Even at 1/5 the distance, Escape From Alcatraz scares me MORE than Ironman

Many of you may know that I completed my first Ironman back in August of 2012. That was a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike, and a 26.2-mile marathon run totaling to 140.6 miles. It took me 15 hours and 48 minutes to finish, but I survived.

Escape From Alcatraz is a little less than 1/5 of the distance of an Ironman having a 1.5-mile swim, an 18-mile bike, and an 8-mile run. But I have a confession:

Alcatraz scares me MORE than the Ironman!

Sure, Ironman is a LONG, grueling event and plenty of people who start the race don't finish. Yes, I will probably be done with Alcatraz before noon on race day and actually have a chance to explore San Francisco (unlike finishing at 11:30pm and going straight to sleep like I did in Louisville back in August). Distance-wise, Alcatraz is the easier day, most would say. And to most, I would say, "First, don't try to put words in my mouth. Second, look at the scorecard!"

Let's take a side-by-side glance at each leg of the two races...

THE SWIM

Woah. Back up. Sharks?! Go ahead and ignore what I said about fish and cars. Anything else I could add to the difficulty in the Ironman swim is nowhere near as pants-shittingly terrifying as creatures whose business it is to have sharp teeth and take big chunks out of tasty flesh. Alcatraz, you win this round and give us further proof that God never intended for us to explore the horrors of the ocean deep.

THE BIKE

Ok. That's not so bad. At first glance, it looks like Ironman Louisville might be the tougher course on this one. 112 miles is a LOT of saddle time, and I remember how freaked out I was with a sore rear when that guy popped out of the bushes to frighten all of the tired cyclists. And hills? I've ridden on hills before. No big deal, right? Well, I've never been to San Francisco, maybe I should take a look at the two cities:

Louisville

San Francisco

Oh my. That's a bit of an elevation difference. Still, it might not be that bad. I can push my quads until there's just enough left in them for the run. Provided the run doesn't have anything too demanding in it. Speaking of...

THE RUN

For those of you familiar with the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon, when you think of a difficult part of the run...I don't even need to finish this sentence.

The Equinox Sand Ladder is probably one of the most difficult parts of a triathlon that I've read about in my 4 years of racing. With 400 uneven wooden steps lodged into a hill of sand, it has to be a killer on the legs...and there are still 3 miles left to run once you reach the top. That image up there is a picture, but if it was a video, you'd have to wait a long time to tell the difference because (so I've heard) even the pros end up walking this part of the race very slowly.

So, it looks like Alcatraz has earned its spot as the most frightening tri I've faced so far. Still, I'll be jumping off the boat with everyone else on the morning of March 3. Help make sure the potential dangers I'm facing are worth my while by making a donation to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.  Let's reach our goal of raising $1,500 for a great cause and make escaping that much easier on me. We're already well on our way to the goal, but we could use your help.

Thank you all for the support, and Tri more each day.

-Bobby Jones

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