Escape from Alcatraz in review: "The devil designed this course."

I connected on Friday with local triathlete Andrew Landgraf, while he recovered from his outing in the Escape from Alcatraz race.

It's a destination triathlon and the local real estate manager made the most of the trip. He swam in the ocean, biked on the Great Highway and ran through the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, 27 miles in all and 3 hours, 28 minutes of exercise.

He sent this review, in words and video.

Landgraf: "The race was incredible. Extremely challenging and exhausting, but well worth every bit of effort it took to make it across the finish line.

I was very stoked about my performance and I still feel a glowing sense of pride from never having to stop throughout the entire race.

"Although my initial expectation was that the swimming would be the most difficult part of the race, I was actually thrilled with my swimming performance. Even though it was difficult to get into a groove, it felt great to overcome the frigid water temps and strong currents and eventually make it to land. Little did I know that the upcoming portions of the race demanded even more out of me.

"Upon starting the bike course, it became evident real fast that this was not any ordinary bike ride in Wisconsin. It felt like I was climbing hills for at least 3/4 of the bike portion.

"I especially remember one hill that was so steep that I saw people walking faster uphill and a few other bikers fall over because they failed to get their feet unbuckled. The downhill portions were amazing, and it was really easy to speed past 30 mph without having to pedal, but it was still challenging at times having to navigate around sharp corners along ocean cliffs.

"Again, not an ordinary bike ride for a cheesehead.

It felt good to finally be back on two feet and off running again. Although muscle cramping made it tough to speed through the course, it was pretty cool being able to run on so may different terrains, which included pavement, gravel, dirt, grassy ridges, and even sand.

"It is one thing to run a long distance on open flat terrain, but add in extreme elevation hikes and a portion of running through sand made it seem like the devil designed this course. Ohh, it felt so good to see the marker saying I only had one more mile to go, and it was even better making it to the finish and knowing I escaped."