"Quote of the Day August 31, 2009"

"Achievement seems to be connected with action. Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit."

Conrad Hilton

"Quote of the Day August 30, 2009"

"Health, happiness and success depend upon the fighting spirit of each person. The big thing is not what happens to us in life - but what we do about what happens to us."

George Allen

"Quote of the Day August 29, 2009"

"Pity the man who inherits a million and isn't a millionaire. Here's what would be pitiful,if your income grew, and you didn't".

Jim Rohn

"Quote of the Day August 28, 2009"

"There is nothing we like to see so much as the gleam of pleasure in a person's eye when he feels that we have sympathized with him, understood him. At these moments something fine and spiritual passes between two friends. These are the moments worth living".

Don Marquis

"Quote of the Day August 27, 2009"

"In order to have survived something, we've had to have been a victim. I prefer to think of myself as someone who has persevered".

Lauren Bacall

"I'm a triathlete!"

I did it! On Sunday morning, I became a triathlete. Scaling down and pulling back to the sprint triathlon distance was the ticket. I was up and out Sunday morning completing a 1/4 mile swim, 11.4-mile bike ride and a 2-mile run, and I felt good when I was done! Not only physically but psychologically as well. Came home and cleaned house, did laundry, made cupcakes plus a whole lot of other stuff. Boy, did I have energy!

My goal now is to spend both Saturday and Sunday mornings working on my technique and time creating the best flow possible.

I've got over a month yet so I'm good. Plennnteee of time!

Had dinner with my friend, Karla, last night and she's loaned me her triathlon mat for laying-out all my stuff at the transition point as well as gave me advice on how to do it most efficiently. Learned I need to wear my bike shorts under my wetsuit as well as go to "Youtube" and watch videos athletes have posted on transition techniques. Did that very thing last night for awhile and learned lots.

The major must-do is to get my butt and my bike to Jones Bikes in Belmont Shore and have pedals with toe straps put on my bike; that way, according to Karla, I'm not just pushing down on the pedals, but I'm also pulling up requiring less overall energy from my legs while at the same time, increasing my speed. Just checked their website, and the cost is twenty bucks...not bad.

With my strong showing this past Sunday, along with Karla's help last night, I'm feelin' like my my game is totally AWN!

Quote of the Day August 26, 2009"

"My friends are my estate."

Emily Dickinson

"Quote of the Day August 25, 2009"

"People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle".

Thich Nhat Hanh

"Quote of the Day August 23, 2009"

"Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine".

Robert C. Gallagher

"Quote of the Day Augsut 23, 2009"

"The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself".

Alan Alda

"Quote of the Day August 22, 2009"

"We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us is something valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit".

E.E. Cummings

"Quote of the Day August 21, 2009"

"I have learned that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours".

Henry David Thoreau

"Quote of the Day August 20, 2009"

"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new".

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Bumpin' Down"

Ah, training this past weekend was top notch, a joy, fun, inspiring and powerful! After last week's disastrous, hilly, bike ride in El Moro Canyon, I was down in the dumps and completely unmotivated. With something like 6 weeks of training left, didn't see how I was going to pull-off another 12 miles; not to mention, connecting it to swimming and running. At first, I told myself I would swim during the week so I could hit the hills on my bike both Saturday and Sunday mornings. Well, Friday came, and I hadn't done any swimming. And then Saturday morning came, and I slept in; didn't swim, cycle or run. By time Saturday night hit, the plan was to stay local Sunday morning and ride the streets of Signal Hill.

As one might guess, when Sunday morning daylight peaked through the blinds, I rolled over. Tossing and turning trying to convince myself to get up and get moving, it all of the sudden dawned on me that instead of playing this little mind game and beating myself up and maintaining my frustration, the thing to do was bump it down.

Bingo, I was outta bed and at my laptop emailing Scott Tinley's Adventures switching from the Off-road Extreme Triathlon to the On-road Sprint Triathlon. So, instead of a .5 mile swim, 17-mile off-road bike ride and a 10k. I'll now be doing a .25-mile swim, a 12-mile on-road bike ride and a 5k. Nailed! I got this one nailed. Currently, I'm there! All I need to do now is focus on my form, technique and speed.

And no sooner did I click send, I was out the door and on my way!

Ended up covering 11.1 miles on the bike path with a bit of an adrenaline rush pushing me to some, thank you road bike and your skinny tires, 3:30 miles (way FAST for me!) and then I hit the ground running for another 2 miles. Had hoped for 3, but I'll take the 2.

Successful. I'm again feeling successful and powerful in my ability to accomplish a goal, and it doesn't matter that I've lowered the overall distances; what matters is that I'm still in the game, and I'm feeling strong, confident and viable in my athletic ability. This regained mind set then spills over to other aspects of my life contributing to my emotional and psychological well-being and stability.

My now near 20-year-old Raleigh road bike I purchased 4 years ago for sixty bucks off eBay. Used it for cross-training in preparation for my first marathon (Chicago 2005).

Enjoying an overcast view of downtown Long Beach as I round the marina.


The Queen Mary dwarfed by a Carnival Cruise Line ship.

Yes, all y'all, Squirt was my energy drink of choice Sunday morning. Went to the "wrong" 7-11 where they only sell Gatorade, and I don't, and I repeat, I don't like Gatorade. They had every size, shape and flavor of it, mind you, but no Propel or flavored water of any kind. And they had plenty of "plain" water, too, from a multitude of suppliers, but I need FLAVOR, and a bit of fizz ain't bad either! Squirt has carbs, sugar and a little salt but most of all, it's got FLAV-UHH!

Can you say cycling stud? Mm hm, I knew you could!

"Quote of the Day August 19, 2009"

"In the world to come, I shall not be asked, "Why were you not Moses?" I shall be asked, "Why were you not Zusya?"".

Rabbi Zusya

"Quote of the Day August 18, 2009"

"The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet".

Corita Kent

"Quote of the Day August 17, 2009"

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on".

Robert Frost

"Quote of the Day August 16, 2009"

"Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable".

Sydney J. Harris

"Quote of the Day August 15, 2009"

"Trust that still, small voice that says, "This might work and I'll try it".

Diana Mariechild

"Quote of the Day August 14, 2009"

"Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory".

Albert Schweitzer

"Quote of the Day August 13, 2009"

"The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action".

John Dewey

"Oye, the Schvimming"

Yep, the swimming still proves to be a study, but I'm getting there. Little by little I feel stronger and more confident in the water, but I really need to start kicking it up a notch or I'm not gonna make the October 4th deadline. I'm feeling a bit behind the eight ball right now. Need to get to the Belmont Plaza pool this week and get some laps in.

Psychologically, though, I'm feeling good, and I feel exceptionally good after I finish a hard workout knowing I've put my best effort out there. Very empowering. Weird that I'll have to give myself the "big talk" to get out there and do it but then after I do I feel so much better. You'd think that "high" would stay with me or, at the very least, be readily available the next time I was in an unmotivated place.

And I headed to the hills of El Moro Canyon with my bike on Sunday morning only to be blown away by them. Covered 5.27 miles, and I thought my heart was going to pound right out of my chest. Looks like I need to start kicking some butt on the bike just like in swimming.





Come this weekend, think I'll swim on Friday morning at the pool so I can bike both Saturday and Sunday. This week, though, I'm gonna head up to Pasadena. Learned of a place to go in the hills above JPL where there's free parking. The cost to park and have access to El Moro was ten bucks. A bit steep for me to go both Saturday and Sunday mornings.

"Quote of the Day August 12, 2009"

"The opposite of war isn't peace it's creation".

Jonathan Larson (A line in the song "La Vie Boheme" from RENT).

"Quote of the Day August 11, 2009"

"Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so? Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out".

Oliver Wendell Holmes

"Quote of the Day August 10, 2009"

"Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't".

Erica Jong

"Quote of the Day August 8, 2009"

"We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own".

Ben Sweetland

"Quote of the Day August 7, 2009"

"When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people; as I grow older, I admire kind people".

Abraham Joshua Heschel

"Quote of the Day August 6, 2009"

"We seem to be going through a period of nostalgia, and everyone seems to think yesterday was better than today. I don't think it was, and I would advise you not to wait ten years before admitting today was great. If you're hung up on nostalgia, pretend today is yesterday and just go out and have one hell of a time".

Art Buchwald

"Quote of the Day August 5, 2009"

"Wisdom is knowing what to do next; skill is knowing how to do it, and virtue is doing it".

David Starr Jordan

"Quote of the Day August 3, 2009"

"Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the actions stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living".

Anais Nin

"Zzzzzzzzzz"

Ah, Sleeping in, a true gift. This morning, I was going to follow-up yesterdays' half-mile swim with my first off-road, bike ride at El Moro Canyon near Laguna Beach, but my pillow called instead. For some reason, I didn't sleep very well last night so when 5:30 came around and the thought of hauling my ass down there came to mind, I said no with a capital N-O! In exchange, as soon as I'm done here, I'll go for a run down to the beach. Need to earn a reason to come home and make myself a big breakfast!

The channel between the Peninsula and Naples where I swim.

Long Beach shoreline/skyline where I run and cycle along the 9-mile bike path.

At a fund raising dinner last night, had the chance to chat with Judy who's been to Sunday afternoon "Yoga in the Hood"; learned she swims at 5:30 three mornings a week at the Belmont Plaza Pool here in Long Beach so I'm gonna meet up with her this week to learn some tips and techniques to get my butt moving faster in the water.

All-in-all, feeling good about my training so far. This month is going to be about going the distance in each sport; next month, will be about putting it all together in a straight line and then, boom, it's October.

Oy-to-the-vey!

"Quote of the Day August 2, 2009"

"The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision".

Helen Keller

"Quote of the Day August 1, 2009"

"The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity".

George Bernard Shaw