“Courage to me is doing something daring, no matter how afraid, insecure, intimidated, alone, unworthy, incapable, ridiculed or whatever other paralyzing emotion you might feel. Courage is taking action.....no matter what. So you're afraid? Be afraid. Be scared silly to the point you're trembling and nauseous, but do it anyway!”
― Richelle E. Goodrich
Before leaving for this race I was given advice from dozens of people. From people who had completed the race and from those who had not. I am grateful for that advice so first off I would like to thank all of those people for helping me out. However, it scared the shit out of me. I was very nervous about this race until a couple of days before flying out. Many of you know I have had a terrible string of bad luck lately. Possibly karma. I'm feeling the need to put some good vibes out into the world right now to end this awfulness that keeps happening to me, but that's a whole other blog post. So I decided it was time to just let this shit hit me and roll off. I decided I wasn't afraid anymore. I decided that I can do hard things and that I was going to have the time of my life. I decided I was given this amazing opportunity and I was not going to waste it.
Jenn Garnand, I recall when I first started racing having a huge girl crush on this lady. I stalked her at races. No seriously. I did. She didn't know it but she was inspiring me. After a while that inspiration turned into a little friendly competition. I love that about this sport. We are always pushing each other to be better than we were before. I am so thankful that we finally crossed paths and met. I am sure you are grateful that I don't stalk you anymore. I can't wait to do more crazy stuff with you!
Jenn Garnand, I recall when I first started racing having a huge girl crush on this lady. I stalked her at races. No seriously. I did. She didn't know it but she was inspiring me. After a while that inspiration turned into a little friendly competition. I love that about this sport. We are always pushing each other to be better than we were before. I am so thankful that we finally crossed paths and met. I am sure you are grateful that I don't stalk you anymore. I can't wait to do more crazy stuff with you!
The day before the race I met up with a couple of Louisiana people to get a quick swim in and get a feel for the water. The water was FREEZING and CALM. NOTHING like race day. I don't even remember thinking I was cold for one second on race day.
Jenn and I decided we were bike mechanics, well okay maybe she really is I am not. Anyway, we both reassemebled our bikes Friday when we arrived in San Fran, more on that later. It only took me 2 glasses of champagne to get it done!
Which brings us to the big dance............
3:30 am: Prison break
alarm rings
I stumble through the dark apartment to get my clothes on and grab my bike and head for the door. Ehhhh well I tried to head for the door but my front wheel wouldn't turn and my handlebars wouldn't turn. Don't panic. Don't panic. Jenn and I tinkered with it for a few minutes and decided I would hit the mechanic as soon as we got there. I did all of the race morning prepping the night before as to not wake the spectators extraordinaire staying in the apartment with us. Well almost all of the race prep, I left out the ride your bike and check it out part. Things were super sketch with Red from the second I took him out of the bag. I borrowed a bike bag from a super spectacular teammate, as to save money. {THANKS AGAIN!!} this move certainly saved me money, but did not save me from the race morning panic attack that I had no idea was coming. I didn't bring a pump so I wasn't able to ride it the day before to check it out. Yes, yes, big mistake. Lots of mistakes, but hey I made it through!
We pushed our bikes the half mile to transition. I immediately got in the line for the mechanic. It wasn't too long and we were early so no big deal. So I tell him my problem and he says, "Did you put this together yourself?" Uhmmmm "Yea." He then proceeds to tell me it was reassembled incorrectly and the bearings were broken and that he could not fix it. Excuse me. What in the fresh hell did you just say to me?? Not going to say excuse the language because it is fully warranted at this point. I immediately burst into a full on panic attack. Rapid breathing, tears, the whole nine yards. He tells me to calm down he will try his best and peers behind me at the line. I'm thinking those people can wait!!!! I did not fly across the country and pay thousands of dollars to not race today!! For a brief moment I considered robbing one of the Blazing Saddles bike stands (more on that later) and racing on one of those horrible bikes. In a miraculous end to my string of awful horrible luck HE FIXED IT!! I am forever grateful to the unknown mechanic from The Sports Basement for fixing my bike. Now to get air and off to set up transition. While waiting in yet another line for air I run into Charles who I tell about my panic attack and he proceeds to tell me he had the same issue and refused to go to the mechanic. I envy his chilled attitude at the moment. I am working on the zero fucks given thing. Making progress too. We chatted for a bit and we were on our way. Set up my transition in no time and went to search for Jenn. It was going to be a long day together and we decided to not leave each other's side for the duration of the race. This totally made the race 100 times better. We snapped a couple of pics and headed to board the buses that would take us to the perfectly good ferry from which we would leap, holding hands and squealing, into shark invested waters.
5:00 am: We arrive at the ferry 2.5 hours before we would make the jump. That's a lot of time for your mind to wander. We hooked up with our instafamily and found a place to sit. These guys kept us entertained for the time we would be on the ferry waiting. An amazing group of talent those guys are. Nathan, better known as @the_tri_lyfe, whom is now a 3X Escapee!! He finished the race in 2:58 minutes, a total badass. Kenneth, or @trikenny_140.6, this was his first time escaping and well he ROCKED it! Last but not least John, @jtlynn, who was escaping for the first time also. It was so nice to have people you know, well met for the first time but through the awesomeness of social media you feel like you have known them forever, on the boat for that long ride out to the rock. About an hour into the boat ride I began to panic. Yea remember all that I got this shit, I'm not afraid, I mentioned earlier??? Classic Jessica. I took off my boots and wet suit and sat in a knee to chest position in silence. Everyone periodically checked on me. I had to get out of my head. I had outside factors that I anticipated freaking me out. After a few self affirmations (#likeaduck) I was back in my wet suit and semi ready to jump. I searched for another familiar face on the boat for a pep talk. I found Charles again because I needed to absorb some of his chill vibes. He gave me some comforting advice and the next thing I knew the national anthem was playing and it was go time!
The Swim:
The horn blows and the mob is moving toward the exit. Towers, trees, pier, dome. Towers, trees, pier, dome. You see, on this completely crazy jump off the boat and find your way to the shore swim you have a certain order of things to sight. That order will later go out the window. Jenn and I repeated it a couple of times then held hands and screamed as we jumped from the ferry. I hit the water and wasn't even thinking about how cold it was at that moment. My only thought was holy shit I am really doing this. When we surfaced and found each other all we could do was giggle. We were both laughing uncontrollably. There was no swimming going on just pushing through the water away from the boat and laughing. At this point we see Nathan who yells, "Hey, quit fucking around!" We were told to swim away from the boat for a bit then turn around and look back at the island. We both looked back and took it all in. The ferry, the island, the thousands of people who would soon disappear. It was beautiful. I, uhmm, WE were really doing this. We finally put our faces in the water and began our long journey toward the shore. 10 minutes in we here a mans voice frantically screaming for help. Our thoughts instantly go to shark!!! We looked for a moment and saw a paddle boarder making his way to him. I looked at Jenn and said we have to keep swimming. So we continued. About 30 minutes in we realize we are not making very much progress and there is not a soul in sight. I tell Jenn we won't make the cutoff. She replies with a simple, "Just keep swimming." I felt really comfortable. I wasn't struggling to breathe and I wasn't tired. Now don't get me wrong it sucked! The swells were 3-4 feet over our heads and I was constantly inhaling the awful salt water. I said a quick mental thank you to my coach, Brad Stoufflet, for making me swim 3000 meters 3 times a week for the last month. An hour in and we still aren't to shore, we are watching people in the distance get picked up by the jet skis and brought to shore. I told her there was no fucking way I swam that far to be picked up. No one was picking me up. JUST KEEP SWIMMING. 1:13 minutes later and who knows what our final distance was we final wash up on a shore a ways from the swim exit. We didn't care we were just happy to be out of the water!
T1:
Once washed ashore we began our long wetsuit laden trek to T1. It was supposed to be a half mile run but it was about a .75 mile wog. Somewhere on this journey I catch my first glimpse of Andy Potts for the day. He is starting the run. Yep, the run, and I am just getting out of the water. We arrive in transition, ready ourselves, grab our steeds, and head out.
The Bike:
The first couple of miles I'm tired. The headwind is crazy strong. I can't keep up with Jenn and she's hollering at me to take advantage of the flat land. I can not. I finally settle in and the climbing starts. Holy hell the climbing. And holy hell the descending. They were equally as tough. There were 90 degree turns at the bottom of the hills so I hugged the brakes all the way down. My front brake was stuck again at this point which scared the crap out of me. It rubbed the entire time and screeched so loudly you could hear me from a mile away. The climbs were quite possibly the hardest thing I've ever done. To stay on a straight up climb for minutes at a time going 3 mph while your quads feel like they are going to explode is hard y'all. SO hard. I got real friendly with the small ring on this ride. I never switch out of the big ring but had no option on this ride. I was very proud of myself a lot of people were pushing their bikes up this hill and I was able to murder those hills one after another. Like I said, it was insanely difficult but I pushed through. Jenn and I got separated a couple of times so I waited for her. We made a pact and I wasn't going to leave her. When it got flat for the last mile or so I flew back into T2, thanks to that headwind that was now my tailwind.
T2:
I took my time and got ready for the run. Normal T2 stuff.
The Run:
I stumble through the dark apartment to get my clothes on and grab my bike and head for the door. Ehhhh well I tried to head for the door but my front wheel wouldn't turn and my handlebars wouldn't turn. Don't panic. Don't panic. Jenn and I tinkered with it for a few minutes and decided I would hit the mechanic as soon as we got there. I did all of the race morning prepping the night before as to not wake the spectators extraordinaire staying in the apartment with us. Well almost all of the race prep, I left out the ride your bike and check it out part. Things were super sketch with Red from the second I took him out of the bag. I borrowed a bike bag from a super spectacular teammate, as to save money. {THANKS AGAIN!!} this move certainly saved me money, but did not save me from the race morning panic attack that I had no idea was coming. I didn't bring a pump so I wasn't able to ride it the day before to check it out. Yes, yes, big mistake. Lots of mistakes, but hey I made it through!
We pushed our bikes the half mile to transition. I immediately got in the line for the mechanic. It wasn't too long and we were early so no big deal. So I tell him my problem and he says, "Did you put this together yourself?" Uhmmmm "Yea." He then proceeds to tell me it was reassembled incorrectly and the bearings were broken and that he could not fix it. Excuse me. What in the fresh hell did you just say to me?? Not going to say excuse the language because it is fully warranted at this point. I immediately burst into a full on panic attack. Rapid breathing, tears, the whole nine yards. He tells me to calm down he will try his best and peers behind me at the line. I'm thinking those people can wait!!!! I did not fly across the country and pay thousands of dollars to not race today!! For a brief moment I considered robbing one of the Blazing Saddles bike stands (more on that later) and racing on one of those horrible bikes. In a miraculous end to my string of awful horrible luck HE FIXED IT!! I am forever grateful to the unknown mechanic from The Sports Basement for fixing my bike. Now to get air and off to set up transition. While waiting in yet another line for air I run into Charles who I tell about my panic attack and he proceeds to tell me he had the same issue and refused to go to the mechanic. I envy his chilled attitude at the moment. I am working on the zero fucks given thing. Making progress too. We chatted for a bit and we were on our way. Set up my transition in no time and went to search for Jenn. It was going to be a long day together and we decided to not leave each other's side for the duration of the race. This totally made the race 100 times better. We snapped a couple of pics and headed to board the buses that would take us to the perfectly good ferry from which we would leap, holding hands and squealing, into shark invested waters.
5:00 am: We arrive at the ferry 2.5 hours before we would make the jump. That's a lot of time for your mind to wander. We hooked up with our instafamily and found a place to sit. These guys kept us entertained for the time we would be on the ferry waiting. An amazing group of talent those guys are. Nathan, better known as @the_tri_lyfe, whom is now a 3X Escapee!! He finished the race in 2:58 minutes, a total badass. Kenneth, or @trikenny_140.6, this was his first time escaping and well he ROCKED it! Last but not least John, @jtlynn, who was escaping for the first time also. It was so nice to have people you know, well met for the first time but through the awesomeness of social media you feel like you have known them forever, on the boat for that long ride out to the rock. About an hour into the boat ride I began to panic. Yea remember all that I got this shit, I'm not afraid, I mentioned earlier??? Classic Jessica. I took off my boots and wet suit and sat in a knee to chest position in silence. Everyone periodically checked on me. I had to get out of my head. I had outside factors that I anticipated freaking me out. After a few self affirmations (#likeaduck) I was back in my wet suit and semi ready to jump. I searched for another familiar face on the boat for a pep talk. I found Charles again because I needed to absorb some of his chill vibes. He gave me some comforting advice and the next thing I knew the national anthem was playing and it was go time!
The Swim:
The horn blows and the mob is moving toward the exit. Towers, trees, pier, dome. Towers, trees, pier, dome. You see, on this completely crazy jump off the boat and find your way to the shore swim you have a certain order of things to sight. That order will later go out the window. Jenn and I repeated it a couple of times then held hands and screamed as we jumped from the ferry. I hit the water and wasn't even thinking about how cold it was at that moment. My only thought was holy shit I am really doing this. When we surfaced and found each other all we could do was giggle. We were both laughing uncontrollably. There was no swimming going on just pushing through the water away from the boat and laughing. At this point we see Nathan who yells, "Hey, quit fucking around!" We were told to swim away from the boat for a bit then turn around and look back at the island. We both looked back and took it all in. The ferry, the island, the thousands of people who would soon disappear. It was beautiful. I, uhmm, WE were really doing this. We finally put our faces in the water and began our long journey toward the shore. 10 minutes in we here a mans voice frantically screaming for help. Our thoughts instantly go to shark!!! We looked for a moment and saw a paddle boarder making his way to him. I looked at Jenn and said we have to keep swimming. So we continued. About 30 minutes in we realize we are not making very much progress and there is not a soul in sight. I tell Jenn we won't make the cutoff. She replies with a simple, "Just keep swimming." I felt really comfortable. I wasn't struggling to breathe and I wasn't tired. Now don't get me wrong it sucked! The swells were 3-4 feet over our heads and I was constantly inhaling the awful salt water. I said a quick mental thank you to my coach, Brad Stoufflet, for making me swim 3000 meters 3 times a week for the last month. An hour in and we still aren't to shore, we are watching people in the distance get picked up by the jet skis and brought to shore. I told her there was no fucking way I swam that far to be picked up. No one was picking me up. JUST KEEP SWIMMING. 1:13 minutes later and who knows what our final distance was we final wash up on a shore a ways from the swim exit. We didn't care we were just happy to be out of the water!
T1:
Once washed ashore we began our long wetsuit laden trek to T1. It was supposed to be a half mile run but it was about a .75 mile wog. Somewhere on this journey I catch my first glimpse of Andy Potts for the day. He is starting the run. Yep, the run, and I am just getting out of the water. We arrive in transition, ready ourselves, grab our steeds, and head out.
The Bike:
The first couple of miles I'm tired. The headwind is crazy strong. I can't keep up with Jenn and she's hollering at me to take advantage of the flat land. I can not. I finally settle in and the climbing starts. Holy hell the climbing. And holy hell the descending. They were equally as tough. There were 90 degree turns at the bottom of the hills so I hugged the brakes all the way down. My front brake was stuck again at this point which scared the crap out of me. It rubbed the entire time and screeched so loudly you could hear me from a mile away. The climbs were quite possibly the hardest thing I've ever done. To stay on a straight up climb for minutes at a time going 3 mph while your quads feel like they are going to explode is hard y'all. SO hard. I got real friendly with the small ring on this ride. I never switch out of the big ring but had no option on this ride. I was very proud of myself a lot of people were pushing their bikes up this hill and I was able to murder those hills one after another. Like I said, it was insanely difficult but I pushed through. Jenn and I got separated a couple of times so I waited for her. We made a pact and I wasn't going to leave her. When it got flat for the last mile or so I flew back into T2, thanks to that headwind that was now my tailwind.
T2:
I took my time and got ready for the run. Normal T2 stuff.
The Run:
The same headwind we dealt
with on the bike is killing us for the first 2 full miles of the run. Those
miles are on gravel as well. The crowd is thick and there are people
everywhere. We were some of the last people out on the course and it was like no
one even noticed a race was going on. People were out there doing their own
thing and not there for the race. We had to dodge people left and right. We
reached the first set of stairs and ran around people to get up. We ran on a
trail type surface for a while until we reached the beach. About a half mile or
so on the beach and we had reached the sand ladder. This part of the race is so
epic it has its own emcee at the top calling out names! I’m going to be real
honest, that ladder wasn’t so bad. It has this big bad reputation but it really
wasn’t all that killer. Full disclosure, we took our time and ran walked a lot
of the race. If I were trying to run this race for time I could see how this
ladder would hurt. I found it easier to run up the middle of the ladder than to
try and hold on to the ropes and climb. I tried both and it seemed easier to
just balance and quick step to the top. The last few miles became a blur, I was
just ready to get across that finish line. We finally make it there and we hear
the mac daddy of emcees calling our names! That had to be the greatest finish
line ever! We hear, “Here they are, I’ve been waiting for you!” “Ladies and
gentlemen, the Thelma and Louise of triathlon, Jenn Garnand and Jessica
Boudreaux!” Thank you big time Mike for that awesome shout out! Someone else
said, “They’ve been joined at the hip since they jumped off the boat!” Which
was totally true, and to be honest the race would not have been the same alone.
Escape from Alcatraz was
the single most difficult thing I’ve ever done. It took
maximum amounts of mental and physical strength. Now in September, when I
complete my first 140.6 I may change my mind on that statement, but to this
date it was the most difficult. I am still in disbelief that I was able to take
part in that epic race. I am forever grateful to my amazing mom and number one supporter for helping make it happen. I would not be able to do all the awesome
things I do without her. Of course I do everything I do for my mini me. I love his love for triathlon as well. I can not wait to see him do big things.
HUGE thanks to David at The Bike Path in Mandeville for always taking care of me and Red. He is the BEST!
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Photo cred: My PIC Paige
I was super lucky to meet up with this guy one of my instafriends!
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We survived!!!!
Showing off my race tattoos and apparently a kindergartner did my body marking.
Hanging with John another instafriend.
Hanging out in the marina waiting to do my last interview with IMG.
In the months leading up to the race I was able to share my journey through interviews and videos with IMG. They shared my videos on their Instagram and Facebook accounts. Most of the questions were about how I found triathlon and what motivated me. Beau and I had a lot of fun filming these videos and meeting with the Schuyler and Florencia in San Francisco.
Some still shots from our videos.
~Swimbikerunfuel
