Beginner Triathlete - Scott Tinley's Writings articles

Of the many ironies inherent to youth participation in multisport, the fact that it’s tougher for them than it is for adults might be the most suggestive.

Scott Tinley on working to play, or playing at work.

Part Three: What's Reality Got to Do with Anything Old?

There are races to prepare for and health to be found and a lot of adventure and release to be sought in the oceans of the world.

A good sport story gets better with time. Sometimes, it’s because the story has a new teller, a new listener or a new twist; a purposeful tweak that makes a little tale something of legend.

When people say that sport is “just a game” don’t believe them. Love is not just hanging out with someone that you like and raising a family isn’t just putting food on the table. Sport is more too.

We often forget the Other, that person or persons living behind the doors of our individual hubris, that secreted cheerleader who polishes our medals but never wins one of their own.

As endurance athletes we purposely trick our psyches. Our minds hop-scotching our physical bodies. We play chicken with something very personal.

As endurance athletes, by definition we must go to our borders to find our center. There is meaning in suffering, we tell ourselves, but not in stupidity.

There is a serious, devoted athlete, committed to the task of triathlon. He is happy because his heart rate is low, his blood lactate is low and his chances in this year’s Kona lottery is high.

Stripped of its three-figure entry fees and five figure bikes, when the gun goes off it's still a bunch of crazies doing three sports for a thousand reasons.

The grand pull to Kona is both a product of our sport's mythology, marketing, and the intangible desires that each create.

The sport of triathlon is rife with untold stories of chicanery and altruism, deviousness and grace.

Tinley on triathlon, aging, and the attitude of a masters athlete

Triathlon style is no longer defined in the Nuevo replication of wool cycling jerseys and neon footwear. The style of swim/bike/run is a look and feel and way of being in the multisport world.