Dear PB Readers,

This past weekend I was at Canada's Royal Military College (RMC) in Kingston Ontario to watch my brother-in-law's convocation. With over two decades of military service, Tim Bishop has continued to work away at his military degree as well as represent Canada around the world. In February 2006, Tim and another 1000+ Canadian's will be sent to Afghanistan (to make a total of 2300 Canadians) for their 9 month mission which will see him helping re-build and add safety to the previously war-torn nation. Afghanistan still has many serious safety challenges with endless active landmines that need to be deactivated. When Tim and his Canadian military colleagues land, they are sitting on kevlar blankets on the plane's floor with total body armor on to protect them from the stray bullets that are regularly shot in their direction.

Later this week we will all take a few minutes to show our appreciation on Remembrance Day. Young soldiers, who were just the age of my current elite athletes gave their lives so that each of us can run, play hockey, go to college or become a nurse or lawyer. Remembrance Day on Nov 11th should be a sacred time for us all. It's easy in our busy lives removed from war and its realities to simply take 30 seconds on Nov 11th and move onto the day's next issues. My goal for each of us on Friday is to really truly appreciate the incredible courage and commitment these young men and women gave us. Imagine your 20 year old son, 22 year old brother or 19 year old athlete/student not coming home from war just to give you a safe life today. Those young people were someone's cousin, son and student. Take time this week to purchase a poppy and look into the eyes of our senior military retirees who have given us the most important thing imaginable - their time 60 years ago.

Welcome to our 265th consecutive Personal Best Weekly Newsletter. Our goal each week is to be a positive source of inspiration and hope. I always say you get more of what you think about. If the radio, newspaper and television gave even 30% of their space to positive stories I would be happy. The reality is often not one single positive story can be found. One of the columns I scanned in this weekend's Toronto newspaper was titled, "Proof The World is Getting Worse Day-by-Day" (picking the most negative story that occurred on each of the 31 days of October).

Why not write a story with the 31 great positive stories of the month of October? I personally believe that people do want to hear uplifting stories and I appreciate the many new emails that come in each week registering family and friends. Check out our PB website at www.personalbest.ca and send your contributions to barrie@personalbest.ca. Have a great week.

NOV 7th PB HIGHLIGHTS

* COME JOG WITH THE OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST THIS WED
* WILLIAM A. WARD QUOTE ON ENCOURAGEMENT
* GREAT LEADERS KNOW HOW TO MOTIVATE
* GAMES TO PLAY AS YOU GET OLDER
* PERSONAL BEST EMAIL OF THE WEEK
* HAVE PASSPORT WILL TRAVEL
* DON'T MISS VICKI KEITH & 85 YEAR OLD GORDON SCOTT ON NOV 19TH
* UNDERSTANDING YOUR BODY'S UNIQUE PHYSIOLOGY
* JOIN BARRIE & CARON THIS WEEK - INDOOR RUN/WALK/BIKE/SWIM PROGRAMS

WILLIAM A. WARD QUOTE ON ENCOURAGEMENT

"Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you."

RUN WITH A GOLD MEDALIST

Olympic Gold Medalist Simon Whitfield is the kind of guy who loves to give back to others. Since he sprinted across the finish line to win Canada's first ever Gold medal in Triathlon his life has been spent between training, giving back to school kids, and many charities across the country. One of my fondest memories of Simon is at a small school gymnasium in Japan playing dodge-ball with local grade-school kids. Although the kids didn't speak English, they did SPEAK SIMON! Long after the TV cameras had left and the media was gone, Simon was still in the gym playing with the kids.

This Wednesday, Nov 9th Simon is in Toronto to do some motivational school talks. Simon and Triathlon Canada have kindly agreed to do an easy (2km and 8km jog) in downtown Toronto with any kids or adults who would like to come out and meet the Commonwealth and Olympic Gold medalist. Details are simple - the run will start at 7:55am sharp from the Toronto Sheraton Centre located at 123 Queen Street West. Simon will do an easy 2km slow warm-up jog (which will be slow enough for kids and novice adults to keep up with). The loop will come back to the Sheraton to continue on for another 4-7km at a still modest pace (allowing the younger or weaker runners to stop). If you are interested you must email Barrie Shepley so we know you are coming (barrie@personalbest.ca). You need to be in the hotel lobby by 7:45am for the 7:55am start (look for Barrie). If you can afford to make a donation to Triathlon Canada that is greatly appreciated but what is more important is that you came out for the morning jog. Mom and dad, if there is any reason for your kids to be late for their first class of the morning, bringing your kids to jog with the Olympic Gold medalist is one of them! If you are lost on the way to the Sheraton the number is 416-361-1000. Hope to see you Wednesday!

GREAT LEADERS KNOW HOW TO MOTIVATE

There was once a small boy who banged a drum all day and loved every moment of it. He would not be quiet, no matter what anyone else said or did. Various attempts were made to do something about the child. One person told the boy that he would, if he continued to make so much noise, perforate his eardrums. This reasoning was too advanced for the child, who was neither a scientist nor a scholar. A second person told him that drum beating was a sacred activity and should be carried out only on special occasions. The third person offered the neighbors plugs for their ears; a fourth gave the boy a book; a fifth gave the neighbors books that described a method of controlling anger through biofeedback; a sixth person gave the boy meditation exercises to make him placid and docile. None of these attempts worked. Eventually, a wise person came along with an effective motivation. He looked at the situation, handed the child a hammer and chisel, and asked, "I wonder what is INSIDE the drum?" No more problem.

Good leaders know how to motivate others. They pique their curiosity and tickle their sense of wonder. They teach them to dream and tempt them to do more than they ever thought possible. They challenge them to be a part of something great. Pilot and author Antoine de Saint-Exupery said, "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea." Do that and there will be no limit to the wondrous places they can travel.

GAMES TO PLAY WHEN YOU GET OLDER

* Sag, you're It.
* Hide and go pee.
* 20 questions shouted into your good ear.
* Kick the bucket
* Red Rover, Red Rover, the nurse says bend over
* Simon Says something incoherent
* Pin the Toupee on the bald guy

PERSONAL BEST EMAIL OF THE WEEK

Good morning Barrie and thanks for including me on your publication list. I enjoyed the read. I also related to the anything is possible story with my own triathlon experience. At age 49 I was 210 lbs and out of shape. I decided to train for a sprint distance tri the following summer. My first pool swim was discouraging as I only made 9 lengths and had 2 rest breaks to make it that far. I was discouraged but kept at it. The next year I completed the Olympic distance and have done so now for 6 years. Each year since then I have had a personal best. This last year, at age 55, I qualified for the Canadian National Team and participated in the World Championships in Honolulu. While I might have preferred the million dollars for kicking the field goal, this experience wasn't very far behind. Indeed, anything is possible. R.M.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Not only has R.M. changed his health status, the last two years he has been the race director for the Kelowna National Triathlon Championships. Small changes in one area of your life can transfer to many other areas as well.

HAVE PASSPORT WILL TRAVEL

Late last year the International Triathlon Union (ITU) offered me an opportunity to travel to 16 World Cup Triathlons around the world and be the live-on-site race announcer. Part of my responsibilities included doing a live-internet show and helping to produce the 1hr international television broadcast. 2005 saw me travel from China to Japan, Madrid to Manchester, Hamburg to Hungary, Cornerbrook to Edmonton, Hawaii to Florida and many other great spots in between.
This week I will be off to New Zealand for the final race of the year. When the Cancun race was cancelled two weeks ago due to the Hurricane, the amazing Kiwis immediately agreed to increase their homestay program to attract the many athletes who needed one last race of the year. If you are interested in listening into our final live-internet show tune into www.triathlon.org on the weekend.

MEET CANADA'S LEGENDARY SWIMMER SAT NOV 19TH

Vicki Keith has spent her life helping motivating others. This past summer the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame inductee swam 80km (yes 80 000m) of non-stop butterfly swimming in Lake Ontario in pursuit of another endurance swim record. The woman who has swam nearly around the world has spent her life raising funds for children with a disability. Vicki Keith is more famous at Variety Village than Wayne Gretzky is in Edmonton. Joining Vicki Keith at the yearly C3 Fundraising supper is Gordon Scott the 84.5 year old man who walked across Ontario this summer pulling his 200 pound cart to raise funds for the War Amps. Add in a great supper, young international athletes and you have the recipe for a great evening. Tickets are just $40.00 per person. Tickets are limited so please register this week for the Nov 19th celebration evening. info@c3online.ca or www.c3online.ca

UNDERSTANDING YOUR BODY'S PHYSIOLOGY

Few things are more pure then a high school cross country race. Little equipment and anyone from any small town can train hard and win the championship race. Regardless of how motivated you are, once your body accumulates too much lactic acid it body shuts down and you have to walk or jog slowly until you recover. This past Saturday I was at the provincial cross country high school championships in Kingston. Nearly 2000 young, motivated boys and girls from every region of the province were there to test themselves against each other.

Each day of endurance training (swimming, biking, running, skiing, hiking, skating) builds up an increased number of capillaries in your working muscles (the small vessels that carry oxygen to your working muscles and carry away the lactic acid). This is why any person (you included) are better at endurance activities after 6, 12 or 18 months of consistent training. Twelve months after starting your running or cycling program you have far more capillaries around your muscles than you did when you began. Twenty year old endurance athletes are better than sixteen year olds and 30 year old endurance athletes are far better then 20 year olds. Most of the champions in bike racing, triathlons and marathoners are at least thirty years of age.

Many of the most motivated high school runners at this past weekend's championships ran far too fast in the first kilometer, built up very high a lactic acid levels, and ultimately were reduced to walking or jogging slowly. Experienced endurance athletes understand the potency of lactic acid and why they need to have a great warm-up before going too fast. Whether it's a hockey game, soccer match or local 5km run, understanding your body's physiology is important to optimize performance.

JOIN BARRIE AND CARON TUESDAY AT YORK UNIVERSITY

Every Tuesday night Barrie and Caron Shepley, along with C3, run a 2 hour total body workout. Hour 1 is for power-walking or running with Barrie followed by a 1hr power yoga / core strength class with Caron Shepley. Participants range from 8-75 years of age with goals ranging from doing their first 5km, losing 20 pounds or training for an Ironman. Programs run from 5-7pm or 6-8pm at the indoor track at York University. Join us this week! Check out the C3 website www.c3online.ca for the many bike, swims, runs and dryland sessions.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK AND TRY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIFE OF AT LEAST ONE OTHER PERSON.