A few months ago my husband Warren started talking about going back to swim the Alcatraz Challenge Aquathon, which he did in 2006. This is a swim from Alcatraz Island across the San Francisco Bay to the shore at Chrissy Field - about a mile & 1/2, followed by a 7 mile run across the Golden Gate Bridge and back. He had done it with his friend John back then, and I done most of the run with him, but remember watching the swim and saying "I'll NEVER to that!" Way too scary.
Warren kept talking it up nonstop with folks in our triathlon club, until he'd convinced 7 other people to sign up for a group outing. Geez! - Looks like I'm going to have to do it after all. What is it about a group challenge that I just can't seem to walk away from?
To say I was apprehensive about the swim was a gross understatement. What was I afraid of? Sharks? 50 degree water? Powerful current sweeping me under the Golden Gate Bridge and out to sea? Rough water that was beyond my swimming skill or strength? And don't forget actual fear itself? Yes. All of the above. A big scary unknown that I did not permit myself to even think about until just a few days before the race - when we got on the plane to go to San Francisco. Then it became real...an OMG moment.
Friends that had done the Alcatraz swim before had told me that it was a pleasant, even fun swim. They had said that it was beautiful swimming in the bay with the amazing scenery and the hundreds of other people around you. They had said that it was actually quite safe with a lot of kayaks and boats and jetski's in the water around you. So I held these positive thoughts in my head and started to feel like it was going to be OK. Five Ironman finishes behind me including 2.4 mile swims....Cowgirl up!,...you can do this, Pam.
Warren & I swam in the ocean in Santa Cruz a few days before the race; the water was calm after we got past the breakers and not really scary at all. The water temperature was about 58 degrees. I only stayed in the water about 20 minutes, and I didn't get as cold as I thought I would. I started to feel optimistic about the cold, thinking it was going to be fine. I planned to wear earplugs(I'd heard this helped with the cold water) and a neoprene cap under my race-issued swim cap, and of course a long-sleeve wetsuit.
We went to the required athlete meeting the day before the race, and the news was not good. Race officials had swum the course that day and had found the water to be rough and the current strong. While the website reported that most years, the majority of the swimmers finished the race in 30-40 minutes, this year it was taking an hour to an hour + 15 minutes. The day was foggy and cold, and there were 4 to 5 foot swells in the bay - and the same conditions expected for race day. OK. Here we go.
Surprisingly I wasn't outwardly panicked, but tried to remain calm knowing I'd just have to do the best I could do - but knew I'd probably be out there a long time.
Then it was race day...foggy, dreary, cold. Our friends and we climbed aboard the ferry in our wetsuits and along with 700 other competitors, were transported out to a spot in the bay which was just off Alcatraz Island. I was quite nervous, but thought I was masking it well and maintaining composure - but my friends tell me now that I looked pretty frazzled on race morning. Before we knew it they threw open the doors of the ferry, we crossed the timing mat and one by one we took the big leap about 10 feet down into the chilly waters of the bay. Our friend Charles was the first one out - and sped off swimming very fast. He ended up having a great day, and made it to the Podium! But even he said that the conditions made it the hardest swim he'd ever done, a full 16 minutes slower than his best Alcatraz swim.
You had to hold your goggles on your face so that they didn't get knocked off with the impact of hitting the water. When I hit the water I wasn't as shocked as I thought I'd be by the cold but I became strangely disoriented. Warren jumped right before me, and then looked back at me. He said I was swimming all wierd kind of like dog paddling with my head up out of the water. He yelled "put your head in the water!" which made me kind of snap out of this dazed state I appeared to be in - and I put my head in and actually started swimming forward. We had been told to immediately swim hard, bearing to the left, to avoid being swept into this section of the bay that was very choppy (like a "washing machine" they said) because of the topography on the bottom of the bay - so I did that and think I was able to get away from it. Didn't see Warren again til after the race.
The hard part of the Alcatraz Swim in figuring out which line to take to shore. Because of the strong current pulling you toward the bridge, you have to aim toward certain landmarks to have the end result of landing at a different landmark. If you misjudge this, you may get "repositioned" by one of the jetski people out there who have determined that you are too far down the bay toward the bridge to be able to swim against the current to get to the finish line. That's what happened to me - I overshot the finish line and spent 10-15 minutes trying to get back making no progress at all. So this SFPD jetski comes up and lets me know he's repositioning me(and another guy swimming near me). They don't ask you...they tell you and you don't argue. So we climbed up on this platform being pulled by the jetski and were taken up the bay a bit to a spot parallel to where we were before, but in a place that was more "current-friendly" to ending up at the finish line. It was a lot easier to swim in from that point than from our original position, which was pretty much impossible. You "can't get there from here" kind of scenario.
Much of the time I was swimming I was pretty much alone out there with no one near me, and times when I couldn't see anyone. The water was very rough, and I felt very beat up and vulnerable. I breathe to the left and fortunately most of the swells were coming from the right - which was a blessing for sure. I usually tend to avoid other swimmers in an open water swim, but not this time. It was comforting having someone else around and scary when I looked around and saw no one - no boats, no people...and no shore anywhere near me. There were a couple of moments that I felt that strong uneasiness out there, that in the past has lead to outright panic. The physical manifestation of this is typically hyperventilation and racing heartbeat. I did stop for a couple of moments and collect myself - and then it was OK and I just kept swimming. For much of the swim I kept a silent mantra in my head: "Calm, Steady, Strong. Calm, Steady, Strong...."
When I finally got out of the water, my hands were feeling really cold, even numb. An hour & 15 minutes was what it took me to get across. I got my money's worth as I swam a ridiculous zig-zag crazy path all across that Bay. Warren finished about a half hour faster than me...he swam extremely well!
I spent almost 4 minutes in transition, putting on some clothes I thought I'd need to stay warm in the run & struggling to get the wetsuit off with hands that weren't functioning well. But once I was off on the run, it was all good. I had a decent 56-minute run for the 7 miles - missed having the fastest run time in my age group by just a few seconds. However, it's damn near impossible to come back from a swim that slow to have any chance of ending up near the top of the age group standings - my finish place was 5th in the 10-year age group 50-59. On the bridge run, I collided with a little Asian gentlemen that stepped out just as I was passing him. He was very apologetic. :-)
My coach George said that I'd be glad I did this race after it was over. He is right. It was a great opportunity for me to experience and manage the nervousness of a challenging swim - no doubt a preview of my upcoming swim in Kona. Only that one will be without a wetsuit....which is how I need to be swimming for most of my open water swims for the rest of the summer. I need to! Time to let that wetsuit dependency go.
I'm so proud of my friends who excelled and represented for our BTC team on the podium at the Alcatraz Challege....Charles, Amanda, Megan....and of course the rest of our team members who took on and conquered this weekend....Warren, Dieter, Andy, Laura, Rebecca. Thank you so much to all of you who encouraged me so much. I leaned on you and soaked in your energy and I hope you feel the love I send back to you,
I have to go back and do this again next year. I know I can do better. You should come too. Maybe with a little luck we'll get a sunny day and the kind of Alcatraz swim that these other people say is wonderful. That's gotta be a completely different experience - here's hoping we get that one next time!
