Racing the Sunset: An Athlete's Quest for Life After Sport

This book is relevant not just to athletes who are facing the tough transition to retirement, but for anyone facing a change in life which bears significantly on their self-concept. Many of the insights were helpful for me, as back surgery forced me to "retire" from 28 years of distance running. Tinley's writing is engaging, entertaining, and insightful.

This is a superb introspective look at the fear an athlete feels when the sound of clapping is silenced. This is a true literary gem that takes a qualitatively research based look at a problem too often ignored. I highly recommend this book to anyone who ever suddenly changed stages in life without benefit of a rule book to follow. You will find it engrossing and mind altering.

Scott Tinley has experienced firsthand the challenging life transition from adulated winning sports star to over-the-hill retiring athlete. Being introspective, he studied athlete retirement in depth. He threw himself into this project with as much intensity as he engaged in physical training for triathlons. On the way, he acquired two masters' degrees, one in writing and the other in sport psychology. And, he is currently studying on a Doctorate. Tinley completed this book in 2003 at the same time he finished an 18 month long seminal research paper on athlete retirement at San Diego State University. His research became the knowledge foundation for this book. The book is excellent. Tinley has a breezy writing style that renders the book very easy to read. While his research paper is very interesting. The book is a lot more fun. This is because the book reflects his firsthand experience of his sports career from childhood till his transition into academia. Instead, his research paper is focused on 16 other athletes and covers exclusively their post retirement experience. The professional athlete post-retirement transition is psychologically brutal. Athletes typically face this transition with no college degree, no professional skills, and little financial wherewithal. Tinley uncovered much research disclosing startling facts about athletes' retirement. Fewer than half of pro athletes get to choose when they retire. The divorce rate for retired athletes in the major professional leagues is over 60%. Retirement is especially harsh on NFL players. This painful transition is compounded by NFL careers being the shortest at less than five years in average. The suicide rate among retired NFL players is six times the average. Offensive and Defensive linemen have a 52% greater risk of dying of heart disease than the general population. Also, two thirds of football players retire with a permanent injury. Tinley was not spared the psychological ordeal of the retired sports star. When he retired, his income decreased by 90% (take out a zero as he puts it. That entails he made $100K a year as a triathlete). He experienced marital problems. He suffered a long bout of depression and tried several anti-depressant prescription drugs (Prozac, Zoloft) without much success. He sought therapy. And, he gradually pulled himself together thanks to his success in academia as a student, college teacher, psychologist researcher, and writer. His own research indicates an inverse relationship between money earned as a pro athlete and successful post retirement transition. Two opposite examples of this are Bjorn Borg, who never quite recovered his footing after retiring from a very lucrative tennis career. His life has been plagued by a succession of failed marriages, palimony suits, depression bouts, and bad business decisions that have nearly jeopardize his financial independence. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Tinley mentions

I've been a Tinley fan (as a writer) for years and looked forward to reading this. It provided an excellent insight into Scott Tinley, and the way that he's approached his triathlon, and life. The way that he contrasts his ups and downs is excellent. The talks with other athletes and the empathy shown with other retired athletes speaks volumes to the character of the man.Unfortunately, there were a few times when a particularly well made point was undone by possibly poor editing. An example for me was when he was complaining about air travel - with which I can heartily concur, but then ruins the point by following it up by stating that he was travelling first class. (You should try it economy!) It ends up coming across as whinging. Nevertheless, I found this book an excellent read, and provided a unique insight into something we often don't see - athletes who never really learnt to "grow up" because they never had to.One thing worthy of note is to try and read it from Scott's point of view, and to not impose our own individual values on his comments. If you can achieve this, you can get past viewing it as a whinge, and see it for the gem that it really is.

before you can race the sunset, you first need to get a jump on dawn, and mr. san diego has been racing the rosy-fingered hues of early mornings for two decades as he defined, shaped, sculpted this athletic calling now known as triathlon. as the founder of tri-athlete magazine, i used to resent the fact that this bona-fide beach boy with cornflower silk hair and chiseled bod knew how to write--and write well. "jocks" shouldn't be known as true authors. tinley, the man he describes in this heartfelt confessional memoir, is still testing himself against seen and unseen obstacles. the memoir is both a trip down memory lane in the aero tucked position and a homage to the retired jock syndrome (rjs). every athlete must face that time in his or her life when age takes its toll. but that is not a call for surrender. tinley doesn't go DNF on us. nor does he want to. his writing the book was an act of courage--a private correspondence with a very public self.