Another triathlete's stocking stuffer - Book from an STer

Triathlon Forum
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I know there are rules about selling and advertising on the ST forum so I hesitated to start a post about this, but seeing the positive response to Theodore’s post about his book, I thought I would give it a whirl…

I don’t really like talking about myself, so if it’s OK, I’ll just post part of the press release for the book:

*The Triathlete’s Tao Te Ching: An Endurance Athlete’s Interpretation of Lao-Tzu’s **Ancient Text *is a book that every endurance athlete can relate to; a book about distilling the deepest meaning of our involvement in sport and finding the greatest reward through following our own, unique path. “This is actually one of the most interesting books I’ve seen,” said Jordan Rapp, author for the book’s foreword. “Conceptually, this book is unique among books within the triathlon world. It’s not a book about performance, but I do think that it can make you a better athlete because it focuses on the heart of why I - and I think most people - embrace triathlon and also on what holds me - and I think many others - back from being at our best.”

Like Lao-Tzu’s original text, The Triathlete’s Tao provides a framework for contemplation rather than definitive answers. “I don’t know that I am - or ever will or even could be - a ‘Great Racer.’ But I know what the ‘Will to Race’ means to me. And it’s something that I struggle to hold on to. In speaking with other athletes, I get the sense that I’m not alone in this. This book is one athlete’s attempt to put that struggle into words. I think you’ll enjoy it,” said Rapp.

For more information about The Triathlete’s Tao Te Ching, please visit triathletestao.com

The Triathlete’s Tao Te Ching is available on Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Triathletes-Tao-Ching-Interpretation/dp/1480052965/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351196866&sr=8-1&keywords=triathletes+tao+te+ching

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I never would have gotten involved in triathlon if I’d known it’s so complicated.

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I’m curious what you find so complicated about the book/the post? In truth, the Tao is about as simple as it can get.

It seems that anyone in the sport is racing for one reason or another, and that reason (or reasons) would impact both their motivation at any given time, and in turn effect the mental aspect of their racing. If you subscribe to a theory that racing is 100% physical, then this wouldn’t be a book for you, of course. But, if - like most triathletes - you believe that the challenge is as much mental as physical, then this book might clear away some things on the mental side that hold you back from being the best athlete that you can be.

Some people approach the mental aspect of racing with a very Western battle/overcome philosophy. There are merits for some to that way of addressing your race. The Tao approaches it from the aspect of being one with the race, flowing with it:

Water is the most yielding substance
yet nothing can change its nature
Weak does not expect to overcome strong
but by its nature it does
A Great Racer strives to be like water
unbreakable and unrelenting

Only the athlete that is willing to be low and humbled
can achieve greatness
By making it through the worst circumstances
she is able to be her best

I’m sure it helps that I’ve been reading the Tao for a couple decades, but that seems like a very simple way describe a strong racing mindset.

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just downloaded it. I need some reading material for my vacation time.

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It’s not complicated, just meaningless tautologies though.

Why can’t a GREAT RACER strive to be like stink on a monkey to the first place position? That’s pretty unrelenting. Why water? Why can only an athlete who can be low and humbled achieve greatness? Macca was pretty great and a giant douchebag. Lance Armstrong? Not everyone needs the worst circumstances to be their best.

Why focus on Tao and not one of the other thousands of religious concepts?

Everything you’re saying is very superficially okay, but at any deeper level is pretty meaningless.

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Why focus on Tao and not one of the other thousands of religious concepts?

You must have been really frustrated in college after freshman year.

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The Great Racer does not refer to racers who have “won a bunch of races,” according to the Tao LA would be anything but a Great Racer. The Great Racer in this interpretation takes the place of the Sage in the original Tao - someone acting with integrity to extract the best from themselves through their action or non-action.

As far as the Tao vs. “the thousand other religious concepts,” the Tao can be a religion, but does not have to be. Someone can follow the Tao and be a Muslim, Jew, Catholic, Hindu, Agnostic, or anything else. It is not necessarily about religion, but a way of looking at the way that you strive and achieve in the world; how you act and what those actions mean to you.

Finally, The Tao Te Ching is one of the foundational works of Eastern philosophy - and a work that has also had a great deal of influence on Western philosophy - so for you to call it “meaningless” and “superficial” is surprisingly dismissive. But to each their own.

I chose to write about the Tao, because I’m an Taoist. If I was Baptist, I might have written, “Dear 7 pound 9 ounce baby Jesus, please give me the power to crush all my competitors to dust, because if you ain’t first you’re last…” (Maybe that’s Ricky Bobby-ist more than Baptist, but the point is you write what you know, and what is meaningful to you as a writer…)

PS. SpicedRum, hope you enjoy it…

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Does it talk about the Tao of hot water, and flat coke? If not, how can it be complete?

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It’s not complicated, just meaningless** tautologies** though.

Shouldn’t that be Tao-tologies?

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I lol’d
.

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well played, sir…

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Does it talk about the Tao of hot water, and flat coke? If not, how can it be complete?

I spent today’s session on the trainer contemplating this. I think you are on to something: dark (coke) and light (water) coming together to create union, the proverbial yin-yang of sports drinks; how active (carbonated coke) becomes still (flat coke) to become useful. Maybe we co-author a sequel? :wink:

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Does it talk about the Tao of hot water, and flat coke? If not, how can it be complete?

I spent today’s session on the trainer contemplating this. I think you are on to something: dark (coke) and light (water) coming together to create union, the proverbial yin-yang of sports drinks; how active (carbonated coke) becomes still (flat coke) to become useful. Maybe we co-author a sequel? :wink:

after this you’ve piqued my interest. :slight_smile:

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Ha!

It’s still BS, but at least it’s funny BS! :slight_smile:

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If I was Baptist, I might have written, “Dear 7 pound 9 ounce baby Jesus, please give me the power to crush all my competitors to dust, because if you ain’t first you’re last…”<<

Stuck much, my friend?

You know what they say about meeting the Buddha on the road.

~~ kate
.

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Has the 7 pound 9 ounce baby Jesus helped you sell many books this Christmas Season?
.

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Check out Charm City Triathlete. Available on Amazon, Nook, and Kindle.

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Oh please let it be The Wire meets triathlon…

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I hope all my comments are taken with the sense of humor they are intended. I’m certainly not the type of person who takes themselves too seriously to be able to make fun of themselves…

Anyway, the book sales are doing fine. There is a decent amount of publicity that will be coming from triathlon publications around the world in the near future, and I think that may help raise awareness about the book. Really, the book was written for me as part of my path back to triathlon after 10 years away; and since it has brought me back with a dramatically improved perspective it has done everything it needs to do, everything it was conceived to do. If people buy it and like it, great. If no one buys another copy from this day forward, it won’t change my life. I wrote it for myself, and I published it only because a number of friends encouraged me to do so.

The purpose of the book is to help clarify a racer’s perspective and purpose in racing, not to espouse a particular set of beliefs. The book’s postscript says it best:

While contemplating whether or not to publish this book, I considered many times the possibility that there may be athletes who read it and disagree with every word. What would be the benefit of publishing something like that? What if people read this and think that I am dead wrong?

In truth, that would be just as worthwhile as if they agreed with every bit of it. The purpose of the Tao Te Ching is not to give definitive answers but to encourage contemplation and consideration that lead to purposeful action in your life. In the same vein, the purpose of this book has nothing to do with telling someone how to be a Great Racer or how to approach the sport. It is meant to facilitate an athlete’s consideration of how and why they train and race, and what that means in the larger context of their life. If an athlete reads this book and disagrees with everything in it but it helps them clarify why they disagree, then it has served its purpose equally as well as if that athlete had agreed with everything in it.

The Tao is not about being right. It’s about having the personal conversation that leads you down your own unique path. And once you are engaged in that conversation, as Buddha said, “…then accept it and live up to it.”

I find it very fitting, perfect in fact, that some people in this thread seem violently opposed to the idea of the book (to my knowledge none of them have read it, so how can they be opposed to the actual book until they have), and others are receptive. If it were not that way, it would not be the Tao…

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Just read it through for the first time. A great read, thanks.

As a spaz who has trouble pacing an IM moderately, I found many passages that will serve well as meditations during a long bike leg.