TRI for TOTOS     

THANK YOU ALL!

Who won the TRI for TOTOS?
Why, the CRUSA Cairns, of course!
Because of your generous donations,
we've raised $2080 for their benefit.

My thanks to all of you who encouraged my effort and, especially, to those who supported me by donating to CRUSA. My thanks, too, to the incomparable team of Andréa Denninger & Neal "CairnDaddy" Skrenes for creating & updating this website, among other things; CRUSA's own professional dog behaviorist, Editor-in-Chief of "Carin' for Cairns", and "Director" of this fundraiser, the multitalented Jen Guthrie; and Rescuer Extraordinaire Megan Slattery for planting the seed of the idea for this event.

How did Senior Cairn TEAM TOTO do in the race? He finished 498th out of 1362, 1352 of whom were his junior. Not bad for a first attempt.

Below is the race report with pictures.

-- BOB SHIRE --

DONATIONS ARE STILL BEING ACCEPTED HERE

     TRI for TOTOS     

THE RACE IS SWUM, BIKED & RUN

I got up at 3:30 in the morning and felt good. Kelly, Maisie & Xena couldn't figure out why we were up, and why they were fed & walked, so early. We left at 5 and it was 80 degrees & humid. The forecast was for the heat index to be 85 at the start of the race and in the low-to-mid 90's by the time I got to the run portion.

TEAM TOTO, looking surprisingly relaxed, waits with his group to enter the water.

I was in the first of 17 groups of swimmers; there were about 80 per group. It was an "in-water start", so we had to tread water for several minutes before we could take off. Since there are no lanes and a lot of swimmers, it's a real free-for-all, with people bumping into & kicking each other, sometimes in the head. I did pretty well in this regard - I would say that for every kick I received (none in the head), I delivered several.

The swim turned out to be 550 meters (a little over 1/3 mile), 50 more than advertised. I finished in a little over 14 minutes, about a minute (considering the extra 50 meters) over what I had predicted based upon my training times in the pool, but pretty good considering I swam off course several times before I got my bearings, and considering the bumping & kicking which throws off your rhythm. Actually, of the three events, I was most satisfied with my swim time, even though it was a little below the average of the field.

The start of the swim; TEAM TOTO's the one in the red cap.

I took up swimming a year & a half ago because I had frequent back problems & occasional injuries that kept me from running and doing other things. I hadn't really swam in over 40 years and I could barely freestyle two laps of the pool.

Distance swimming, unlike cycling & running, requires a lot of technique to use one's energy efficiently. My swimming has improved vastly and now I can freestyle swim a half mile at a reasonable pace.

I felt surprisingly good upon exiting the water and was able to jog off the beach and up a grassy hill toward the parking lot ("transition area") where all the competitors leave their bikes.

Then disaster struck.

Almost as soon as my feet hit the surface of the parking lot, their undersides began to hurt. I stopped jogging and started walking, but they still hurt and it got worse. Halfway through the lot, I couldn't even walk normally - I had to more or less tiptoe. Everyone else was jogging or walking but I was tiptoeing. And, unfortunately, I had been assigned a bike rack in the very last row of the lot. Comparing this first transition time to those of others, I think I lost a minute to a minute & a half on account of my overly-sensitive feet.

I finally reached my bike, put my gear on and took off. Ever since I began training on the bike about three months ago, after six to eight miles, my lower back would become very painful. The bike course was 11.5 miles. But I was lucky on race day. The back, even toward the end, felt the best it's felt during any of my riding, maybe because I assumed a more upright, less aerodynamic position, and because I didn't push too hard.

At about eight miles, I removed a packet of "Gu", a gooey energy supplement that I had slipped under my shorts, ripped open the packet with my teeth, and squeezed the vanilla-tasting stuff into my mouth.

I thought the bike piece would take 38 to 39 minutes, but it took me 40, placing me in the middle of the field. But I felt good at the end - my legs felt pretty strong and I was ready for the run stage.

TEAM TOTO, not looking too bad, returns with his bike to the transition area.

I returned to the transition area, racked my bike, dumped my gear, and jogged back through the parking lot and out to begin the 3.1-mile run stage. I felt good at the beginning, but after about a half mile, I developed a pain around the area of my diaphragm that typically comes on near the end of a race. It got worse, and it was difficult breathing given the heat & humidity. I made a few stops for water, and was stopped for 20 to 30 seconds each time to catch my breath.

The first part of the run had been a little uphill, so I got to run a little downhill for the second part, which helped a lot. So did thinking about all the people who had encouraged me and made donations to CRUSA. With about a quarter mile to go, I could see & hear people at the Finish Line, my endorphins kicked in, and I was able to pick up my pace a little.

TEAM TOTO, to his great relief, approaches the finish line.

I finished in a little over 27 minutes, a couple minutes longer than I had projected, but well better than the average of the field. I wasn't affected much by the heat and humidity in the swim and bike stages, but the run was a different matter.

My total time, including the two transitions was one hour, 27 minutes & change. I had hoped to finish four or five minutes faster than that, but between my problem in the parking lot & the heat, that was a reasonable time. It put me in 498th place out of 1362 competitors, all but 10 of whom were junior.

So ends TRI for TOTOS, 2010. Now, what can I do for an encore? Hmmmm.

BECKY WAGNER:
Congratulations!!!!

PERLA CHIAFFITELLA:
We are so proud of Bob; he probably did better than guys half his age!

JACKIE McGUINNESS:
Well done, Bob, from across the pond. We're proud of you!
And well done, everyone who backed Bob's effort by helping him to raise over $2k.

JUDY BYRD:
Congrats!

SHELLY SIMINSKI:
We are so proud of Bob; you did great.
Abby & Sydney said you make them proud to be a CAIRN!
You did CRUSA proud!!

MAUREEN SCOTT:
An astonishing & very impressive achievement! Well done!

PAT BEDNARIK:
Way to go, Bob! We're giving you high paws all around.

BOB ANDERSON:
Most impressive - a fantastic job all around!
Great photos . . . Kudos to TEAM TOTO!

KATHY GAMACHE:
Hurray for Bob! What a guy!