Author Archives: Lisa Pozzoni

The Youngest ChiRunners I’ve ever met!

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Happy Runner Girls!

Happy Runner Girls!

Last weekend I had the amazing opportunity to assist Danny Dreyer, the creator of ChiRunning, at his workshop in Houston. As much as I want to rave about that experience, I need to talk about the fastest,  youngest and cutest endurance runners in the county:  Kaytlynn and Heather Welsch.

I was registering participants as they were arriving at the workshop and these 2 little girls appear before me with their Dad.  A guy behind them immediately said, “Oh, I know these girls, they are famous.”  I asked if they were twins and they said no.  But quickly told me that they shared the same birthday, just not the same year.  They immediately took their seats and I was amazed that a 11 and 13 year old could not only follow the material (some of the ChiRunning concepts are hard for adults to follow!), but you can tell they were totally into it.

At one point, Danny said: “let’s go outside and start practicing”.  I happened to be looking over at them and they had huge smiles on their faces, like someone just told them they would get free chocolate for the rest of their life.  It was OBVIOUS to me that these girls love to run.  Watching them run was an enlightening experience.  We always say that children have natural running form because they haven’t had the posture issues that we get as adults, and although they have a few things to work on from a ChiRunning technique perspective, they had a beautiful gait and form.  It was OBVIOUS again by the smiles on their faces that they were eager to learn but enjoyed running.  They were just gliding around the tennis court lapping the adults, happy as can be.

Of course, when I arrived home, I had to google their names to see what I could find on them.  And lo and behold, there is quite a bit of controversy around them.

These girls are amazing athletes.  They’ve both completed over 100 endurance races, mainly half- and full- marathon distance trail runs at an average pace of 6:23/mile!  Last year, Kaytlynn won the XTerra won the women’s field to become the youngest ever champion of an XTERRA trail half-marathon, placing 11th overall with a time of 1:39:31 (only 10 men were ahead of her!).

I do not have children, only nieces and a nephew so I was interested in reading the various controversial blog posts that were out there:

Of course the controversy is about their age and whether it’s appropriate they are racing this hard at their age. I also found this great video clip from Rock Center with Brian Williams: http://rockcenter.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/07/16883813-too-fast-tween-sisters-log-miles-in-endurance-runs that I really enjoyed.

So what’s my opinion? Well, for starters, since they are clearly using the ChiRunning technique which promotes injury-free running, they are on the right path!

After watching the video and reading the blogs,  it seems to me that their parents are doing the right things for them and taking all the right precautions by getting them regular check ups with doctors.  I imagine that parents know their own children more than anyone.

Bottom line for me?

They love to run, they are enjoying it, they are using an injury-free technique and are supervised by their doctors….so who am I to judge them?  Run free and happy and I’m sure we’ll see these girls in the Olympics some day!  I’m just honored to have met them and be inspired by their passion for running.

What are your thoughts?

From My Running Story to Yours…. (if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

3 Ways to Change a Bad Attitude on a Run

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

I always make it a point to run when I’m in a different place.  This was my 2nd trip to Lake Havasu (for Toastmaster duties) and I was REALLY looking forward to running along the Lake and channel.   Continue Reading →


Testimonial from a 68 year old Triathlete

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Testimonials like these are the reason I LOVE MY JOB!  This is exactly why I do what I do.  I love to be able to share Running Stories from my ChiRunners.  There is nothing more rewarding for me to know that I am helping people achieve goals they never thought possible!  I received this email from “Doc” Gooding on 9/29/13:

“I have done two triathlons recently. Anthem (which was turned into a duathlon do to rain) and the Life Time Tri in Tempe…both sprint distance.

·         Anthem tri I came in second in my age group (but there were only two of us)  with a time of 1:27:50 (12.3 Mi bike 52 Min and 5K run in 35 min).

·         Life Time Tri I came in first in my age group (there was one other guy who came in 30 min after me). My time was 1:45 (12.3 mi bike 44 min and 5K run 36 min).

 My next triathlons are in October and December.

Also, I have lost 25 lbs and 4” in the waist!!! Trying to loss 20 more and 2” more in the waist.

 My goal is to get on Triathlon Team USA next year in the 70-74 age group (when I age up) and compete in the World Amateur Championships…like I did in 1994.

 I did have one observation on running…the other day I was running into a strong headwind. In the past I would have hated it because is slowed me down. But with Chi running I just leaned a little more forward into the wind and it felt like there was no wind. Was that just me thinking that or have you noticed that too?

Thanks again for all your help…I have been making progress running injury free.

Take Care.

“Doc” Gooding”

I remember he attended my workshop in January and has some postural issues that were effecting his running form.  On 1/27/13 he sent me this email:

“Good class today…discovering all sorts of dysfunctional behaviors and getting more in touch with my body.”

One of the things I love about ChiRunning is that it’s a holistic process.  You don’t just learn it once and are done…AHA moments happen all the time depending on your focus on that specific run.

Does it matter how many people were in his age group?  HECK NO!  No one else is out there doing it…I think it’s even more impressive that he’s doing this stuff at his age….and let’s face it, 68 isn’t old, right?!  I want to be doing this stuff until I’m at least that age.  My friends and I say, “Friends 4 Fitness 4 Life”.  We imagine being out there in our 80’s still have a blast together!

Thanks “Doc” for sharing your experiences with me.  Sooo happy and proud to see you reach your goals!

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

4 Reasons NOT to PR a race

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

PR or PB are words you will here in the running community all the time.  PR is a Personal Record and PB is a Personal Best.  I remember getting wrapped up in this idea until the last few years.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about setting, achieving and surpassing goals… but sometimes, it’s just not necessary.  Here are some of my reasons for not PRing a race in no particular order:

  1. Because you have a different goal and learned a lesson from a previous race.  Sometimes your goal in a race is not about having a personal record. For example, I purposely ran the Cedar City Half Marathon slower this year than I did last year. Why? Because last year I was sore for an entire week due to the dowhill and altitude change.  My goal for this race this year was not to be as sore.  I’m happy to report that I enjoyed the race AND I was sore for a few days instead of a week.
  2. Because it’s just another training run.  Depending on your running level, races are a good way to get in a training run and get some swag at the same time.  When I’m training for a half or full marathon, I’ll seek out some races that might be the  length I need as opposed to doing a “regular” training run in the same place.  Even though I pay for a race and not a training run, I get to run with different runners, get a cool shirt and medal just for a training run.
  3. Because you are running with a friend.  Running is a great social sport.  I love running with my friends. I’ve “ran” into friends at races that I haven’t seen in awhile and I choose to run with them for company rather than worry about the race.  OR you might have a friend who is doing their first event and you want to be part of their experience.
  4. Because you just don’t need to add that kind of pressure (or resistance).  The thought of having to do better than last time, sometimes can mess with your head.  This causes mental tension which causes physical tension and just can overall ruin your race experience.  You have the power to make that choice.  It’s that simple.  I blogged about this on the ChiRunning website last year when I described my experience at the Women’s Half Marathon.   I purposely ran a race without my GPS.
  5. Because you just want to have fun!  There may be a time to race for you but ultimately, when running isn’t fun anymore, what’s the point?  Seriously, sometimes we just need to get out of our heads and enjoy life. One of the many things I’ve learned from ChiRunning and meditation is to enjoy the present moment.  So instead of worrying about your time, enjoy the scenery, talk to a new person running next to you, and thank the volunteers and people cheering along the road for being there.

Bottom line, it’s your running story and you can do whatever you want!

Please comment below if you have any other reasons not to PR a race. Help me inspire other people to enjoy running for the fun sport that it is!

From My Running Story to Yours….

(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

Who let the dogs out??

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

There are so many reasons to run and I’m sure I’ll be sharing them with you as I continue with my running story.

I want to tell you about my experience this morning.  Nowadays, there are a lot of runs for charity that you can be part of.   Continue Reading →


My New Favorite Running App

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

(I started writing this while I was on vacation in the midwest.  Just got back last night)

As you may know, I’ve been gallivanting around the midwest for the last week and a half.  I have found the scenery here so different and refreshing from the AZ desert.  Continue Reading →


My 1st Trail Run in OH

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

One of my favorite things to do is explore new places.  And now that I’m a runner (still find it hard to call myself that but since I’m a running coach and I run, I guess I’m a runner!), I love to run in new places.

My boyfriend and I are in the middle of a two week road trip to OH.  As soon as I knew the dates, I looked up a race to do here right away.  I found the 10 mile Chippewa Creek Trail Challenge from the Dirty Trail Race Series. Since I love trail running and 10 miles is a good long distance run for me, I signed up….and so glad that I did!  It was the most beautiful run that I’ve done so far!

I’ll admit I was a bit nervous being in a new place but the gorgeous scenery calmed me down right away.  I stopped and took a few photos that you can see below.  It was just such a nice change from the AZ desert scenery.  I had my MP3 player just in case since I didn’t know anyone at this race to talk to (I mainly run with my friends and chatting helps the time go by).  The scenery was so pretty that I couldn’t even think of replacing the sound of my footsteps on the trail, the birds chirping and just the sounds of nature with music. It surprised me how many people were listening to music but then again, this was their “regular” scenery.

The other few things that cracked me up was the fact that it was 62 degrees when I started at 8am (I could actually sleep in!), I had my arm warmers on the entire time, and I had my sunglasses on my head ready to put them on (I can’t run in AZ without my sunglasses) and I never had to use them…..the trees in the forest covered most of the run.

I thought for sure that I would be last since there seemed to be some “competitive” people but I wasn’t…still not ashamed to post that I was 7 of 10 women in my age group, 50 of 58 women, and 120 of 134 runners.  I did average a 12:23 pace finishing at 2:03:49.  My “goal” was 2 hours so I’m happy with my results…although this race was so much more than just my results.

Besides the scenery and the results, this also happened to be my virtual Hangover Run for Will Run for Bling and Charity.  Love this idea!  You can see my bib below…more importantly my race entry fee is helping the Lupus Foundation of America.

Check out my 1:42 minute video clip 😉

My boyfriend captured this classic shot of me being silly 😉
part of the gorgeous scenery
such a beautiful trail!
couldn’t help but stop to capture a few photos
even some pretty flowers

So when is the last time you visited another town and ran a race?  or had a first time experience that you really enjoyed?

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

Resistance is futile!

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….and My Story Runs On….

Do you ever have one of those days (or runs) where it seems nothing goes right?  I had one of those yesterday morning as I was teaching a ChiRunning workshop. As a matter of fact, one of the participants, sent me this email after class:

“Lisa,
Thank you for a great class today….watching you respond from all of your negative chi this morning was entertaining, you handled every situation with ease and I look forward to using your principles from your chirunning class this morning to achieve my goal on December 8th so that I will finish my first marathon with my daughter! So you know, my first phone call after your class was to my daughter telling her about my positive experience at your class this morning.” Kris W
It started out with me forgetting my “connector thingy” that I use to show the video analysis from my IPad to my flat screen TV.  Then, we were interrupted and all 10 people had to move from one classroom to another one….then, we almost got ran over in the parking lot…then we got interrupted again because my class was running late…..
What did I learn from my meditation practice and ChiRunning that I could apply here?
You got it:  Resistance is Futile!
Resistance, negative energy, friction,  whatever you want to call it, can mess up your day or run.  By being self-aware of these when they are happening to you, you can make a choice on how to handle it.  I used to quickly react to things when they happened to me which made the situation even worst.  Now, I think about it and make a choice to roll with the punches…responding vs reacting….which is what I did yesterday…..
When I realized I forgot my connector thingy, I just had all 10 people circle around me as I showed them their video analysis.  (thankfully I have an awesome boyfriend who brought it to me so I could do the last video taping the proper way)….when we were interrupted the first time, I just said “No worries, let’s all grab our stuff and move”….etc
I found this to be a great way to lead by example and teach my class participants how to apply some of the ChiLiving principles to every day life.  I could’ve been frazzled and freaking out (the old me would’ve been!) but I didn’t realize how well I handled it until I received Kris’s email.

From My Running Story to Yours….

Have you ever had a bad run or bad day and handled it well?  What did you do?

(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

Keep Calm Resistance is Futile

Curing a broken heart with running?

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….and My Story Runs On….

This past weekend, I received an email from someone interested in ChiRunning.  I always ask people if they have any current injuries so I have an idea of how I can help them run without pain.  I’ve been teaching for 3 years now and this is the first time someone responded to me with “nothing other than a broken heart.”

This got me thinking….when was the last time I had a broken heart?  My last 10-year relationship ended 2 years ago and my heart was broken.   Although I was running then, I started meditating as a way to heal.  As I focused on this daily practice, I realized how much meditation was in sync with my ChiRunning practice.  One of the many unique aspects of ChiRunning is the mind/body connection that you develop through your running practice.  I believe both of these cured my broken heart.

What was my biggest learning lessons that I applied to life AND running as soon as I learned them?

Present moment awareness.  What does this mean exactly?  Don’t live in the past and don’t stress about the future (especially if you have no control over the situation).  Once the past is over, there is nothing you can do to change it, so focus on detaching from the situation and letting go.  This is the same for a run!  If you have a “bad” run, just let it go and try to learn from the experience instead of stressing or beating yourself up about it.  LET IT GO!  We can rarely control our future so do the best you can but don’t stress about circumstances you can’t control.  Next time you go on a run, try not having any expectations about that run and see what happens.

Being in the present moment can be so relaxing.  So next time you go out on a run, focus on the present moment:  scenery, your breathing, what your body is doing and leave your mind (ego) at home…no judgement, no beating yourself up….

I found this response from Deepak Chopra (my primary source of meditations) on why it’s important to live in the present:

“Being fully present in the moment is valuable, not because you will remember it as a significant event, but because the present is the only place where you really live life. If you are imagining your future, then you aren’t here now, living life, making choices. Your attention is in the future where no choices can be made. If you are afraid or angry, then you are in the past, remembering old hurts and injustices. But to heal the past you need to bring your attention to the present, otherwise you are just reinforcing the old pain. There is nothing special to do or acknowledge in order to be present. It a matter of simply Being.”

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

How have you cured a broken heart?

Broken Heart

PS. Deepak and Oprah just started a free 21-Day meditation challenge that started yesterday.  This was how I originally started meditating a few years ago…I love these!

No pain, no gain? OR Less pain, more gain!

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

On Sunday 2/17, I completed my 2nd marathon using the ChiRunning techniques.  I’m writing this 3 days after the event and I have little pain, if any at all!  How could this be?  After my 1st marathon last year, I was sore for at least 5 days and could barely walk for the first few days….I was sporting the “marathon waddle” if you know what I mean!
In my next few blog/vlog posts, I’ll be sharing some of my aha moments with you and how you can apply them to your running, walking or life!

AHA moment #1
Walking/Running Lesson:
My posture post race is just as important!  This may make more sense if you’ve already learned the ChiRunning and ChiWalking Posture lesson.  I teach my students how to use proper alignment to hold them up rather than having their muscles do the work.  My quads were the most sore after Sunday but as I really focused on standing and ChiWalking with my proper posture, I didn’t feel my muscle soreness at all!  Next time you are really sore from a workout, stand in bad posture and then stand in your ChiRunning posture and feel the difference!  It “forced” me to focus on it a lot because I would be reminded any time I felt muscle soreness again!
Life Lesson:
Pay more attention to what your body is telling you.  This is the start of present moment awareness.  Listen to your body and respond accordingly.   In ChiLiving we call it Body Sensing.  It’s amazing what your body will teach you.  You can be your own detective.

AHA moment #2
Walking/Running Lesson:
Conserving energy works and helped me tremendously with my recovery time! During my training and on the marathon, I focused on relaxing my body and conserving my energy as much as possible. Tension (physical and mental) is resistance and uses up unnecessary energy.   ChiRunning teaches us how to go with the flow and relax the mind and body as much as possible.
Life Lesson:
Did you ever notice how much energy it takes out of you when you are stressed?  On the other hand when you are relaxed, things always seem easier?   For example, when driving I used to let other drivers get to me.  I would get irritated and I could feel the extra stress. When I realized I had no control over them but I had control over me and my stress level, I chose to remove this tension and go with the flow.  And my drives are much more enjoyable and relaxing.  So next time you are feeling stressed, think about how you can eliminate it and then,  just go with the flow.

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)