Dear PB Readers,

No one is perfect and even the most motivated person will go through moments where energy and inner-strength is not where they wished it was. You know, the moment where your energy is low, you're on the verge of getting sick or you still have three more commitments to do before you go to bed. These are the moments where you need to use what I call a "Get Out of Jail Free Card". A "Get Out of Jail Free Card" is an unconditional excuse which allows the person to pass on a commitment without any guilt or repercussion.

Wise parents, coaches and administrators intuitively know when to give their underlings some guilt-free "slack". Engineers spend millions of dollars oiling machines to prevent breakdown; wise coaches, parents should use the same concept by providing an important regeneration tool to their families. Knowing that my age group and junior athletes are incredibly busy trying to accomplish much in their days, I encourage them to use their "GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARD" (read skip a workout) once per month without feeling guilty. Knowing that I realize they are not robots who never have a bad or weak day is important.

Coaches, parents, bosses should all consider a method of creating their own "GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARD" for people they are responsible for. This card might be used monthly, quarterly or even just twice a year and its terms of reference should be specific to your circumstances. Obviously a young mother can't be allowed to leave a six month old baby for a day without eating or changing their diaper but her parents or partner could agree that once per quarter they will drop everything to give her a day of psychological relief. Teachers are not likely to give their students free reign to not show up for class or not hand in their term papers, but might find it useful to give each student a one day extension each semester on handing in papers or projects.

Interestingly, I have found that my athletes and employees are less stressed knowing they have extra control in their lives. Many months go by when my athletes never have to use their "GET OUT OF JAIL FREE PASSES" but it is still nice knowing they have access to this resource if they need it. I am sure many of you fear the slippery slope by giving someone this pass. One day per month/semester turns into two or three. One un-conditional excuse for your teenager turns into abusing the system. Obviously this system only works when both sides respect the purpose of the strategy. If my athlete's don't want to achieve better fitness/athletic goals I am of very little use to them. "GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARDS" are not for everyone. In my experience, this system works for motivated people who tend to over-extend, over-commit and over-exert themselves. Most of my age group and elite athletes fall into this category as type "A" personalities who are goal-oriented people and are extremely hard on themselves.

This past weekend I strongly encouraged my wife to use her "GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARD" by skipping a half-marathon race she had scheduled in Niagara Falls. Having been extremely busy over the past six weeks, Caron was in the first stages of becoming ill. Caron's strong Will and Drive have been instrumental in her many accomplishments since we have been married. Knowing the weather predictions for Sunday were going to be cold and rainy and Caron's immune system already impaired, she wisely used her "GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARD" and skipped the race. If you are considering employing this system with your employees, athletes or students the biggest problem you are likely to have with your "A" types is actually using their free-pass! Think about employing my system in your own life and with those motivated types that you coach, parent or supervise. While this system is not for everyone, I have seen large yearly improvements in my motivated clients who have employed this system guilt-free!

Welcome to the new readers for our 263rd consecutive weekly newsletter. The Personal Best newsletter began at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. I had been asked to send daily stories from the Olympic Village. Each day I wrote a 3-4 page story and my good friend Trent Dilkie emailed the newsletter out to those who asked for it. Day one we had only 30 people but before the Olympics ended we were over nearly 100 000 people a day were getting the positive energy from the games. The amazing experience of seeing Simon Whitfield and Daniel Igali winning gold medals for Canada helped convince me of the importance of sharing positive stories, ideas and energy. Unfortunately, it's often more interesting to tell the story of a car crash than a motivated school teacher who raises funds for new soccer uniforms. Scientists have shown that you get more of what you think about. People who consistently listen to negative stories start to believe the world is full of greed and pain. People who have daily exposure to positive stories and images realize how positive the world is. Our goal at Personal Best is to be a consistent positive source for you each week. I continue to welcome your weekly email contributions and I encourage you to add your family and friends to our free weekly offering. Check out our PB website at www.personalbest.ca and send your contributions to barrie@personalbest.ca. Have a great week.

Oct 24th PB HIGHLIGHTS

* QUOTE ON OVERCOMING MOUNTAINS
* TAKE THE 20 SECOND DE-STRESS ASSESSMENT TEST
* MARK LOWRY LEAVES A LEGACY TO SPORT IN HIS PASSING
* SHERRAINE MacKAY A CANADIAN PIONEER
* PB EMAIL OF THE WEEK
* 80 YEAR OLD MAN BECOMES FIRST TO FINISH AN IRONMAN
* JOIN BARRIE & CARON THIS WEEK FOR OUR INDOOR WINTER RUN/WALK/BIKE/SWIM PROGRAMS
* C3 CELEBRATION SUPPER WITH VICKI KEITH
* CARON SHEPLEY'S POWER YOGA VIDEO AN IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR TRAINING EQUIPMENT

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

"Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain."

EDITOR'S NOTE: Far too many people look at the height and magnitude of a mountain and never begin. My experience is that many small steps usually achieves the ultimate goal.

DE-STRESS YOURSELF

Stress can be one of the biggest obstacles to long term achievement. When you're in tense situations, there is an easy test to determine if the stress you feel is affecting your body negatively. Understanding cues is a very important benefit in sport and business. Try using the Cold-Hand-Test on yourself and others.

COLD-HAND-TEST:

Place your hand on your neck just above your shirt-collar. If your hand is cooler then your neck your body is likely over-stressed. Tension constricts blood vessels and allows less blood flow to the extremities (making them cooler).

Interestingly you can also use the "cool-hand" test to gauge the stress levels of people you meet when you shake their hands. Unless that person just came from a cooler place or a more stressful situation - you'll have a good clue as to which of you is more anxious.

CANADIAN MARK LOWRY DEDICATED HIS LIFE TO SPORT

Being involved in Olympic Sport I have had the opportunity to interact with Mark Lowry many times. The Executive Director of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Mark's life was about providing the best opportunity for Canadian athletes. Mark passed away of pancreatic-cancer this past weekend at the very young age of 51. Often when a person becomes ill, they become angry at the world and ask "why-me"? Instead of recoiling away from the world in hostility, Mark's passion for athletes continued right to the end of his life. I always believe you learn more about a person by the way they handle stress. For those who knew and loved Mark they certainly had a chance to see a dedicated father, husband and sport administrator live his last few years in a very classy and productive manner. Mark's legacy to sport and coaching will remain in the sport system for decades to come.

SHERRANE MacKAY A CANADIAN PIONEER

It's easy to grow up wanting to be the next Wayne Gretzky or "Pin Ball" Clemons. Sports like hockey and football are on our television screens daily and there are role models in each of our towns. Twenty-eight year old Sherraine MacKay just became the first Canadian to ever win a medal at the World Fencing Championships and you can be assured she didn't grow up with fencing role models in her small town. Brooks, Alberta is about as far away from the fencing centre of the world as one could imagine. Desiring to become one of the best fencers in the world, Sherraine MacKay and her husband moved to Paris, France to access better competition and coaching. MacKay's bronze medal performance in epee at the World Fencing Championships in Leipzig, Germany illustrates once again that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

"The bronze is a huge boost for Canadian fencing," said Danek Nowosielski, the high performance director for Canadian Fencing Federation. "This is a culmination of many years of work for the program." More than just an athlete, MacKay has just published a book called "Running With Swords" which chronicles the many challenges of under-funded Canadian athletes who refuse to accept they can't be the best in the world.

PB EMAIL OF THE WEEK

Dear Barrie, this was my first letter from you - how wonderful and inspirational. It is true that our world can be so negative and encourage only this, so your news is a breath of fresh air - not only that but the fact that it hits so close to home is a reminder of all that is good in the world and that thank goodness it does hit so close to home because it means at the heart of it, we all want to be happy and love life. Thanks and keep the emails up! Grace

EIGHTY-YEAR-OLD MAN BECOMES FIRST TO FINISH AN IRONMAN

Last week I was in Kona, Hawaii watching the last few dozen finishers of the Ironman Triathlon. With less then an hour to go until midnight, eighty-year old American Robert McKeauge became the first man 80+ years of age to finish an Ironman. Imagine 2.4 mile swim - 112 mile bike - 26.2 mile marathon in less then 17 hours at the age of 80 years old (16hrs 21 minutes to be exact). Truly incredible! Special congratulations to Canadian's Pierre Lavoe (40 years of age) and Brian Keast (45 years of age) who both won their age categories and set new records for the fastest times ever in Hawaii.

Those of you under the age of 80, who might be interested in Barrie and Caron Shepley's 2006 Ironman Training Program contact us immediately. Each year we prepare 40-50 people to finish their first Ironman Race (most have never done a mini-triathlon before we prepare them in less then 12 months). If you are interested contact barrie@personalbest.ca.

START OF BARRIE'S WEEKLY C3 WORKOUTS

If you live in the GTA area and are interested in weekly coached supported workouts see the C3 website at www.c3online.ca. Key workouts for consideration are:

* Tuesday night York University run/power-walk and core-strength workouts with Caron and Barrie
* Thursday evening hill run workout and post Dryland Workout with Caron
* Saturday afternoon indoor 2 hour spin class (1-3pm) followed by 1hr coached swim workout (4-5pm) in Caledon

C3 CELEBRATION SUPPER WITH VICKI KEITH

Few swimmers have accomplished more for themselves and charity then the legendary athlete/fundraiser Vicki Keith. Keith will be the keynote speaker at the C3 Supper/Celebration Night at the Caledon Golf and Country Club on Sat., Nov. 19th. Join Barrie Shepley and many hundreds of others who will celebrate together at the evening supper/talk/silent auction. Tickets for the supper are available at the C3 website www.c3online.ca or 905-838-2662.

CARON SHEPLEY'S INJURY PREVENTION POWER-YOGA VIDEO

Caron's loyal video users include Olympic paddlers Tamas and Atilla Buday, marathoner Alan Vinegar and many novice fitness enthusiasts. This forty-minute DVD is designed to increase core strength, improve flexibility and reduce injuries. Regardless of your age and state of (in)activity, this DVD promises to be a valuable asset to your long term wellness. DVD's can be purchased at www.bluedogyoga.com

IRONMAN CHAMPION LISA BENTLEY'S EPIC STORY FROM HAWAII

Take a moment to visit www.personalbest.ca to read an inspiring story of the importance of love and friendship from Ironman Lisa Bentley.

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