Category Archives: Testimonials

You’re doing what at 69 years old?

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

If you know me, you know that I LOVE LOVE when “older” people are doing amazing things when it comes to fitness and running. Too many people think it’s too late or just give up on themselves because of their age…and I always say it’s never too late!

Or as one of my oldest ChiRunning students, Richard “Doc” Gooding from Strategic Advantage, told me this morning “You’re as old as you think you are.” …. and that’s the truth!

You may remember his last testimonial that I posted on my blog on 10/13, Testimonial from a 68 year old Triathlete.

Well a few weeks ago, I was thinking about him and sent him an email to see how things were going. After I received his response, I invited him to join me on a trail run this morning.  As always, I’m so inspired by him….not just because of his age but I forgot that he had a pacemaker!  He actually had to ask his Doctor to change it because I guess most doctors don’t assume their patients are athletes and it was limiting his abilities.  Here was his email to me on 4/28/14:

“Things have been going really well. Here is the record…

Sept 2013 Lifetime Triathlon – came in 1st in my age group (65-69) beat second place by 45 min. Run pace 11:41 for 5K.

 Nov 2013 Phoenix 10K – Run pace 10:29 (time 1:05)

 April  2104 Lifetime Triathlon – came in 1st in age group (70-74) beat second place by 35 min. Run pace 11:29 for 5k.

 April 2014 Pat’s Run – Run pace 10:30 (time 43:10) beat my 2013 time by 9 MINUTES! (and by the way, he raised $3000 for this event as well!)
 So, things are going well…getting stronger and faster…and most importantly…injury free!”
I mean take a look at the guy, does he even look like he’s 69 years old?  Fountain of youth?  Well, exercise is known to slow down the aging process….physically and  mentally 😉 He was even able to get off his blood pressure medication because of his lifestyle…and keep in mind he’s lost 30 lbs since I met him too!
Doc and I
Life is short so don’t let your age stop you. Everyone has to start somewhere and even if it’s baby steps along the way, as Doc said to me today ‘I’d rather die on a trail doing what I love to do than die on the couch watching TV.”
From My Running Story to Yours….

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

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!)

Resistance is futile!

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Reply

….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