When #TeamTCUK athlete, Anna Best, won her age group at the London triathlon in 2018, she was 'rewarded' with a place in the famous 'Escape from Alcatraz' triathlon 2019 in San Francisco. Anna saw the race as an unmissable opportunity and, with the expert guidance of coach James, began preparing for a truly memorable day tackling cold water, dodging sharks & sea lions, climbing plenty of hills on the bike and confronting a 400-step 'sand ladder' on the run. Find out how she got on in her inspirational blog post!

I’d never heard of the ‘Escape from Alcatraz’ triathlon until prepping for London Triathlon 2018 when there was mention that London was one of the qualifying races. Placing top in your age group meant the chance to skip the oversubscribed ballot entry for one of 2,000 places.

Fast forward to post-London triathlon race euphoria and having won my age group ‘escaping’ from Alcatraz seemed like a once in a lifetime opportunity that I shouldn’t miss. More significantly, June 2019 felt a long long way off.

In reality, the six months prior to the race were the most terrified I have ever felt about a triathlon and were it not for the money I’d already committed to flights, San Francisco accommodation and buying a road bike, I could have easily changed my mind and decided to concentrate on a different ‘year I’m turning 40 crisis’.

In order to try to best face my fears, I knew I needed to find out as much as possible about the course and also the best prep tips. The main race challenges / terrifying rumours included; SWIM: 1.5 miles in 12 degree water, dropped off the edge of a ferry and left to head to shore in strong currents and with the strong potential to be accompanied by sea lions if not a selection of small(ish) sharks somewhere beneath you. BIKE: only 18 miles but horrendously hilly, rough road surfaces and not one to even contemplate using a TT bike on. RUN: 8 miles of varied terrain including a run through deep sand on the ocean front and then a 400 step sand ladder so steep that you need to haul yourself up using the wire railings….

Oh and all this in a city infamous for its cold, windy and foggy bay weather. Cold even when two miles across the Golden Gate Bridge it is a hot Californian summer's day.

In the lead up to the race I decided to try and replicate at least some of the potential race conditions, for which it turns out living in the UK is ideal for. I had a few accompanied sea swims in April when the water was 12/13 degrees and decided that neoprene booties and a neoprene cap were the only ways to stave off hypothermia. Very useful practising swimming in boots which immediately filled like a balloon with water.

Cycling on a road bike in the cold in winter was easy to achieve and then running in sand, well I could imagine that…

During this time, I tried my hardest to follow coach James’ programme which was, as always, well considered and gradually increased the intensity whilst taking account of various trips abroad and other commitments. In addition, James was very patient when having to have a weekly ‘fear counselling’ sessions.

Some of the best race prep also came from arriving in San Francisco fours days before the race. This gave me time to get my bike reassembled from the box and a potentially catastrophic disc brake problem to be identified and fixed by the local bike shop. In addition, I had booked a recce swim with a company who took us out on a boat two days ahead of the race stopped close to Alcatraz and let us swim part of the course. This was so useful in terms of understanding the cross currents in the bay and getting over the fear of the cold. We also practised the shore exit and the start of the run to transition.

Swim exit location

Checking out Alcatraz from the practice boat

Practice swim with San Francisco shoreline in view

Curious Sea lions in the bay!

In addition, my husband and I hired electric jump bikes – heavy metal three geared bikes which were a brilliant way to ride the bike course without ruining the taper effect. We even found our way to the beach on the run section and had a practice ‘climb’ up the sand ladder…

The sandladder!

The days immediately before the race were the most relaxed I’d felt in months as the fear of the unknown was diminished. Also significant was the weather which, on arrival was exceptionally windy. As we moved towards race weekend, however, the forecast turned to hot and sunny with minimal wind. A fairly exceptional scenario which meant a quick re-think about kit for the day. I ditched the planned heat pads for the bike handlebars and the extra layers of clothing.

Swim (33m58s)

Arriving in transition in the pitch black at 4.30am, athletes have until just after 6am to board one of several coaches from transition to be taken to the ‘San Francisco Belle’ an enormous three decked paddle boat. On board you are literally arm-to-arm with hundreds of other athletes – different age groups on different decks. After an hour or so the boat stopped next to Alcatraz island and it was time to line up ready to jump the 12 feet or so off the side. This is done in age group order so frustratingly my group was close to last. As a result, the first ten minutes was really crowded and getting space from other swimmers was quite an effort.

After the initial shock of the cold and the crowding it was easy to get into a rhythm and the main challenge was to keep working out which of the large shoreline landmarks to aim for as you towards the shore whilst being swept along by the current that runs parallel to it. The pre race briefings all warn against aiming for the swim exit as there is a risk of being swept too far past the beach exit and towards the golden gate bridge and the open ocean.

My swim wasn’t particularly fast but I exited in the correct location and had already decided to run from the swim exit to transition in my neoprene booties. The run to T1 is close to 1km and on tarmac so athletes were given an option of a bag at swim exit to leave trainers in. I felt this would be far too time consuming. Running in boots full of water was quite tricky but still preferable to bare feet.

Bike (58m44s)

The best thing about the bike was quite how short the course felt – despite the admittedly fairly steep hills – there was a never a point where it seemed too hard. The most frustrating element was just how crowded the route was by the time I had joined in. In addition, the pre race briefing had been militant on the drafting zone rules and there were more course motorbike riders than I’ve ever seen. As a result you end up mostly stuck in your position with few clear chances to overtake without inadvertently ‘drafting’ up the next hill. The pre race briefing notes made mention of rough asphalt and speed bumps as well as the dangers of the steep descents. Non of the road conditions were much worse than other routes I’ve raced and generally the closed roads and plenty of signage meant it was a reasonable bike course.

Run (57m55s)

Having prepared mentally for a very chilly race, the race weekend turned out to be exceptionally hot so the challenge was to take on enough fluid particularly as there were just two water stations in the eight miles. The run initially heads out along the coast before climbing up to the level of the Golden Gate bridge and then back along the beach and up the infamous sand ladder. The course gets very narrow and slightly crowded after the first two miles as you climb steps and follow some single track paths in the national park. In addition, parts of the route aren’t closed to the public so there is a bit of weaving in and out of bemused tourists. When I reached the sand ladder, there were too many athletes in front to do anything other than walk the climb which was actually a welcome break from the beach run. After the ladder climb it’s then downhill and a flat 2 miles back along towards transition with plenty of space to overtake if you have the energy. My run was probably the best part of the race but predominantly because the crowded bike course meant that I had plenty of strength left to go as hard as possible.

Beach run just ahead of the sand ladder

On the home straight, 2 miles to go until the finish

I finished second in my age group and 18^th female overall which I was pleased with particularly as there were 9 pro women racing on the day. As a race to complete it was really enjoyable, in part because of the stunning scenery and the beautiful weather. The whole event is exceptionally well organised and athletes are sent weekly race briefings/tips every week from three months out.

A glass trophy for coming second in my age group.