It Has Nothing to Do with Age

"People usually fail when they are on the verge of success. So give as much care to the end as to the beginning."
– Lao-Tzu

 

In 2009, I started interviewing individuals for my book. During my search, I met a number of humble, friendly and yet driven, competitive men and women. Yes, it’s possible to be both humble and driven. One of the individuals that I was privileged to meet was a man named Jack Sholl .  Jack became a friend, and I’m pleased to announce that he’s going to be a guest on  our TV show  It Has Nothing To Do  With Age Or Gender this Thursday.

I devoted  Chapter X1V titled:  Jack  Sholl  : Patriot, Rower, Gentlemen Unparalleled  in my read  It Has Nothing To Do With Age  to my friend Jack. A portion of that chapter follows: “I asked Jack to describe his favorite race. He told me his most memorable, rowing race took place in Strathclyde, Scotland in 1988 at the Worlds Masters Regatta. His crew averaged 60 years of age. In the first lane was the USA with Jack’s boat. On the port side In Lane 2 , was the German crew. Jack remembers that each member of the German crew was a veteran of World War II. And every member of the USA crew was a veteran of World War II. Jack’s crew never discussed this openly. His emotions were at a high level, much more so than his normal pre- race jitters. At the command “row!” The USA boat was off to a good start. The Germans also started well. Twenty strokes into the race, the other four  crews quickly fell behind the front runners. Now the Americans and  the Germans were neck and neck. With each stroke, crews struggled to get ahead while searching for a psychological advantage. Both coxswains were yelling commands in encouragement as loudly as possible. The German coxswain , being the loudest, influenced one of Jack’s crew members. He later told Jack that he started to take his cadence from the German.

 To find out how the race turned out, I suggest you read the chapter. Or, perhaps Jack just might talk about this race on TV. In any event, I am sure you will enjoy our interview with Jack.

This week, Tony, Chris and I ran, on Sunday, a very short loop. This week we are tapering for our 20 mile race called Run on the Sly near Lake Tahoe. While we will be running up and down the mountain and lake, Linda and Debbie plan to kayak around a different lake. After our run, Tony and I plan to celebrate. We both know about rewards.

Make sure you enjoy your life by moving, laughing, smiling and deep breathing.