Are you stalking the other T100 race venues?

Definitely interested in T100, but haven’t seen a date that works yet. I might use a few to tune up before the IM next year.

What are you doing after Escape from Alcatraz? Let that & how important this race is guide your training. It's more in line with an Olympic total time but the swim is long/bike is short/run is long. Would try to do some open water specific prep for it & spend a little extra time in the pool. It also depends on how intense the Olympic/70.3 plans are that you're looking at. Some of the cookie cutter plans are pretty tame & the prescribed 70.3 volume would be more than ok to hold while training for an Olympic. I would go with something closer to the 70.3 plan. If the body needs a bit of a break, you could dial back the longer bike/run sessions.

Thanks a lot for the advice.

The 70.3 plans I do are fairly intense but noted on the extra time I should dedicate to swimming to make sure I’m ready.

In terms of the importance of the race, I think it’s more for the experience. Net net, it seems like I can live with a 70.3 plan and simply up the intensity for the shorter distance on race day noting I probably won’t have the top end speed required to be at the sharp end.

Appreciate the help!

plymouthtri,

Alcatraz is uniquie. I don't mean "it's cute" or "it's sweet", I mean it's DEMANDING! And while the general public thinks of the swim as the big challenge - the swim is the easiest part of this race.

I'd like to recomend that you abondon the idea of a "plan" and step up to a coach for this event. A coach can help you navigate the specific complexities of this paticular race (for example, you need 3 pairs of shoes for Alcatraz: your run shoes for the event that happens after the bike, perhaps a pair of run shoes for the ~1200m that you need to cover from the swim exit to T1, and then something to protect your feet for the "tour of SF" that you take to get to the boat after you set up transition) AND a coach can make specific improvements in your triathlon skill and fitness that will stick with you well past your finish at Marina Green. I'm talking about gains that will be with your forever - into all the Half IMs, IMs, Olympics, Sprints, Nationals, Gravel Triathlons, MTB Triathlons, Ultras, and more that you'll likely do in the future.

I've coached over 50 atheltes to a successful finish in my 25 year coaching career - in fact, this used to be a prime spot for elite age groupers to acquire their "pro card" and I've coaches three pros to success here as well. I've also raced it 3 times. I know it intamately. DM me, let's talk for a bit and see if we might ge a good match.

Sincerely, Ian

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Ian Murray
http://www.TriathlonTrainingSeries.com
I like the pursuit of mastery
Twitter - @TriCoachIan

Whatever you do, I highly recommend you build the following into your training:
- dedicated hill repeat work (4-10 minute climbs)
- focus on improving your descending skills and high speed cornering
- trail running
- stadiums/stair repeats built into the middle of at least one run per week (you can sub for steep short hill sprints as well)

Alcatraz has a lot of unique features and this type of prep should help you prepare for the demands of that race.

It is indeed a tough and unique race.
I was there last year (as a sherpa to my wife) and it was raining the whole morning.
While the swim looked frightening, it wasn’t actually the hardest part of the race.
Make sure you are on top of your open water training and you got the sighting dialed in.
(Enough info will be provided prior to the race, mark the buildings you need to sight off!)
Then there’s the so called river within the swim portion. It’s a ~50 yard stretch of strong current you wanna cross as quickly as possible to not loose to much direction. From there on its relatively easy to the beach.
Swim out to t1 is about a half-mile run (might wanna stash some shoes at the beach).
I saw a LOT of crashes and injured athletes during the bike split (probably amplified by the wet roads), but the bike is hard. Do hill trainings as best as you can to be prepared. And if it were me competing, I would favor the road bike over a tri bike in this race. Cornering, descends, crazy climbs. It is San Francisco after all!
Then comes the run… Fun stuff! Mix of road, trail, off road, sand, climbs (google baker beach sand ladder!).
So definitely get some hill repeats built into your training.
Otherwise - Enjoy the experience and the amazing atmosphere!

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I love rim brake bikes!

Practice open water swimming, don’t be scared jumping off of a boat in freezing water, ensure you know how to take sharp turns on the bike, run an urban trail including running on the beach and going up a sand ladder.

It’s fantastic race, my favorite tri

This!

Tons of fantastic advice here - definitely going to get in some spicier hill training for the run and sounds like it’s worth leaving the tri bike at home and taking the road bike!

Sounds like a pretty wild race which I’m super excited about!

Thanks again for all the tips!

Glad you asked the question, and I found this thread. I too will be doing Alcatraz for the first time and very much looking forward to it. Great advice in here. Thanks all that have contributed. Very much appreciated.

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Start slow and taper off....

This race is in my back yard and I've raced it many times. I consider it an "extra challenging" Olympic distance event and race it at that speed/effort level rather than being closer to a 70.3 distance race.

As others have noted above, the swim is long but can be either current assisted or current challenged so it's worthwhile NOT having a time in mind for the swim. I've done it as fast as 28mins and as slow as 50mins and I'm a 32min swimmer in 70.3. Practice your open water skills (sighting, strength to handle the choppy water) and attend the pre-race briefing for details on expected currents.

Bike choice can be either TT or road bike. It's a very hilly 18 mile course with some steep ramps but there are still some solid TT sections (Crissy Field/Ocean Beach, Golden Gate Park) so it's still 50/50 TT vs climbing. If you do choose the road bike, be sure to add some clip-on aerobars if you can. The key is fueling/hydrating during the TT sections to ensure you have enough on board. There are no aid stations so you must also carry all your own nutrition/hydration.

Run is a tough 8 miles over mixed terrain. It's a flat, fast start (~1.5miles), 1 mile uphill with steps, 1 mile downhill, a challenging beach mile or so, the sand ladder plus continued uphill, then 1 mile downhill with steps and the final fast 1.5 miles back to the finish (usually with a tailwind).

Enjoy... I'll be out there cheering!