Category Archives: Reasons to run

Completely Exposing Myself….

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

I’ve decided to just go ahead and let it all out!  I debated whether I should do this or not….I’m a true believer in being authentic and I’ve learned that showing vulnerability is not a bad thing at all.

vulnerability-is-our-most-accurate-measurement-of-courage

So here it goes…..

I’m going to share my personal video analysis and Danny Dreyer’s (founder of ChiRunning) critique of my ChiRunning form.  Keep in mind that I started using this form back in 2009, became Certified in 2010 and have been practicing ever since. (Click here and scroll to bottom of the page to see the evolution of my immersion into ChiRunning).

One of the things I love most about ChiRunning is that it’s truly a holistic practice.  We like to say Practice Makes Progress (not perfect) because we are always looking for ways to keep getting better and better at it.  I always tell my students that you get what you put into it.  Even Danny Dreyer has aha moments as he works on “perfecting” his form.

Anyways, here is the video.  Danny gave me specific directions to

“Be pretty nitpicky. This way I can see how good your critical eye is, and also how good your form is.”

The video is 7:37 minutes but note how many “nitpicky” things I found in my own form.

Here is Danny’s email back to me after his review:

“You did a fabulous job of nitpicking your form! Below are some of my comments to add to what you saw.
Foot splay in the flight phase on both feet. Only very slight in the right foot… not enough to worry about. When you were running in a counter-clockwise arc you were pointing your right foot as it swung forward and you were dorsiflexing your left foot as it swung forward. This was accentuated because of the curve and less obvious when running straight.
Landing on the outside of the feet is fine. It creates a natural pronation and makes a midfoot landing softer.
Much of your leg work would improve if your stride were a bit shorter. This would prevent any overuse of your lower legs, reduce over-pronation and help keep your cadence up around 177 where it should be. It’s a more efficient gear for you.
Good alignment and lean
Right calf is pre-firing and plantar flexing for stability but I don’t see it used for propulsion.
Left ankle is dorsiflexing but not heel striking. On both feet you’re landing below your knees, which is great.
Slight upper body rotation: right elbow comes back behind you. Left elbow not as much. I’d say that the main thing you need to work on is your armswing… everything else is very close to right on. With your arms, let your elbows swing in the direction your arms are aligned. When you’re holding an imaginary volleyball your hands are closer to your centerline and your elbows are wider because they’re angled out a bit. The reason why your shoulders rotate is because your elbows are not following the line set up by the volleyball, but instead they’re swinging directly rearward and not rearward at a slight angle to each side… in a “V” shape. Swinging your elbow straight back pulls your shoulder with it. Swinging your elbow in a “V” shape doesn’t.
A small amount of vertical motion is a good thing. If you had no vertical motion, you’d be walking. It’s necessary. But, we teach pelvic rotation just to insure that people aren’t bouncing more than they need to.
I’m happy to go over any of this with you on Skype, so I can demonstrate what’s happening….. You’re doing a fabulous job in many ways.
Keep up the good work.
Danny”

Yesterday I had the privilege of talking to Danny via Google Hangout to discuss my video even further.  We worked on my right arm swing a bit and now I’m excited because I have some more things to focus on when I’m running.

Moral of the story: 

learn

Just because I’ve been teaching and practicing for awhile, doesn’t mean I can’t learn and become a stronger runner.  It wasn’t easy being vulnerable and having the founder of ChiRunning critique my form but boy am I am re-energized and motivated to keep working on it. The better I get, the more I can help my students get better too!

I do video analysis in my 4-hour ChiRunning workshops.  Students tell me this is the most valuable part of the class. There is nothing like making that mind/body connection by seeing what your body is doing so you can correct it.

Although I was pretty nervous about this whole process, I’m so grateful because ChiRunning has changed my life both professionally and personally.  I continue to look forward to helping injured runners change their form so they won’t be injured anymore AND show brand new runners that running doesn’t have to be painful or hard.

“It’s not running that causes pain, but HOW you do it.” Danny Dreyer

P.S  Not sure if you are Ted Talk fan but here is a great one on The Power of Vulnerability from Brene Brown.

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

A 70 year old, 73 yo and 91 yo go into a bar….

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Just kidding….well, maybe they do go into a bar but only after going for a run!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:

YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD TO START RUNNING!

I sit here and think, I’ve only been running for about 5-6 years and knowing what I know now, I wish I would’ve started before!  But I’m very glad to know that assuming nothing happens to me, I have another 40+ years in me!  Yeah, freaking yeah!  (Knowing this always makes me feel better especially since I’ve had to taper my running down in the last few months to heal my foot).

First of all, have you heard about this new study that says Running 5 Minutes a Day Has Long Lasting Benefits? That’s right, running doesn’t have to be something that you do for 2 hours a day or anything. It’s one of the easiest things you can do and requires very little equipment and expense (I always say a good pair of shoes and a class to learn proper form, like ChiRunning, and you are good to go anywhere, anytime!).

I’m very blessed to do what I love to do and nothings makes me happier than hearing about “older” people that are running.  Just in the last month:

  • I had the honor to have a private session with a 73 year old woman who wanted to learn to run!  Her son contacted me and we worked out a plan and I couldn’t have been more excited to do this!  I’m just waiting for her to decide when she is ready for her first 5K.  She started out with 10 minutes and is working her way up.  She’s an avid golfer, walker and yogi…and now wanted to change things up a bit with some running!  Love to surround myself with people who want to keep growing no matter their age.
  • Do you remember one of my blog posts about Doc Gooding: You’re doing what at 69 years old?  He took my ChiRunning workshop a few years ago and apparently hasn’t been the same since 😉 ! He sent me another email on 8/24/14:

“Hope you are doing well…Just wanted to give you an update.  I competed in the USA Triathlon National Sprint Championships a few weeks ago in Milwaukee.  There were 32 participants in my age group 70-74. I came in 14th in the age group with a time of 1:30 which qualified me for Team USA. That was my main goal…to get on Team USA!  So, I will be representing the USA in the World Championships September 2015 in the Chicago. My time for the race was 10 minutes faster than my previous time for the same distance. A good part of that was improved run time…I have been focusing on getting my cadence up. My pace on the run was 10:03….my previous best race pace was 11:09. I focused on getting and keeping my pace up the whole race.”

  • Last but not least, I was scrolling through facebook and read about the 91 year old who started running marathons at 76. Her name is Harriette Thompson and she broke two records: fastest course time for her age group by 2 hours AND 2nd oldest marathon finisher in world history at the 2014 San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon.  She’s completed 15 marathons  AND she’s battling skin cancer AND had 9 radiation treatments a month before the race AND she raised $90K for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!

All I can say is:

forgetyourage

Too many people use their age as a reason not to do things.  Life is too short to not explore your potential and see how far you can take your body and mind.  I’m looking forward to My Running Story to keep going and going….. What will you be doing when you’re 70? or 90?  I think it’s time to start working on that bucket list……

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

My Worst Running Tragedy so far….

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Tragedy definition according to Google:

  1. an event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress, such as a serious accident, crime, or natural catastrophe.
  2. a play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character.

Both of these definitions work for me at this point.  Although the 2nd definition is a bit dramatic, it works for the way I feel right now…or at least as of yesterday.

I started this blog yesterday and had to draft it because something just wasn’t clicking for me.  And lo and behold, when I “let go” of my obsession with this tragedy, all of the sudden everything became very clear to me.

Let’s start where I was yesterday:

If you read my last blog post, What?  The ChiRunning Instructor is injured??, you know I am now facing an injury, plantar fasciitis.  Since my last blog post I’ve been doing everything I know to do from rolling my foot on a frozen water bottle 3-4x a day to stretching daily and not running (only ran 3x in the last 13 days).  I have to say it’s feeling much better and I’m looking forward to an appointment with Dr. Calvin this week from One Accord Physical Therapy (where I teach my ChiRunning classes) to get a more detailed assessment.

So where is the tragedy?  I have 2 races that are coming up that I REALLY REALLY want to do for various reasons.

  1. My first one, the CYA (Cool Your Ass) 6/12/24hr on 7/12 in Prescott.  I originally signed up for the 12 hours for this race since it would be pushing me outside my comfort zone.  The longest run for me has been 8 hours and 24 minutes (31 miles).  I’ve also completed 5 marathons so I figured I might just be able to do 50 miles in 12 hours….so this was my next big goal this year. I also wanted to be part of the 2014 Equality Walk but couldn’t commit to the time involved so I figured I could use this as a fundraiser to help them raise money (I walked 100 miles in 2012 for Marriage Equality in AZ).  I’ve been training intensely for the last 3 months for this event which is pretty much how I allowed my injury to happen.
  2. The 2nd one is the Skyline to Sea Marathon on October 11th.  My boyfriend and I are doing a road trip to Napa, CA for my cousin’s wedding and of course I had to google races in the area and found this one.  I wanted to do this one because it sounds sooo pretty.  I love trails more and more I figured it would be great timing after the CYA race.  It’s also a chance for me to do a race solo. I love love being a running coach and running with my friends but sometimes, I like to have a race or an event that is just mine and this one was perfect.

Until yesterday, I’ve been obsessing about these 2 races and trying to figure out how I could still make them happen.  I kept saying I wasn’t going to complete 12 hours because that would be just stupid on a foot with an injury but I’ll do the best that I can and see what happens.  (As much as I believed these words, I know myself enough to say that if I have 12 hours, I probably will take them because I don’t want to stop before I’m supposed to)  And on that day, who knows with the adrenaline, etc, I might not feel any pain in my foot and be OK. Who am I kidding? I also kept thinking about all that mileage that I built up over the last 3 months and how I’m “wasting” it and I’m going to have to start all over again….I’ve literally been a wreck about these events since I realized what my injury was….

So yesterday I stopped writing this original blog and decided to take a break and stretch and ice again.  I felt my frustration as I was trying to relax my calf muscles while I stretched and could body sense that relaxation was not happening. All of the sudden I thought:

What if I do the 6 hour race instead of 12 hours?  What if I decide not to run that race in CA in October?

surrender

My body literally relaxed immediately and I had a complete sense of peace and joy.  Body sensing is a huge component of ChiRunning/Walking and I’m amazed every time I have a moment like this how true it is…your body always knows best and will tell you what to do…you may know it as your “gut instinct”  and it really does work if you know how to pay attention to your body and what it’s telling you. I’m getting better and better at it because of ChiRunning but it still amazes me that it works when needing to make a decision about something. I think about it, detach and let go of the outcome and listen to my body.

Fast forward to after this epiphany:

I realized that it would not be the end of the world to drop down to the 6 hours because it would be safe and there would be no temptation to do anymore than that (and if I’m feeling my heal during this time I will stop). And as much as I REALLY REALLY wanted to do the race in CA, I know I would be rushing through the training and potentially making this injury worst. The race will be there next year….and if not, there will always be another race!

All of the sudden, I’m feeling so much better about my recovery process.  I’m getting excited about other things that I can focus on. I’m looking forward to spending more time doing strength training, especially for my glute medius and core muscles.  I’m looking forward to spending more time stretching (which I rarely do).  Last but not least, as I taught another ChiRunning workshop this morning, I realized, I can get back to the basics and remember what it was like to train for a 5K!  Almost like I’m starting the process all over again but with more knowledge now. (Have you ever said I’d go back to high school but only knowing what I know now?  Same idea 😉 ).

Self awareness can be a curse and a blessing at the same time. This whole time I knew I was creating all this extra negative energy about these races but I allowed myself to be self aware yet let it be OK to be mad about it…..NOW, I’m over it (even though still bummed) and I know that I’m only going to be stronger physically and mentally when I train my body again for my longer distances. expectnothing

Have you ever had a running tragedy?  How did you handle it?

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

What?! You’re blowing off our run?

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

You know it happens all the time…You plan a run with some friends and inadvertently, someone cancels.  Most times it’s OK because you had other friends that were coming too….but what happens when all 6 of your friends were supposed to meet you for a run and they all cancel within 12 hours?

Well, this happened to me this morning!  So what did I do?

  1. Ask myself do I really want to go run now?  I planned for a longer run because it’s rare that I have a weekend day off.  My plan was 8-10 miles.  Most of my friends were probably not doing that distance but company is always good for a longer run. Did I feel like doing it by myself today?
  2. Talk to the boyfriend who was also planning on coming but decided that he had too much work to do.  Of course, I thought the same thing. I have a bunch of stuff to do and I could have an extra few hours to get work done.  But work will always be there…
  3. Did not get mad at my friends!  Hey, I always tell everyone to listen to their body.  Regardless of their reason for not being there, that was their choice and I love them just the same!  Their decision should NOT impact my decision to run or not.
  4. Sat there and went through the 5 Mindful Steps from ChiLiving. This is always a great way for me to listen to my body and make a solid decision.  “Many of the choices we make each day are so quick and often done unconsciously, that if we are not in an aligned, balanced state, we can end up choosing poorly.”  This is something I try to practice as much as possible that I’ve also learned through meditation.  Too often we make choices without really thinking about it.
  5. Thought of the reasons why I should run:  training for a 12 our event on 7/12, getting extra steps and vigorous activity for my sweepstakes entry with Kardio Fit, and because I just wanted to get out and run the trails!

So, after going through this process, I made the choice to go run on my own and have no regrets!  I ran 8 beautiful miles on trail and feel great!

CAUTION:  part of the Making A Choice process, also entails being responsible for your decision.  If I would’ve chose NOT to run, I would’ve made the decision consciously and had NO regrets. Too often, most people will make a decision on the fly, regret it and beat themselves up for hours about not making the right decision. When you make a conscious choice, you accept the consequences as well.

So next time you have a choice to make, try these 5 Mindful Steps. They have not let me down yet.

(And to my friends, I hope you all made conscious choices!  I don’t want any of you beating yourselves up and regretting it.  I’m happy that you listened to your bodies and made the choice that was right for you!)Be mindful in letterpress wood type

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

Tutu or not to Tutu, that is the question….

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

I wasn’t planning on blogging today because I have a million other things to do but because this is getting so much publicity on facebook, I felt the need to say a few things.  Remember, the reason why I started this blog is because everyone has their own running story and you should never compare yourself to what any other runner is doing.

On that note, have you read about this?  I normally don’t get worked up about these things but this really irked me today.  Self used this photo for their magazine but not in the way one would expect from a magazine that promotes health, wellness and self esteem for women.  I’m copy/pasting what Glam Runner posted on their facebook page today in regards to this photo:

selfmag

“The real story behind this photo is that Tara and Monika, pictured here, are board members for Girls on the Run San Diego. They founded Glam Runner, a business that sells running tutus, to raise funds for the council. They are dedicated to helping grow the program in their community. The real story behind this photo is that the awesome duo were running the LA Marathon while Monika was receiving chemotherapy treatments for brain cancer.

One of our core values is to stand up for yourself and others, so we are standing up for Tara and Monika, as well as every other runner who has finished a race feeling awesome in a tutu.”

Self Magazine editor-in-chief, Lucy Danziger, just submitted a public apology about an hour ago.

But seriously Lucy…why would you even consider having a piece on your magazine that is making fun of anyone running?  Aren’t you supposed to be encouraging women to be fit and healthy?  Aren’t you trying to help women improve their self-esteem?  Aren’t you supposed to encourage women to give back to charity?

Apology or not, I think you’ve ticked off a lot of people that won’t be buying or subscribing to your magazine.

Personally, I’ve never ran a race in a tutu but for no other reason than I just haven’t.

I don’t care how you decide to run a race: wear a tutu, wear bunny ears, wear a Super Hero costume, whatever…if you are out there running a race, getting healthy and fit with your friends and more than likely supporting a charity with that race, MORE POWER TO YOU!

It’s Your Running Story and you get to write it however you want!

Thought?

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

You had me at pumpkin pie….and Coke (1st 50K recap)

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

WOW!  Where do I even begin? Another major goal achieved in My Running Story:  my first 50K. The most exciting part about this is that I feel like a baby learning a bunch of new things about trail and ultra running….it Continue Reading →


My Slowest Marathon ever….

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….yet one of my most momentous.

As a runner (or coach) have you ever been in the situation where you had to make a choice on how to run a race:

Do I run this race for me?  
OR
Do I run this race with my friends?

Let me preface this blog by saying I really would love to get your comments below if you’ve been in this situation. I believe it’s a hard choice to make and I’d like to know how you’ve made your decisions in the past so we can learn from each other.

I originally signed up for the Pf Changs Rock N Roll Marathon to run it with a friend who was planning on doing her first marathon.  My plan was to run the Sedona Marathon on 2/1/14 so it would be another training run (along with my 50K on 2/22 now).  My friend realized she was not ready for it and decided to do the half instead (which I told her was a great call on her part, so long as she was making that choice consciously and would not be mad at herself for changing her plan).

In the mean time, I had 5 of my friends/students running their first marathon at this event.  So here I was faced with “dilemma” of what to do?  Do I run this race for me or do I run it with friends?   As I deliberated, here were the questions that ran through my head:

Q.  Why are you running this marathon?  Honestly, for me it was another training run.  It’s marathon #4 and since I’am working on 2 other distance events, my reason was to get a long run in at a race.  I try to plan it this way if it works with the training schedule. Even if I’m paying for this training run/race, I get a new t-shirt, a medal and race experience.

Q.  Do you care how fast you complete this marathon?  Speed is rarely a concern for me.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy pushing myself and beating my own personal records (PR) but sometimes it’s just not about speed but the experience. The Women’s Half marathon for example is usually my PR race for a half so that decision is always made to run it for myself.

Q. Do I care that the official records will show my marathon results and everyone else will know my speed?  Hell no….Again, there are times where this is just not relevant, especially as a coach.  And personally I’ve worked a lot on not caring what other people think 😉 (It’s very liberating…of course I value other people’s opinion but learning to detach from their opinion is another story…)

So as I pondered over this, one of my friends asked me if I would run the marathon with them.  I knew this was going to be my slowest group but also the group that “needed” me the most.  Based on the responses above that of course I would love to run with them as they complete their first marathon (a coach’s dream would be to cross the finish line with all their students but that can’t always be possible either).

So we start the race together and one of my friends starts having some serious pain in her hip.  The others wanted to keep moving so I decided to stay with her and help her get through it.  My heart ached for her.  The pain was persistent.   She was such a trooper. We walked as fast as her hip would allow her…at one point we turned around and realized we were the last 2 people in the race…sag wagon right behind us….As much as I knew I could mentally get her to the end, I know her hip was not going to make it and I didn’t want her to push her body to the point of not being able to run ever again.  We talked and pondered and she finally made the decision to get in the sag wagon.  After months of training and excitement to complete her first marathon, I can’t even imagine how hard of a decision that was for her. I have a huge amount of respect for her determination and perseverance and I would’ve made the same call if I were in her shoes.

At this point I thought I would start running and find the rest of the group. I selfishly admit that I loved every minute of the run.  My other friend called me and asked me where I was and we realized that I was about a quarter of a mile away from them so I sped up to catch up.

Let me preface that this friend was pretty much coerced into running the marathon. She was planning on the half but just started training with our group and before you know it, she’s sucked into doing a full marathon. When I reached the two of them, one wanted to run and the other was not feeling too hot and just wanted to walk.  At that point, I knew who needed me the most (we were half way done so still 13 more miles to go).

I did the same things that I did for my other friend: remind them of their ChiRunning/ChiWalking form focuses, stay positive, gather energy from nature and all the spectators cheering, and talk about things to keep their mind off the time.

We pretty much walked that last 13 miles and my official time was 6:17:10.  My best time was a 5:12:01.

Do I care that I was over an hour longer than my first one?  HELL NO!  

Was experiencing two amazing women give it all they had in their heart and their body worth it?  HELL YES!

So how have you dealt with this dilemma? If the answers to my question above were different, I would’ve had no problem running the race for me either.  My friends felt “bad” because they knew I could run faster.  I told them it was an absolute conscious choice and that if I wanted to PR the race and run, I would’ve made that decision.

Looking back to yesterday, I wouldn’t change a thing….

Here we go...

Here we go…

6:17 finish and Ann completes her first marathon

6:17 finish and Ann completes her first marathon

26.2 miles done!

26.2 miles done!

Great caption from the ChiMarathon book

Great caption from the ChiMarathon book

Another medal for the collection...

Another medal for the collection…

Hello, my name is Lisa and I’m an addict….

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

I remember several years ago when I was an avid hiker and I’d see people running on the trails and  I’d think: “Are these people crazy? What’s wrong with them?  They’re going to freakin’ hurt themselves!   Continue Reading →


Now go out and play!

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Have you ever had obvious signs from the Universe about a message that you just couldn’t ignore?  I mean, relentless things that just make you say “OK Universe, I get it!  I need to focus on _____ today”

Well, that happened to me yesterday.  I wanted to blog about it but the message was that intense that I couldn’t even get myself to do any work at all.  Why?  Because the message was:  innerchild

PLAY!

Before I share my personal story about how this transpired yesterday (which is probably way more fascinating to me and no one else, let me tell you why I felt compelled to share this first)

When is the last time that you played?  I’m not talking games or playground play but just truly listened to your heart and did something just because it made you feel like a kid again.

“Play is often described as a time when we feel most alive, yet we often take it for granted and may completely forget about it. But play isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity. Play is as important to our physical and mental health as getting enough sleep, eating well, and exercising. Play teaches us how to manage and transform our “negative” emotions and experiences. It supercharges learning, helps us relieve stress, and connects us to others and the world around us. ” Source:  Play, Creativity and Lifelong Learning

adultsvschildren

So my main message to you is to GO PLAY!  We get so caught up in the our priorities, life, work and the stuff we have to do that we don’t allow our inner child to come out and play.  So I dare to you go for it!  If you don’t know how to play because it’s been so long, maybe these questions will help:

  1. How do you like to play?
  2. What are the activities that are fun and exciting for you? How do they make you feel? Perhaps there is something fun and exciting that you have been longing to try….
  3. What do you enjoy doing so much that you lose track of time?

Now let go of your responsibilities (schedule play time if you have too) and make some time to play. Trust me, your mind, body and soul will thank you for it!

Now back to my story.  I consider myself a spiritual person so when I get message from the Universe, I get super excited, especially when I understand the message!

First of all, I have a natural tendency to feel guilty when I take too much time off work. This is still a struggle for me and even harder as a business owner.   I love what I do so much that work and play are almost synonymous.  I spent quite a bit of time with family and friends this weekend when I had a few projects that I really wanted to get done…..so I woke up on Sunday morning and decided to meditate…and this is when the signs started:

  • I’m doing Deepak Chopra’s 21 Day Meditation Challenge and I’m a few days behind so I was catching up (by the way, I highly recommend these.  Meditation has changed my life!).  What was the message of that meditation?

deepak

  • Then I decided last minute to go do a trail run with a friend.  I just signed up for my first Ultra and I need to start doing back to back runs on the weekend.  I ran 15 on Saturday and felt really good on Sunday so I hit the trails…this is when the “message” became clear:
  1. Tried turning my GPS on to track mileage and it wouldn’t work. Battery was not dead but tried for 15 minutes and gave up..
  2. Tried using my Charity Miles App to track mileage but for some reason, the app kept saying “looking for updates”….
  3. My friend Tamika uses RunKeeper so she was going to track our mileage…..only when we got back to the car after the trail run, it only counted the first 15 minutes of our run….
  4. so lo and behold, I guess I was not supposed to be concerned about my mileage but just needed to enjoy the run…this is when I realized the Universe was talking to me….
  • I find trail running in itself very playful. It’s more technical but there is something so fun about it, especially when you are going down a nice hill….totally feel like a kid again!  One of my friends described downhills like being on a roller coaster….Trail running has for sure taught me to play more…
  • Then I got home and for some crazy reason was craving a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich which I haven’t had in awhile and totally reminds me of being a kid…
  • Other things happened throughout the day to reinforce this message but the very last thing, which was the icing on the cake was an episode of Criminal Minds.  We were watching a few reruns from the website and the last words in that last episode I watched were “Let’s Play”.  I couldn’t believe it!

So for those of you that are “open” to these message from the Universe (or God, or your Higher Self, etc), my advice is to pay attention and honor the message.  I’m so glad I did because I had a fabulous day (and weekend) because I allowed myself to play.

Regardless, take the time or make the time to add some PLAY into your life…it’s amazing how much your soul will appreciate it!

So how do you like to play?  What play time will you schedule this week?

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!)