okay. He quickly recovered once heated up and felt good enough to continue as well. His location was too far out and it would have been too dangerous to continue as one can only stay in the cold water for a limited time. It all worked out okay. The race director informed me on the bike leg that he had pulled out and I was a bit worried, but it was good to see him running towards me on Baker Beach. Had a quick chat and he was okay. In the end he finished too and overall a great day. Lot of post race chats with other triathletes and plenty of food was available.
It was quite an experience, not sure if I am doing it again. The swimming was a bit scary, though even with few hundred miles of swim training the same could have happened. It was my 3rd Escape from the Rock and the organiser has a policy once you done it three times,
the fourth time is for free. Looks like I have to be back for more ...
Just out of interest I put in Paula's World Champs 10k track time - 30.42 into the Runner's World time Predictor calculator and it came up with 2.20.57 - she ran 2.20.32 - pretty acurate then!!
What: 3 mile easy
Why: Still not right but felt I had to do something!
Last rest: Last 3 days.
Have a good day.
Well dones to Julz & Mrs Julz, and Lizzie and Sodahead.
Got up earlier than necessary to enter the Nike 10k only to find it's (they're) on 16th October which is when I'm doing Abingdon. oh well.
Like to do races in my home city. Being a non-car owner the hardest bit of most races is the getting there and getting home. except for London races.
What: not sure. May rest. May do 3 miles easy pm. Legs a bit achy from yesterday.
Why: ??
Last Hard: yesterday
Last Rest: thursday
URR-What a fantastic experience you do lead an exciting life and to have done this race 3 times!!!! and you get to do it again for free!!Well done so not only are you a great runner but good at the 3 areas!!!
NZC-hope you are feeling okay anbd run goes well
Well done everyone that raced yesterday!!!
Mava;well done on the long one yesterday!!
What: 6 miles easy RHR still up but just had to run was to be easy so why was it a fast 6 miles
Why: for myself respect
last hard: yesterday
Off to the hairdressers after work
have a great day out there and well done everyone for putting in some great training yesterday
Miles makes smiles.
Progression
URR well done, that sounds a very hard course, especially the swim, great report - hope your mate is doing ok.
Soda well run yesterday, not quite what you wanted but still a time to be proud of.
What: Gym session - weights and 30 minute steady run.
Why: Building upper body strength and keeping legs ticking over
Last Hard: Last Sunday
Last Rest: 7 days
Enjoy your day
what an amazing experience URR - sounds fantastic.
And more congrats to all racers and survivors of long runs yesterday. I wonder what our combined total was!
I think I totalled about 145 miles on the bike last week, although I didn't have the Garmin for all of it so it could be under or over. Either way a PB total by about 100 miles!
What: 10 miles round trip to supermarket; house cleaning
Why: knackered from yesterday; house disgusting
Last hard: yesterday
Last rest: Friday
Last run: 1 Aug
Looks like the SF needs at least another week, poss two to be safe. Since you all said 4-8 weeks, I am not too surprised. And am really enjoying the riding!
Good runnings all.
great report URR, a real endurance event, hope friend is fully recovered, and great song! when i hear it i always think of hol we had there 2 years ago driving along the pacific coast highway, fantastic .
sodahead, it's a good time and a good placing. you are disappointed but isn't this off a huge period of training, maybe legs still tired?
well done julz and mrs J (i thought you were going to say mrs J hurtled past while you were doing up your shoelaces!)
popsider, NZC, WP - hope you are all back on top form from your viruses pretty soon.
wonder if paula got her chips?
what - rest, maybe bit of a bike ride, and rehab/mobility exercises
why - sensible?
last hard - wednesday
last rest - 10 days
well done Julz on your 10k race. thats still a cracking time with or without laces problems. Well done to your wife too.
what : 2 or 3 miles very gently
why : recovery from yesterday's race
last hard : sun
last rest : fri
legs don't feel too bad but feel generally tired so few easy sessions to begin this week with i think.
Popsider - hope you're feeling 100% soon; we've both had some sort of low-lying virus over the weekend; I blame the East Midlands water. And you're right, it was a good great t-shirt, actually wearable in public
What: Cycling to and from work (10-ish miles)
Why: Easy day as (1) not 100% and (2) racing tomorrow
Last hard; Friday
Last rest: 29 days
Have a great day everyone
A Big congrats to all racers yesterday. Off the top of my head Julz, Hilly, Wabo, Paul, SG6, FL, Portaloo, Sodahead and Lizzy. Apologoies if I have missed someone.
My report. Went to pick up bloke who was sharing a lift with me and he had had his car broken in to. So he was not in the best of moods. Anyway got to Askern about an hour before hand and it started to rain!! Thought to myself that this was going to be totally different from any other year that I have run it. Just before the start the sun came out and started to warm up.
My splits were as follows :
Mile 1 - 7.54
Mile 2 - Were was mile 2 marker!!
Mile 3 - 16.50
Mile 4 - 8.46
Mile 5 - 8.47
Mile 6 - 7.54
Mile 7 - 8.32
Mile 8 - 8.35
Mile 9 - 7.57
Mile 10 - 8.13
Total - 1.23.32
Feel that I am slowly getting there. The only downside to the day was that the male loos ran out of toilet paper very early on!!!!
Another enjoyable well organised race.
What: 5 miles (middle 2 at tempo) D&D / 3 miles easy with some plyometrics later
Why: Need to get a hard-ish session in early this week, and I missed plyometrics last week
Last hard: Hmmm... today was hard-ish I guess
Last rest: yesterday
Am determined to read through the rest of yesterdays thread later on.......
Just out of interest (for my own selfish reasons) is there anyone on here targetting 10k in the not-too-distant future??? Just so I can copy training ideas.....!!!
Today
What - Maybe a gentle jog out for a couple of miles
Why - to try and loosen muslces of a bit
Fell liker, I know you have gone on your hols but will sort out and email you the form, when they come available. As believe they are not yet back from publishers.
URR, sounds like fun!
Well after arriving in Brussles a long run with Simon meant the hard run was out the way!
Once in Helsinki with three days of easy running, long days on our feet supporting both marathons, I'm feeling a little worn out but having a fantastic time.
We managed to see Paula 7 times on route & then watched the end of the marathon on the big screen of the stadium.
It was so exciting watching the race in the flesh!
When Paula came into the stadium it was a wonderfull feeling actually being hear when she wins her first world champs title.
Top performances from Dan Robinson & Mara Y The the bronze medal winner 4*400
Some other great performances too, womens pole vault we were very close to the action for that one.
The world record in the javalin
No rain either apart from when we were training ourselves.
Back to Brussles this afternoon & off accross France tomorrow :-)
Clink - Belated Happy Birthday,hope you had a good one.
URR - Enjoyed your report.
Mava - I have no idea how the standard in SA compare to England but this is how I finished in 4 HM this year
Time Finishers My position
1:46 629 134
1:35 557 105
1:44 955 219
1:45 291 79
Still waiting for the official result from the weekend.
The winners normally finish in around 1:00 to 1:08 and the last runners sometimes finish in 3:00.
Thank you for all the words of encouragement last night. I dont run with my club,get all the support I need right here. Yesterday's experience will make me stronger.
What: Nothing
Why: Struggled in yesterday's race.
Last hard: Yesterday
Have a good day!
Crackin' report URR a certain challenge. And you get in free next time. There can't be other races that do that.
Julz congrats to you and your wife
Took my RHR this morn. Can't remember the last time i took, i'm sure it is normally 50 at the most (54 this morning) so will probably take it easy today (well hard/easy rule) and see what it is tomorrow
So
What: 4 miles easy
Why: recovery
Last Hard: Yesterday
Last Rest: Saturday
Question
When out on a run particularly a long run at what distance do you take a drink.
There has been a bit of a discussion about this,
Normally on a long run for me over 90minutes+ (and on hot humid days) i take a drink with me out of habit more than anything else.
I know the body can last a while without the needing to top up, but recovery for the next day is important as well.
So yesterday i experimented a bit.
I drank nearly 500ml of Lucozade sport prior my run (11 and a bit miles in under 1hr50) but did not take a drink with me, i don't normally drink this much before a run unless it's a race. As well as having my hands free it was a good run and as i mentioned yesterday i normally have a dip in energy at around 8 miles, didn't feel this way until after 10.
And of course i drank more when i finished the run.
Any comments?
I have been doing some 800m reps but they are way down on what I recorded 3 years ago when I was last training on the track - then I usually did 2:45-2:50, currently they have been around the 3:00 mark and I don't think that is good enough for me to toe the start line unless things improve substantially. Admittedly I haven't got my mileage up yet which doesn't help. In Feb 2002 when I was reasonably fit I even did a 2.5M tempo run in 15:00, that's just a dream right now.
URR - congrats on your PW and earning your free place. Not sure I fancy that swim...
M - can't believe I used to swim in the lakes without a wetsuit...
WP (and any other South Wales experts) - apparently I'm gonna be in Bridgend next weekend - and I'm looking for a 7(ish) mile coastal run - any suggestions?
What: 6 miles tonight (1 warm up, 4 tempo, 1 cool down)
Why: Start of hastily assembled 6 week training programme for Windsor 1/2
Lyrics: Can't believe I didn't get yesterdays... same result today.
What: 20 miles bike; 2 hours run
Why: LSR (no time yesterday)
Last Hard: Saturday
Last Rest: 8 days
Belated report from the Askern 10.
having run 69 mins at Thirsk earlier in the summer I must admitto being alittledissapointed with 73:03 here, but the Askern 10 course is much hillier than Thirsk and the wind was prettystrong at times.
Looking at the race possitively I set off steadily and slowly moved through the fieldthroughout the race and was only passed once at 8/21miles. Felt strong all the way and my legs feel surprisingly good today.
My splits.
1 7:09
2 same as you here SCS, missed that one
3 21:49 (14:39) lots of steady climbing
and into a strong head
wind at times
4 29:21 (7:32)
5 36:55 (7:34) some tough climbing here
6 43:40 (6:44) the easiest mile of the race
7 51:03 (7:23)
8 58:18 (7:14)
9 65:29 (7:11)
10 73:03 (7:34) back into the wind again.
Well done to all you other racers out there.
Great report URR. I must admit that I swim like a brick!!!
Fantastic running from Paula yesterday, and from Dan Robinson on Saturday. Nice to see our Marathon runners giving some respectability back to British distance running.
Good Runnings everyone.
Bloomin' tram tracks - I've been paranoid about them ever since moving back to Nottingham. And rightly so.
Feeling *very* hyper now ...
What: Saturday - another tough hour's circuit training with BMF in Greenwich Park followed by 4 steadily paced miles. Sunday - after two sesssions with BMF in three days everything (particularly lower abs) is aching - opted for 1 mile slow, 6 undulating miles steady, 1 mile slow.
Why: working on core strength and stability and rebuilding mileage gradually.
Last hard: 2 days.
last rest: 3 days.
For the first time in ages no injury niggles but feeling very tired - can't seem to string more than a few days training together before becoming depleted.
well done Peter.
YEs lizzyb, hope nothing too hurt?
brill stuff big tim!
Well done peteg and scs on askern 10
URR, what a brilliant report, tell you what some reports here are gripping and t hat was one!!
Mava, is nike 10k the nocturnal? if so how do you get in (or am I too late)?
What: 22 lengths d&d, took it very easy, now convinced that caused my itb to hurt as I have done so much running and its got easier. Gentle 4-5 mile plod later
why: race at the Dome thurs and really wantto do well
Last hard: sat
last easy: wed
Lizzie - hope you are calming down, that must have been quite a shock.
Graham - good no niggles, I'm no expert but have you thought of diet?
Legs are VERY tired and also achilles a bit too stiff for my liking. So a bit disappointed as was hoping to do an easy run. But the last time I did that I ended up out of action for 2 weeks, so I'm not prepared to risk it. Oh Well..:0(
So
What: Maybe a swim
Why: having to rest
Last Hard: Yesterday
Last Rest: Today
Another very belated Happy Birthday to clink!
Many thanks for all the comments.
Well done to PeterG and URR (great report!)
as for me - rest day today, I don't think I've ever yet run on the day after a race. Worse still, my quads seem to have seized up a bit overnight. I'm hoping its only very temporary.
what: nothing
why: rest day and raced yesterday
last hard: yesterday
last rest: Friday before today
Lizzie I hope you are ok after your splat.
Thanks for the messages Mava Wabo Scooby Snax and Julz.
Legs not feeling too bad today, but settled for a nice gentle 5.5 miles recovery run and will probably do the same again this evening.
Good Runnings everyone.