Book Description
Professional triathlete SCOTT TINLEY was the California golden boy, a two-time winner of the world's most trying endurance race, the Hawaii Ironman. For twenty years he defined the sport with his world-champion racing abilities, good looks, and sense of style. Well known, well respected, well imitated, he spent half his life immersed in theintensive training that he needed to stay on top. But age finally caught him, and no amount of training would help. He stopped winning races and watched his performance slip. And, as with many top athletes, one day Scott Tinely realized his stay at the top was over. It was a crushing realization. Tinley, an introspective man, a family man with a wife and children to support, began to think about the new journey that lay before him, and he applied the same discipline he used as the world's top endurance athlete to learn how to face the rest of his life. It was a journey filled with false starts and heartrending change. For one thing, Tinley knew he was not alone, and through discussions with the likes of Bill Walton, Cal Ripken Jr., Eric Heiden, Greg Lemond, Jerry Sherk, Alberto Salazar, Steve Scott and many other top athletes, Tinley has carved a path that anyone facing a major change in life will want to follow. Racing the Sunset will do for athletes what Passages did for an entire generation.
Back Cover copy
A seventh generation Californian, Scott Tinley led the quintessential Golden State dream. As he grew from beach rat to lifeguard to a recreational administration major, it seemed only natural to him that he would try to parlay the athletic skills gleaned from this idyllic lifestyle into a profession as one of the best triathletes in the world. And for twenty years, his skill, tenacity and blonde devil-may-care attitude guided him along the always-precarious path of professional sport.
But when the hands of time finally took hold of his legs, and no amount of training would prop up his performances, his athletic gold rush went bust. Cracks in his psyche began to show, as if beneath it all, like much of California itself, his life had been built on a fault and triathlon had been a stage set. Always introspective and inquiring, Tinley threw himself headlong into the subject of athlete retirement and the larger issues of life transition and change. His new journey, driven by his quest for personal growth and healing, was filled with pain, false starts, and heartrending intimacies. It lead him to hundreds of other professional athletes who would openly discuss their own triumphs and tragedies when the cheering stopped. Applying the discipline of a lifelong athlete, Tinley completed one of the most thorough research projects ever attempted on retiring athletes and befriended the likes of such thoughtful superstars as Bill Walton, Eric Heiden, Greg Lemond, Jerry Sherk, Steve Scott and Rick Sutcliffe. Along the way he uncovered secrets about himself and the process of change, turmoil and final acceptance, ideas that he shares openly and eloquently in Racing the Sunset. Tinley has carved a path that anyone facing a major life transition should consider. This book will do for athletes of every level what Passages did for an entire generation.
But when the hands of time finally took hold of his legs, and no amount of training would prop up his performances, his athletic gold rush went bust. Cracks in his psyche began to show, as if beneath it all, like much of California itself, his life had been built on a fault and triathlon had been a stage set. Always introspective and inquiring, Tinley threw himself headlong into the subject of athlete retirement and the larger issues of life transition and change. His new journey, driven by his quest for personal growth and healing, was filled with pain, false starts, and heartrending intimacies. It lead him to hundreds of other professional athletes who would openly discuss their own triumphs and tragedies when the cheering stopped. Applying the discipline of a lifelong athlete, Tinley completed one of the most thorough research projects ever attempted on retiring athletes and befriended the likes of such thoughtful superstars as Bill Walton, Eric Heiden, Greg Lemond, Jerry Sherk, Steve Scott and Rick Sutcliffe. Along the way he uncovered secrets about himself and the process of change, turmoil and final acceptance, ideas that he shares openly and eloquently in Racing the Sunset. Tinley has carved a path that anyone facing a major life transition should consider. This book will do for athletes of every level what Passages did for an entire generation.
