Author Archives: Lisa Pozzoni

READY FOR LP REVIEW – Who Is The Best Beginner Runner? It’s NOT Who You Think!

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

So, Who Is Really The Best Beginner Runner? It Might NOT Be Who You’d Think!

ARE 20 YEAR OLDS BETTER AT BEGINNING RUNNING?

Have you always had the desire to become a runner, but you’re 50+ and you think there’s no way that that’s probably going to happen? Well, think again! haha I call BS on that!

I think I’m pretty much an expert on this topic, not because of me my personal experience. I started running in my late 30s, just so you know, and that’s not that old! I hate to even use the word ‘old’.

If I think about it, I know that 20-year-olds sound like they’d be ‘the perfect beginner runner,’ right? Because they’re young, they’re fresh, and they can do pretty much whatever they want with their bodies. But that’s one of the reasons I think they’re not the best.

ARE 50+ YEAR OLDS BETTER AT BEGINNING RUNNING?

So let me tell you some of the reasons why I think a 50+ year old (woman, especially) is perfect to become a beginner runner. I’m a running coach – and again, I started a little later in my life, not quite in my 50s, but close – and the people I coach are mostly 50+.  As a matter of fact, I had one of my runners, who is now 64, do her first 100K last month! (A 100K is 62 miles, btw!) Now, okay, that’s a little bit out of control in the sense that, if you’ve never even thought about running, I know that sounds crazy to you! But that’s what happens when you actually get into a community of women who help support you and want you to do whatever you want and whatever feels good for you.
So let me tell you why I think again that we 50+ women are the best candidates to become beginner runners.

ASKING FOR HELP

First of all, we’re generally not afraid to ask for help. I teach ChiRunning – a running technique I think is a hugely beneficial skill for anybody starting to run, but especially as we get older! Learning technique is huge.In my ChiRunning workshops, I’d guess about 80 percent of the people who show up are women mainly 50+. I’ll get a couple of younger women, or maybe even a couple of guys, but I think as women in this age group, we’re just not afraid to ask for help. By the time you reach this age, if you need some help you’re going to look and you’re going to try to figure out the best way to find it.

MORE SELF-AWARE OF OUR BODIES AND PAIN

Another important thing is that we’re more aware of our bodies as they are aging. We want to make sure that we’re doing things the right way to avoid injury.

In my workshops you’ll learn how to run and get technique tips that will make your running easier and more efficient. As opposed to somebody who’s younger – and even though I’m stereotyping here – stereotypes are there for a reason. You’d probably agree that someone who is younger is maybe not as open to getting help or guidance, and is more likely to try to push through any pain or potential problems.

They might think, ‘Oh, this shin pain is probably normal’ or ‘This knee pain is normal. I’m just going to keep pushing through without really thinking about the consequences that are going to be there in 20 years or so.’

I think, as as we age, we’re just more aware of this. So, if you really think about those two things and what what that actually means or what they have in common – and I think this is just something I feel I’ve learned about myself as I’ve gotten older and wiser – is that we tend to drop the ego. Running can be a very egocentric sport. You see it all the time with people comparing their paces and how fast are you and as soon as you get done with a 5k or any distance. You’ve probably had people asking you, ‘What was your time?’ so it can be a very egocentric sport.

CARING LESS ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THINK OF US

As we age, we kind of really start caring less about what people think. Don’t get me wrong, this is still probably one of the biggest mindset things that I work with with my TRU Tribe ladies, but at the same time, I think we’re much more open to the fact that we have to let our egos go, right? So if that’s the case, then you’re going to be more likely to learn how to run (and, hey, I can definitely help you out with that! 😉 )

SURROUNDING OURSELVES WITH A SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY

Then the other thing is, I think as women and as we get older, we tend to find other women that we can bond with around things that we enjoy. And that’s really pretty much exactly what my TRU TRIBE (this is my online community of women) is all about!

Bringing women together into a community is what I do! We have an online community and that’s exactly what we do there. Pretty much everybody’s about 50+ and at all different levels. I have people who have just completed their first 5Ks, and I have somebody who just did her first 100K!

does this sound like YOU??  

  • Do you feel comfortable asking for help?
  • Do you feel more self-aware of your body and avoiding the aches and pains?
  • Are you less worried about what others may think of you as you get older?
  • Do you enjoy the company and camaraderie of other women who feel like you do and are looking for more ways to enjoy their lives?

This is us! This is our TRU Tribe community! 

JOIN US TODAY

If you are even in the slightest bit interested in joining an awesome community of 50+ women, just send me an email Lisa@TheRunningUniversity.com and say, ‘Hey I saw your your video and I’m interested in a 30-day free trial in your TRU Tribe!’ I’d love to have you come in check it out. 😊

The Key to Avoiding Knee Pain When Running

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

‘Running will be hard on your knees,’ they said… and, hey, they’re not wrong, but it’s not ‘running’ that causes pain. It’s HOW you run.

Today I want to talk a little bit about running technique. (Of course, if you’ve been following me for a while, you already know that I’m a ChiRunning Master Instructor and that ChiRunning has absolutely changed my life.) A lot of times, when we talk about knee pain, there are various things in your run that will cause knee pain. I’m going to lay them out for you. At the end of this blog post, I’m also going to give you the quickest tip on how you can avoid all the things I’m talking about without really having to focus on them.

HEEL STRIKING

So first of all, one the major underlying causes of knee pain is heel striking – putting your front foot too far ahead of you during your stride. If you’re looking to avoid knee pain, you really want to avoid heel striking. Ideally, you’re going to land on a midfoot strike.

OVERSTRIDING

The two biggest causes of knee pain are overstriding and heel striking, and many runners do both at the same time. What that looks like is this (see video for demonstration). You can see here that I’m overstriding AND I’m heel striking. When you bring your foot out in front of you, it’s that impact from the heel strike and your foot landing in front of you which can cause knee pain. Again, it’s directly related to overstriding. What happens is that runners reach out with their foot, they heel strike, they land, they brake, they put that impact on the knee, and then they paw their way across the ground to move forward. This style of running ‘technically’ works, but running this way is also potentially an easy way to get injured. And it’s also pretty inefficient, since you’re actually slowing yourself down when you’re heel striking.

LIFTING THE KNEES

Another thing I see a lot of runners do is that they lift their knee. I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos and I see a lot of people talking about lifting your knee for power. While this style might be appropriate for power sprinting quick short distances, it’s much less efficient for longer distances and actually takes more energy, so we don’t do that at all in ChiRunning. We keep our knees down because we use our core and posture to help us fall forward. By lifting your knee higher, you’re going to be using a lot more leg muscle than we like to do.

If you want to become a more efficient runner, you’ll want to avoid heel striking AND you want to avoid lifting your knee as much as possible. You always want to make sure that your knee is bent and it’s soft when you land, instead of it coming out in front of you and locking.

FOOT SPLAY

You also want to make sure that you don’t have a ‘splay’ in your gait. That would mean that your feet should always be pointing straight forward. If your feet splay out like this (see video for demonstration), what’s happening is you’re torqueing your whole entire leg, which is basically affecting your entire kinetic chain from the hip all the way down.  Over time and miles, this is going to have a negative effect on your running and your body.

RUNNING CADENCE

Keeping a good cadence is another way to avoid knee pain and that will actually bring everything together. 170 to 180 bpm is the ideal cadence that you want to keep. This cadence will keep your strides shorter and quicker, which should naturally help you heel strike and overstride less.

HOW TO INCORPORATE ALL THESE WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT IT

Now, for my favorite tip on how to avoid all of those things without focusing on them…
What I have found as I’ve been teaching running technique to thousands of runners over the last 10 years is that when runners think too hard about not overstriding and not heel striking and not doing all the things they’re trying so hard to make it happen, that they’re really not RELAXED anymore.

So, the best way to go about it is to really think about moving from the center of your body (basically your center of gravity). In ChiRunning and in Tai Chi, we call it your ‘dantien.’ Basically, your dantien is going to be about a couple of inches below and about one to two inches behind your belly button. That is your center of gravity. It’s just a location in your body that is an energetic location but also your center of gravity or your center of mass.

So what you want to do is you always just want to make sure that you’re keeping the center of your body directly above your feet, so your feet should never come out in front of the center of your body. It’s going to look something like this (see video for demonstration). And the wrong way to do it would be to reach out in front of you like this.

So these are a few individual elements to avoid developing knee pain. These technique focuses all build on one another, but instead of focusing on each ‘individual’ thing that your leg should not be doing, just try putting your center (dantien) ahead of your feet, and this could eliminate the heel striking or lifting the knees as a result of this one change.

At this point in the workshop, people often ask me about opening up their stride and getting faster! That topic is a little too much to go into right now, so I’ll save that for another video. But yes, that’s how it will eventually happen. Your stride will open up behind you as you move your center farther forward and you pick up speed. Just keep in mind that, as you get faster, your stride doesn’t open up IN FRONT OF you (which can bring back the heel striking and lifting the knees), but BEHIND you (which avoids these potentially harmful and less efficient motions).

A QUICK TRU REVIEW: HOW TO AVOID KNEE PAIN FROM RUNNING 

  • Avoid Heel Striking
  • Avoid Overstriding
  • Don’t Lift the Knees
  • Check for Foot Splay
  • Running Cadence of 170 to 180 bpm to Keep Shorter Quicker Strides
  • Move your center of mass/gravity (your dantien) forward (in front of your feet)

Let me know how it goes!

The ONE SENTENCE MINDSET HACK That Works Like A Charm

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

The Quick ONE SENTENCE MIND HACK That Works Like a Charm!

If you’re anything like me, I know I can be my own worst enemy when it comes to being ‘in my head,’ not only when running, but really anytime. Does this happen to you, too? 

YOUR RUNNING (and LIFE) MINDSET

You may not realize this, but your mindset is actually a huge part of your running. There’s a much bigger mental component to running than many newer runners may realize. Now, you may already know that it’s really easy to want to compare ourselves to other people. I just did a video with tips to avoid comparing ourselves right here  so go check that out, if you’re interested. I have one very specific mantra that I like to use that helps me get out of my head. Keep in mind that this takes practice, so don’t just expect to be able do it one time and ‘magically’ get it completely out of your head! But the more you practice your ‘mindset muscle,’ the better you will get at this.

MY FAVORITE MANTRA RIGHT NOW

So my favorite mantra right now is:  “I am writing my own running story.” First of all, if you think about it, we’re all probably worried about what other people are thinking about us when we’re out running. But, in reality, guess what everybody else is thinking about?  They’re all thinking the exact same thing! So they really don’t care about you as much as you might think, because everybody else is too busy being worried about themselves! So there’s that. Why worry about it? Because, trust me, nobody else really freaking cares. And if they do, who cares?? Does this really affect you at all? I think not.

But truly, when I think about my own running story – and I’ve met thousands of runners since I’ve been doing this and everybody has their own story all coming from different backgrounds – anything could be happening to you on that very day that is not normal for you, either. So when you focus on the idea that ‘you are writing your own running story,’ you get to figure out what those chapters are. You get to figure out how you want to do. And you get to figure out how long you want to go or how fast you want to go.

Repeating that mantra for myself really does help me out, so I hope that it helps you out too.

How To Stop Comparing Yourself to Other Runners

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

 How To Stop Comparing Yourself to Other Runners

Most Runners Compare Ourselves to Others At Some Point

Hey, I’m a running coach and I still have issues with my self-confidence. Don’t get me wrong, I’m getting better at it, but, you know, there are a lot of times that you can really get in your head when it comes to running, especially when it comes to comparing yourself to everybody else.

Running is really one of those sports that it’s so easy to compare yourself to other people: you can compare your paces, how much time others run, how far everybody else is going. It can be really hard on your mind and you can they can really make you feel like s*#& and, honestly, that’s really hard to deal with, especially when you’re in the middle of maybe a run or a race and you just start going down the rabbit hole.

Strava and Garmin

This is one of the reasons that you won’t find me on Strava. I am on Garmin, but I keep that very I keep that secret and it’s only available to my TRU Tribe team to see. I’ve listened to people or watched people on Strava say things like, “Oh, the reason I was slower this time is because I was with so and so.” I’ve actually seen people stop their watches when they take walk breaks, so it’s only tracking their running. Hey, to each his own, I always say. Everybody’s writing their own running story, so I’m not judging, but for me, Strava was one of those things that, by comparing myself to other people, was just driving me crazy, so I just chose not to care. You won’t find me on Strava, because I just don’t need that extra pressure. So the great thing is that I continue my running journey and I keep learning more and more. So I’m going to share some of my tips about how you can really work on stop comparing yourself to others.

I’m sure you’ve heard the quote that ‘comparison is the thief of joy,’ and it really is! Think about it. When you compare yourself to other people, it doesn’t really serve any purpose, whatsoever. Also, you really don’t know what everybody else is going through, anyway, right? I’ve been in races and I’ve talked to people and discovered that somebody maybe did a marathon the day before, because of whatever their crazy training plan is. You know I’ve been in races where you have people who were sick just the day before, and they’re going to be a little slower than normal. There are so many reasons that can affect what’s going on in your run, and it really doesn’t matter what’s happening to everybody else. So here are some of the steps that that work for me that, hopefully, will help you out, too.

Becoming more self-aware of your thoughts 

Number one is really just becoming self-aware of when you’re going down that ‘comparison rabbit hole.’

Self-awareness is basically just being aware and realizing when you start going down the rabbit hole. For me to improve my self-awareness, I really found that meditating (that could be a whole other video, lol) really helps. The more you meditate, the more you become self-aware of your thoughts (especially negative thoughts!) that come your way. So, as soon as I notice those thoughts, the first thing I really do is I sit with it  (but not for too long, though). So, I just sit with those feelings for a little bit. I’m going to just kind of pay attention and observe what feelings I’m having, and just to allow myself to feel and consider them. So, that’s the first thing I do. I recognize it. I sit in it. Maybe take a couple of deep breaths to slow everything down mentally.

find a favorite running mantra

Number two. The next thing that I do is I think about my favorite running mantra: “I am writing my own running story.” Then, I think about whomever I might be comparing myself to, who either just sped by me, or whatever the case is, and try to focus on the fact that they’re writing their own running story too, right? I don’t know what their story is (and, really, it doesn’t even matter if I know their whole story), I just need to be focusing on myself.

I remember one thing that really struck me, when I was going through my meditation practice one day. One of the first meditations that I learned was from Deepak Chopra, and it was this whole idea of feeling inferior to other people, which is really what you’re doing when you’re comparing yourself to others. It’s not often that you’re thinking, “Well, I’m faster than everybody else.” When you’re comparing yourself to others, you’re more often in a bad place, because other people are faster than you, or are going longer than you, or something they’re just doing better… than you. This insight is something I go back to a lot now, when I think about comparing myself to other people:

If I am thinking that I’m inferior to maybe one person, then it probably means that sometimes I’m also feeling superior to another person. When I realized this, it really didn’t sit well with me.

I don’t want to feel superior to people, either! So, that’s one of the things that I always go back to. It’s always a constant in my head just to think about those words, because I don’t want to feel superior to anybody. And again, I’m writing my own running story. It doesn’t matter what everybody else is doing, really.

Practice Keeping Yourself Out of the Comparison ‘Rabbit Hole’

So, those couple of steps work for me, but here’s the deal. We each have these neurological pathways that we have created because of our life experiences. Over time (especially if you are somebody who finds yourself going down the rabbit hole and comparing yourself to other people quite a bit), you know that’s a pattern that you’ve built for yourself and it’s not going to go away on its own.

So, what I would recommend that you do is just to keep practicing. Anytime you’re out there, whether you’re in a training run, or you’re with a group of people, or you just realize that you start going into your head and comparing yourself to other people, follow those steps and I really hope that help you break these old ways of thinking about yourself and about those around you and creates more positive habits.

I hope you’ve gotten some helpful info here and hope to see you soon!

Run Solo Or Join a Group? That’s the Question!

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

Run Solo Or Join a Group? THAT Is the Question!

Is running better alone or with a group of people? By the end of this blog, you’re going to be able to make that decision for yourself. Hey, it’s Coach Lisa here from The Running University, and I’m here to help you put the fun in your run!

I remember when my running journey started, I could only run ‘with people’. It was the only way I would do it. I didn’t like listening to music and I kind of started off running with a group of people, because that was really what I enjoyed the most. I truly just love being in groups and I hated running by myself. It wasn’t fun at all. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t keep myself accountable running alone. I just really didn’t like it.

Today, it’s a whole other story.

So, is running in a group better than running by yourself or not?? Let me give you some pros and cons for both.

ACCOUNTABILITY

So if you’re somebody who’s not self-motivated, then meeting a group of people at a specific time will help you stay more accountable. Because of this, I would definitely say, from that perspective, meeting with a group will make you more accountable.

Conversely, if you’re already a very self-motivated person, then maybe you don’t need a group for accountability.

SCHEDULING

Maybe it depends on your schedule? A lot of group runs have very specific times and days that they run, so they may or may not work with your own personal schedule. If you are lucky enough to have a more flexible schedule group runs might work for you, but if you don’t, then it might just be easier to go run on your own. That might be in the morning, afternoon, or whenever works best for your schedule.

MENTAL STRENGTH

I would say that you develop your mental strength with both of these, maybe in different ways. If you run alone, it does require a lot of mental strength to initially get motivated to get out there on your own and to do some of those harder workouts on your own.

With a group run, you might have a little bit of the different mental strength being worked with as far as, once you’re already out and moving, trying to push yourself a little bit more. Many of use are afraid of being the last person in the group, so if you know you have to push yourself a little more to keep up and avoid that, then maybe that’s also going to strengthen your mental capacity performance.

PERFORMANCE

You might be better with one or the other at different times and for different reasons. Again, this is going to be on an individual basis. Sometimes running with people who are maybe a little bit faster than you, it might help push your speed workout a little bit more, so that would be a great performance benefit to running with a group.

It’s also sometimes easier to get motivated to go run those harder performance-focused runs with groups, whether it’s hill workouts or track workouts. Whereas, if you can do this better when you’re running alone, you also might be more motivated to do those things on your own. Again, a lot of this depends on your own personal motivation.

SAFETY

Safety is something to consider I definitely always feel safer when I’m with a group of people. Of course, this also depends on what time of the day you’re running, but from a safety perspective, you know when it’s better to be with a group of people vs being by yourself. Running by yourself, you just need to remain super aware about staying safer and also about expending energy.

FOCUS

I know that when I’m running with a group of people, I tend to talk a lot more, which also helps the time go by but I’m also expending more energy. Another thing I’ve noticed is that I can’t really focus on my technique as much, so I’m probably a little less in tune with my body when running in groups.

When running alone, I definitely can focus inward better. I can feel what’s happening in my body. I can be more in tune with what’s happening. Choosing to run alone or with a group might depend on your own personal running goals for that specific day, whether you want to focus on technique, body sensing, or if you just really need to be social that day.

COMMUNITY

One of the biggest reasons for me is really that sense of community! Sometimes, I just really enjoy being with an awesome group of people! I love the energy that I get from running in a group. The time goes by so much faster. I’m often chatting a little bit more. I know maybe I’m not running as hard, but I’m just having a good time that day using that time to be more social. This is one of the ways I like to make running fun for me.

I do a lot of group runs with my athletes and we do those because they’re a lot of fun! Sometimes, at group events, they become even funner, because we create themed events. I’m the organizer for Running For Brews – Tempe, so sometimes we’ll have specific themes. Like, we’ll do a pajama night, or maybe a Hawaiian theme. Sometimes, by working with a group of other runners, you get to experience some different runs, which makes it a lot more fun.

Finally, as somebody who leads a lot of group runs consisting of runners at various and different levels of speed, abilities, and distances, I’m going to tell you THE BEST WAY that I have found to to keep a group somewhat together when you’re running.

I always like to to have each person coming into a group run feel comfortable in their pacing, so I call my groups, ‘Nobody Left Behind’! (OK, you might be left behind for a little bit, but not for too long!) It really depends on all the other people that might show up that are at that pace group. Usually what I like to do is that I want people to be able to do their own pace for that run, so I will instruct all my faster runners to go run at their own (faster) pace, too. So, they’ll get a little bit ahead, whether we’re on a trail or canal, BUT… then I’ll give them either a time or a mileage to turn back around. So what happens is that the faster runners get to go farther ahead at their own pace. Maybe I tell them, “OK, after each mile, turn around and run back toward the last person in the group.” So what happens is that they’ll run back and they’ll collect the other people (running at a slower pace) on the way. That way, the faster runners end up being at the end together with the slower-paced last runner. We all stay together and run for, you know, maybe a few minutes to chit-chat, and then I send the faster runners back out again.

So, that way, the people who are faster will also get a little extra mileage because they’re looping back, but also the person at the end, whether they’re running alone or running with somebody else at their own (slower) pace, will still get the chance to be with the larger group.

So that’s my way of keeping everyone more-or-less ‘together’ in my group runs. I actually have rules and I tell people, “If you don’t like looping back, or if you don’t like being looped back in as the last person, well then, you probably don’t want to come to my group runs, because those are the rules and my intentions for our group runs really are about social and all the extra camaraderie on our longer runs.”

That’s all! It’s about getting the mileage and having fun! Sometimes, we go out to breakfast after, so, again, for me personally, now that I’m a running coach and I’ve been doing this for a while, I really like both, honestly. Based on all these points that I shared with you, sometimes I just want to focus on myself and focus on my form and to, you know, be in my own body and work on my own technique.

Then, other times, I just want to socialize and just get the run done, so we can get to breakfast and chat.

Both of these work for different reasons and different times!

 

 

Product Review: Team Zealios Sunscreen

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

🌞Product Review: Team Zealios Sunscreen 🌞 

Do You HATE Getting Sunscreen in Your Eyes?

If you’re anything like me, you hate getting sunscreen in your eyes!

I’m here to help you put the fun in your run and learn all the things that’ll help make running so much funner instead of hating it. So today I want to talk about a very specific product that I love. It took me a while to find this, but I finally found it and ironically today, as I’m shooting the video for this blog, I’m in beautiful sunny Tempe, Arizona. This is where I live and usually, it’s very sunny. Of course, the day I’m talking about sunscreens, it’s NOT! 🤣 But you know that it’s very important to use sunscreen on  your runs, even when there’s cloud coverage, right? So today I’m going to share with you my favorite sunscreen.

You can probably already tell by how much I love this, because I have the biggest size bottle possible!  The brand is Zelios and I absolutely love this product.

If you go to their website, you can see all the science behind why it’s a great product. I don’t like to get all sciency on stuff, but I do like to have products that are as good and as natural as possible, so I always look for that in a product. But the thing I love most about this brand is the way they’ve created this sunscreen so that it doesn’t drip down into your eyes.

Since I live in Tempe (a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona) and it’s (USUALLY! lol) always sunny here, I have to apply sunscreen pretty much daily. So, once I found Zelios, this is now absolutely my favorite sunscreen. They have it in a couple of different sizes. I just showed you the biggest size (32 oz), because that is my absolute favorite (the one I buy and the best value). They also have these little trial sizes. I usually order these because I like to give them away here locally to my people and as samples at different events.

Chapstick / Lip Balm

Finally, they also have my absolute favorite chapstick. Again, I’ve gone through I don’t know how many different brands of chapsticks in my life, and I have finally found this one. The reason I love this one so much is that I just love how soft it is on my lips. There’s also no flavor (I’m not really big on flavor with these things.), so I just love it. I even put it on before I go to bed at night. It’s just my favorite chapstick and, of course, here in Arizona. It’s very important that we take care of our lips as well, being out in the desert and sun. 

Other Team Zelios Products  

Zelios also has other products, by the way, but I’ve never used those so I can’t honestly say whether I like them or not. What I can say is that a number of my TRU Tribe ladies have used some of their other products and have told me that they absolutely love them, too. 

Here’s an affiliate discount link,  if you’d like to try out any of Zelios’ products and get 15% OFF. Regardless of where you live, putting sunscreen on is really important, especially if you’re a walker or runner spending lots of time out in the heat and sun. 

Where else can you find me on social media?  

Hey, out of curiosity, did you know that you also can find me on Instagram?? I’m at @TRUCoachLisa. I do post there daily, so hopefully, I can inspire you over there, too. If you go check out Zelios, I’d be interested to hear what you think about their products, too. 

Fix Your Chin Position To Run Faster & Breathe Better

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

Fix Your Chin Position To Run Faster & Breathe Better

Common Head Positioning

If you remember that scene from the movie Jerry Maguire, you may already know that the human head weighs eight pounds. 😉 

All this weight can also down your run! Today, I want to talk a little bit about a technique tip that will really help you out with this. I see this happen a lot in finish line photos, where people have their chin way up high. Not only are they cutting off their airway, but let’s talk a little about what happens with the different positioning of your head. 

If you just notice (in the video), by tilting my head back, it’s throwing all my energy backwards and it’s slowing you down. Now, it might not matter at the very end at the finish line, because you’re done with your run. But I see it happen a lot when I do video analysis throughout my workshops. Let me tell you the quickest way to fix this, and you can actually follow along with me and even feel this out.

Improved, More Efficient Head Positioning

The first thing we always do (and this is, of course, part of ChiRunning) is that we get into our posture. So when we get into our posture, I’m going to give you just the quickest tip (there’s a lot more to this but..) go ahead and just lift through the crown of your head. So, (in the video) I have my ponytail in my hand and I’m gently pulling upwards and lifting through the crown of my head. This will help me engage my core.

NOTE: What often happens is that people think ‘lifting through the crown of your head’ is something different that what it actually is. If you’ve never done this before, it’s easy not to realize and feel like ‘crown of their head’ is your forehead. So what do many people first do? They tilt their head backwards to lift up their forehead. That’s not what you want to do! The ‘crown of your head’ is actually the highest point of your head. Like the point you used to measure and mark on the doorway when you were a kid! You want to lift through the crown (topmost part of your head). Here’s how to check to know if you’re doing this correctly.. put your hand right behind on your neck and your neck should be nice and flat. Now keep your right hand there and if I were to lift my chin, I’m crunching my right hand with the back of my neck. My chin is going up so that’s a good way to feel if your chin is in the right position or if you’re holding it maybe too high. 

When I do this correctly, you can see that my chin drops slightly. My next step in a run would be to fall forward. So, if my chin is facing in that direction, it’s going to help propel me forward, okay? If I tried to start running and my chin was up here I will still fall forward, but now because my head (which we already know now, weighs eight pounds or more) is lifted up this way, that’s going to cause me to slow down (weight more toward the back, rather than toward the direct I’m running/falling).

What else can I do to improve my running efficiency?  

You probably already know there are a lot of things involved in your running technique that can really impact what you’re doing. Many people just think that running is just when you put one foot in front of the other, but there’s so much that you could do in your body that’ll help make your run so much easier and more efficient, which then, of course, will make it funner!

I love to do running video analysis. I try to do one on myself periodically, just to check in to see how I’m doing. (If you go check out this video right here, you’ll see one of my very own video self-analyses.

I Was Dead Effin’ Last & Here Is What I Did About!

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

I Was Dead Effin’ Last & Here Is What I Did About!

First, the Acronyms…

I just got back from a race weekend in Colorado with my true tribe team – literally, I just came back – and I trained them for this event, but somehow I came in DFL! If you don’t what DFL means that means ‘Dead F__ing Last’!! That’s right! The coach was Dead F__ing Last@ Do I look worried about it at all?? Of course I’m not! Well, outside of the fact that my ultra sign up score is going to get affected by it. lol But really… who cares?

First, let’s talk about a couple of these acronyms that you may have (or may not have) heard, depending on you where you are in your running journey. Right now there are three acronyms:

  1. DNS which means Did Not Start, then there’s
  2. DFL which is Dead F__ing Last, and then there’s
  3. DNF which is Did Not Finish.

There’s a common running community saying that says, “It’s better to be Dead F__ing Last than not finishing than not starting.” And, honestly, I used to subscribe to this idea, but not so much anymore. Why? I’ll tell you a little bit about that in a bit, but let me get back to my story.

My Race Goals…

So, on Sunday morning we were getting ready to do the race. We were doing an 11K and this is a really hard race. It starts at 9200 feet of elevation. You climb 1700 feet in three and a half miles. Then you turn around and come back down the same route. So, it’s a lot of elevation very quickly. It’s a very steep race.

So, as I prepared for this race myself, I really only had a couple of goals. The first goal was that I really wanted to keep working on my pole technique because at this point, I knew that I would be helping out at the TransRockies race – I volunteered to lead the back of the pack group and we use poles a lot. With this in mind, I just wanted to keep honing in on my poles technique and this race was perfect for that.

My second goal was that I just wanted to get more experience at altitude, because, again, I’m going to be back in Colorado at altitude for the TransRockies race. So, my two goals for this race really were not to ‘race’. My goals were really more to focus on those skills and experience. I wasn’t really focused on ‘racing’ that day.

DFL 

As I started, with a couple of the ladies in my tribe, we kind of just really noticed that we were at the back of the pack. We were ‘leap frogging’ with some other people for a while, but then, as we got farther and farther into the race, I kind of felt like we were going to be last. And, as a matter of fact, if you go look at the race stats right now for that race.. I ended up being Dead F__ing Last!

When we came in more-or-less together, they were a little bit ahead of me, but really, much of that was intentional on my part. I may have started the race thinking I didn’t care when I was going to finish. I was there to have fun with my tribe. Also, I had already decided that I was there to work on other things – elevation, poles, and altitude. I was not there for speed at all, so that was that. So, basically, even though I was DFL, I really don’t care, since the purpose I had chosen for my race that day was about the elevation, poles, and the altitude. So, I reached my goals for that race! That’s awesome!

How I Measure My ‘Running Success’

Generally speaking, I’m not the type of person who who measures my running success based on speed. If you go to this video, you’ll hear a little bit more about what I do, as far as what my success is and how I measure my success in a race.

So, let’s go back to that idea where we say a DFL is better than a DNF, which is better than a DNS, and break this down. Basically, this says that coming in last is better than not finishing is better than not even starting. Now here is why I don’t believe that anymore…

I used to believe this, but because I’ve grown in my running journey and I’ve coached more people along the way, really all of those just really depend on what’s happening on that day. Once you start your race, pretty much anything could happen to anybody.

DNS

A DNS is a Did Not Start. I also had one of those once. You know I very rarely get injuries, since I use body-sensing and ChiRunning, but making a call that morning of deciding not to start was very important for my growth as a runner. I had a little bit of an injury – I had ignored some signs recently and had overextended my running, so I was starting to get some plantar fasciitis. I had made some changes in my shoes, so I could have started the race that day. I had already spent the money on the race and I started thinking about all the training I’d already done to get to this start line. But, at the end of the day, I decided NOT to start. So, yes, I have a DNS on my record, but it was a really good call, because I could have made that injury so much worse if I had decided to push through and run.

So, I just decided not to start, and guess what? I volunteered instead and still had a fabulous time! I got to help out the other runners. So, if you decide not to start a race, maybe because you’re feeling a little injury or for some other reason, and you’re making the call not to start, that’s a great idea! That’s a much better and smarter plan versus starting it with an injury, then possibly injuring yourself Then maybe you won’t be able to run for the next six months. So really, at the end of the day, it boils down to what are your goals and how will this decision affect them?

DNF

If you think about a DNF (Did Not Finish), another great example that I have for a Did Not Finish was the same exact race last year. I did the 12 miler I was training for to get more mileage and I know that, at the top of the race, there’s a pretty steep short scramble up some rocks and loose gravel to get to the turn-around point… and I happen to be afraid of heights! lol So, when I got to that point in the race, I kind of looked at it, wondered if I should give it a good college try, and then I was like, “Nope! I’m out!” And that was my very first DNF. Of course, again, it goes on my ‘permanent record, on UltraSignup that I didn’t finish, but who cares? Right? My goal for that race was to get the elevation and the altitude and it was training I had done a for marathon the day before, so for me, the question was, ‘What is my goal for this race?’

‘Racing’ A Race

I’m rarely ever really ‘racing’ in a race. For me, they’re ‘events’, not ‘races’. Most of my races are training runs for another race and when I DO ‘race,’ I’m usually not racing others, but trying to beat one of my previous times or distances, instead. I know I’m not a fast runner. I’m not going to win the race, so, for me, it just depends on what goals I set for myself for that event.

Writing Your Own Running Story

One of my number one mantras that I’ve learned to use (and I really encourage all my runners to use) is to think about the fact that I am ‘writing my own running story’ and that everybody else also is writing their own running story. You just don’t know what’s going on in people’s lives and, you know what? Who cares if you’re there to do your own thing? Just keep focusing on yourself, regardless of whether it might be a DNS or it might be a DNF or it might even be a DFL. YOU have to make that call for yourself and for that one race.

Develop Your Own Personal Running Mindset

I believe this really speaks to the whole mindset part of running. It’s very easy to be disappointed in yourself if you’ve made a decision not to start or to DNF a race because you might hurt yourself. Or even just being Dead F__ing Last. Who cares, right? But these could be things that could affect you mentally, so these are exactly the type of things that we go over in my Tribe community. Who is the TRU Tribe, you ask? The TRU Tribe is my group of ladies. We train together. We learn together. And we grow together. These are the types of things that I teach in the TRU Tribe, so, if you’re interested in checking us out, send me an email at Lisa@TheRunningUniversity.com and let me know you are interested in a 30 day free trial. 😊

My 2022 Goals Review

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

If you’ve been in my circle for awhile, you know I started this practice a few years ago after reading Atomic Habits. James Clear, the author, does this annually and he inspired me to do the same.  This is my annual “performance” review based on goals that I set for myself at the beginning of 2021 as well as my 2022 goals.

James mentions in his last annual review that’s it’s uncomfortable to “brag” about himself and his business and to be so vulnerable by sharing some uncomfortable information.  I agree but I figure it’s part of my personal growth process and if it inspires others to do the same, then great!  So here it goes!

2022 Goals Review
Quick 2022 Recap:  Since I wasn’t training as much last year, I spent more time in both businesses. This has been a challenge for me to manage and kept me from focusing on some of my business goals for TRU. I was able to be consistent with weekly You Tube videos since April with a few exceptions, I learned a lot by taking a few business courses, I transitioned both the TRU and ChiRunning/ChiWalking Community Platforms to Spaces (Mighty Networks), and had a successful Lifetime Membership launch.
I have not created my 2023 Goals yet but working on that now!
    • Started Amy Porterfield’s Digital Course Academy on 9/19/22
      • End of Year Review: I knew I wouldn’t be able to get a course together by the end of the year. It was a great investment though as I have lifetime access. I am working on my first course of 2023 which will probably be ready mid-late February:
        • From Wishing to Walking: Make It A Habit in 30 Days . This will need to be for women only right now since it will be on the same platform as my TRU TRIBE. Later in 2023, I will have the capability to change this if I want to.
    • Online Digital Course Bootcamp with Amy Porterfield 9/1
    • Start Video Academy Strategy Course live on 2/28/22 and relaunch my You Tube by 8/22 started on 3/2
      • Midyear Review: started dropping videos on 4/4/22 and I’ve released a new video every week since
      • End of the Year Review: I only missed a few weeks during the year of videos. I chose to take the last 3 weeks of the year off. I listened to the Analytic Module of my VSA course late though. When I finally did do them, I found out that I’m not really reaching my target audience so there will be a small shift on my You Tube channel in 2023.
    • Joined Trena Little’s 10K on Replay Course in November: a 12 month Mastermind and Digital Business Course
    • Attended CEO Day (part of 10K on Replay) where we worked on goal setting for 2023
    • Create at least 3 different opt ins for my newsletter by 8/22. When I changed platforms last year, I couldn’t use the same one so I haven’t had one for awhile. These may include ebooks and/or quizzes. As of 6/5, created Monthly Raffle for Video Analysis and TRU TRIBE 3 months free. Not crazy about these.
      • Midyear Review: High on my 3rd Q To Do list
      • Released my Get Out Of Your Running Rut: 70 Ideas To Get You Excited About Running Again in October
      • End of Year Review: Re evaluating this process based on my learnings. While I want to increase the size of my mailing list, I’d rather have people on my list that want to be there. My email list dropped significantly when I changed platforms last year but my open rate went from 25% to 55%. That tells me that I have people that want to hear from me.
    • Delve in deeper to the Membership Academy. There is a lot of content for membership owners.
      • End of Year Review: I’ve used to find specific things I need. Will cancel this membership when it renews since I have the Mighty Network community of membership owners which is more relative to what I need now.
    • Continue making the TRU TRIBE my priority. My ultimate goal (no deadline yet) is to make this 80% of my income. I am taking my time. I am on the Mighty Network Product Council and we looked at my Insights a few weeks ago. Happy to report that they said I have one of the most engaged memberships they’ve seen!
      • Midyear review: working on 2nd half of the year.
      • Rolled out the new TRU TRIBE Plus (aka Ladies Training Programs)
      • End of Year Review: Just had a meeting with my business coach last week and I’m back on track with this. I’ve made some key decisions for 2023:
        • The TRU TRIBE Community will be a closed membership with opportunities to join 2-3x a year when I am doing special launches. The digital course mentioned above is the first one of 2023. I am reviewing my pricing strategy now.
    • Get efficient at having a monthly and quarterly Content Calendars for both of my businesses for social media and the online communities. I’m getting better at weekly scheduling. My goal is to have this nailed down by 5/22
      • Midyear review: getting better but still not as streamlined as I’d like it to be
      • October: will have them help me decide themes and challenges for the 1st half of 2023 at October Mixer
      • End of Year Review: I’ve got the TRU TRIBE content down now. As I pivot this year with my new strategy, I will need to work on a social media/newsletter/you tube content calendar to sync it all together.
    • Deliver 5 speeches in my Toastmaster club by the end of the year
      • Midyear review:
        • 1st one completed 4/7: 20-25 minutes Online Webinar. 2nd one scheduled for 7/21
      • End of Year Review: Completed 3 speeches. I delivered my last one as a “keynote” speech to a high school class. I shared with them how to take tough lessons in life and turn them into positives.
    • Copy this blog post and update it monthly
      • End of Year Review: been on top of it
    • Spend more focused time with family:
      • Greg: Monthly Day Date on calendar
        • End of Year Review: not as formalized yet. In addition to our morning ritual (meditation, then making coffee together and at least one hug), we added a daily ritual of Wordle, Spelling Bee, Tiles, The Mini and Letter Boxed.
      • Mom and Dad: see them at least 1x a week
        • End of Year Review:: have been pretty good with this
    • Meditate daily
      • Since 7/18 (when I started with Insight Timer app), I’ve hit a milestone of 1,000 days with a session in 5/22
      • End of Year Review: In the last 12 months I’ve averaged 1.21 sessions per day according to their reporting
    • No running goals this year! I am recovering from an injury and have decided this year I need to spend more time on my businesses (I don’t mention that much here but the ChiRunning business takes up a lot of my time too!). I do have an ultimate goal to do the Cocodona 250 but that will be on the 3-5 year plan. This year I’ll focus on strength training and technique (always!) and then I’ll get back to longer distances in 2023. As of 6/5 I’ve kicked off my 8 week training for TRR to get to 50 miles a week.
      • Midyear review: on track
      • End of Year Review: in late summer I started training for Jackass Night Trail Runs (31k in October) and currently training for Black Canyon 60K (on 2/19, my 52nd birthday) Moab on The Rocks 3-Day Stage race (50 miles on the 1st weekend of March) and Crown King 50K (3/27)
    • Strength train/Mobility work at least 2x a week with a stretch goal of 3x (starting 3/1 since I’m writing this on 2/25). Need to schedule on calendar for accountability.
      • End of Year Review: Been doing it more but not as consistent as I’d like to be yet

 

2022 Personal and Professional Review
  • Running:
    • Live Races:
      • January:
        • First 100 miler at Across The Years on 12/30-1/1 (this will go into 2022 since it ended in this year)
        • Raised $1,445 amount of dollars for GOTR
      • March:
      • April
      • May
        • Adrenaline 15K
      • June
        • 22 Too Many
        • Black Out Night Runs 6K/Big Pine K
      • July:
        • 4th of July 4 Miler
        • Silverton 8 miler and 11K at Kendall Mountain, CO
        • 12K at Stunner Night Races
      • August
        • 60 miles at TransRockies as Dawn Patrol Leader (Volunteer)
      • October
        • Jackass 31K
      • November
        • Punisher 10K
      • December
        • Vail Half Marathon
        • 27 Miles at Across The Years
    • Races Virtual:
    • Random:
  • Travel:
    • February: Rocky Point for my Birthday weekend
    • March: Crown King to support my TRU TRIBE
    • April: Ladies Training Program weekend in Prescott for Whiskey Basin race
    • June: LTP weekend in Flagstaff; Trip to Portland
    • July: LTP in Silverton CO
    • August: Buena Vista to Beaver Creek: TransRockies; Rocky Point with Greg
    • September: Heber with friends
    • October: Back East: Pittsfield, MA to visit family, ChiRunning/ChiWalking Instructor Weekend in NH and Boston to visit a good friend
    • December: Weekend in Vail AZ for the race
  • The Running University 
    • Certified ChiRunners/ChiWalkers :
      • Privates: 11+11 new CR/CW, 8 ChiRefreshers with Alumni
      • CRCW workshops:
        • Jan 30 (11)
        • 5/21 (9 mine only)
        • 9/3 – 15 mine
      • Free Clinics:
        • Aravaipa (1st Wed of Jan)
        • 2/27 Sole Sports Tempe with Dr. Emily
        • 3/10 Sole Sports Arcadia for Tri for the Cure packet pickup
        • 3/18 Strive PT
        • 8/24 Sole Sports Tempe
    • TRU TRIBE
      • Members:
        • 84 Members
          • In 2022 I offered Lifetime Memberships for TRU TRIBE (8 members) and TRU TRIBE Plus (7 members). This was a huge confidence booster to know that my athletes trust me to take care of them and their walking/running journeys for life! I may offer this one more time to my current members before the price increase this year.
      • Guest Speakers:
        • January: Developing Healthy Habits with Nancy Farrington
        • February: Developing Life Skills Through Running with Nicole Zeno
        • March: Longevity Lessons from the Blue Zones with Denise Steffen
        • April: Mindset and Mental Skills Training: The power of the mind to impact our physical and emotional experiences with Dr. Michelle Montero
        • May: How To Use Your Fitness Skills to Unlock Your Financial Greatness with Kelsa Dickey from Fiscal Fitness
        • June: Move It Mindfully with Author, Nita Sweeney
        • July: Why Everyone Needs an Estate Plan, Jenni Pierson
        • August: Pelvic Floor and Core Basics, Kim Bryant PT, DPT
        • September: Intro to Crewing, Stephanie Bianchi
        • October: The Power of the 5 Senses, Joanne Gerster
        • November: Yoga Nidra: The Easiest Self-Care Tool to Add to Your Kit with Kelly Teal
      • Courses/Challenges rolled out in 2022:
        • Spring Semester 2022
        • February Challenge: Exploring our Running Traits, winner received an entry to the Girls On The Run 5K
        • February Course: Level Up: Confidence
        • March: Challenge Shake It Up Walk/Run Challenge: winner received a Noxgear vest
        • April Challenge: Photo Prompt Challenge for Abundance: winner won Voyce Thread socks
        • May Challenge: 9 Attitudes of Mindfulness: winner’s choice of a Video Analysis or Package of 4 Group Sessions
        • June Challenge: This is Us: winner’s choice of a Video Analysis or Package of 4 Group Sessions
        • July Challenge: TRU TRIBE/LTP Survey
        • August Challenge: 31 Day Daily Habit Challenge
        • September Challenge: Letting Go
        • October Challenge: Monthly Themes/Challenges Survey Completion
        • November Challenge: 31 Days of Gratitude with Pictures
        • December Challenge: 30 Days of Activity from Thanksgiving to New Years Day
        • Monthly Themes:
          • January: Action
          • February: Confidence
          • March: Self Compassion
          • April: Abundance
          • May: Mindfulness
          • June: Be You!
          • July: Reset
          • August: Consistency
          • September: Letting Go
          • October: Courage
          • November: Gratitude
          • December: Celebrate
      • Ladies Training Programs (LTPs):
        • Spring Semester 2022
            • 15 ladies participated in a variety of races during the Spring
        • 8/22 converted to TRU TRIBE Plus (additional Tier)
          • As of 1/12/23 we have 26 members (7 Lifetime)
Vision Board session for 2023 is scheduled on 1/21 so stay tuned!
If you made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read through it! 🥰 This is a time consuming process but well worth it!

2022 Vision Board

My 2022 Vision Board is to the left of me in my office space so I see it constantly.
My phrase of the year is: Embrace My Space. By space I mean: physical, emotional, spiritual, mental…I want to be better about setting boundaries and taking care of me. You can see that a lot of the right side of my vision board is about that. I need to keep working smarter not harder and keep streamlining some of my processes and keep things simple. The top left is about our home space. We’ve been in a one bedroom apartment in Tempe (love the location and we are minimalists so the space works too). Not sure what we will do this year with the economy the way it is but I want to keep a good home space for 2022 which could also mean staying put where we are (I just want my honey to have a good garden space though!). The bottom left is all about my summer plans! I’ll be volunteering at TransRockies (summer camp!) again this year with my besties! Excited to say that we are Dawn Patrol which means taking care of the Back of the Pack group! Last but not least the bottom middle is about spending more time meal planning and cooking. Because of my work load I tend to resort to quick fixes (still mostly healthy ones) but I’d like to make more time for planning and preparing food. Also a good way to spend quality time with Greg 🥰

If you made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read through it! 🥰 This is a time consuming process but well worth it!

4 Alternatives to New Year Resolutions

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni
For so many years, I did what everyone else was doing…making another unrealistic New Year Resolution. Before I lost weight and kept it off, that’s all they were about.  Lose x amount pounds by X.  I know I wasn’t alone in this goal.  I can’t tell you how many times I got excited, started eating good and working out like crazy…only to burn out a few weeks later.

LOL…side note, this is one of my favorite movies! ;

I can’t remember when I stopped making them but I never looked back.  Every year turned into a disappointment and beating myself up because I set unrealistic goals.  At the same time, I love the idea of “out with the old and in with the new”.  I think New Years is the perfect time to reflect back on the year before, celebrate the milestones, learn from the “failures” and get excited about new possibilities for the upcoming year. Birthdays are also great for this too!

All kidding aside, I do believe in reinventing or improving myself every year…and I love Robert Downey Jr. LOL

So instead of making traditional New Year Resolutions, here are a few different ideas on things you can to start out your New Year:

  • Create a First Time Experience list for the upcoming year.  What are some things that you’ve wanted to do but haven’t?  Maybe pick a different one to do every month.  It doesn’t have to be huge item either….maybe there is a specific kind of ethnic food that you’ve always wanted to try OR you’ve always wanted to run a race or a specific distance but have been too afraid to try it (you know I can help you with all of these!). I love first time experiences! They are scary and get you out of our comfort zone but it’s so rewarding once you’ve done it!  I have been training for my first 100K and excited to enter into new territory!
  • Follow a monthly 30 Day Challenge every month.  Here is a great list of ideas. Get a friend to join you for accountability purposes or start an event on social media to get others to join you.
  • Make a yearly challenge. Maybe you want to save $1000 over a year or walk/run a mile every single day of the year.  Chart your progress on a weekly or monthly basis.
  • Do a 365-Day Project.  Take a jar and write down something good that happened every day (then open it up at New Years Eve and read about the amazing year you had!).  Click here for more ideas.

Happy New Year!