Author Archives: Lisa Burrows

Fun gets us to the finish line

Posted on by
1

It’s the day after my first ½ marathon walk in Toronto and I’m still on a high. I feel great because I really did it and I had FUN!

FUN – how was walking none stop for 3 hours and 4 minutes (yes, we think we had a good time) fun? Well it’s all in how you handle it. For Danielle and me it wasn’t so much about how we placed or the time (well maybe time counted a little bit) but the experience. You do get a different perspective when you’re at the back of the pack.

How often do you get to walk in the middle of Yonge Street with almost no one around you and not worry about any cars – we did. We watched a huge sea of bodies ahead of us racing up ‘Hogg’s Hollow’ – not a site you’d see in the middle or front of the pack. And yes, we stopped traffic – sorry if you didn’t like it but it sure felt good to us.

But the most fun was the positive vibes that got us to the finish line. High fives from small children on the sidewalks, words of encouragement from the fantastic volunteers at water stops, musical entertainment (which also gave us have a few opportunities to ‘dance walk’), telling each other it’s just one more lap of our normal training walk (well we could do that!), and definitely our mantra of the day…. We aren’t human, we are DYNAMITE! You’d be amazed the burst of energy you get with those few words.

All of these great experiences helped us have a little more ‘gas in the tank’ when we needed it 2km from the finish line. The feeling of your legs moving so fast that you aren’t controlling them is surreal and amazing. What a way to finish this personal challenge.

Yep, it was fun and I’ll definitely be doing it again. Watch out fall ½ marathons – we may be at yours.

Lisa

Words of encouragement needed

Posted on by
2

Lisa is training for the GoodLife Fitness Toronto Marathon this Sunday, May 6th! Check back next week and find out how she did!

May 2nd, 2012


As I count down to my first ½ marathon walk (4 more big sleeps) I’m getting a little worried about how I’ll make out. My body hasn’t been quite the same since our 20k training walk 2 Sunday’s ago. Today it’s my hips that hurt – and I’m thankful that my colleague has a heating pad here at work that I can use as sitting at a desk all day does not help. I know that I haven’t done everything right as I’ve been learning how to train for this race – and will definitely do some things different next time. However, right now I just want to get to the race and be able to walk the WHOLE thing.

So I’m starting to contemplate my Plan B as, besides stretching and rest, I don’t think there is a lot I can do different for my body.

Plan B – work on the mind.

Being a cheerleader at heart I’ve definitely been the one offering words of encouragement to others. Now I need to learn how to use those words to convince my own mind to get me to the finish. Here’s a few that I’ll be using:
• My ‘cheerleaders’ who’ve helped me exceed my fundraising goal and raise over $2,100 for GoodLife Kids Foundation
• That my husband and I will both be racing at the same time, for the first time
• My walking partner Danielle who has kept me going
• Many GoodLife staff and members who’ll also be racing and have been raising funds for GoodLife Kids Foundation
• Quote, quotes and more quotes
• And honestly, I want to show up at work on Monday saying ‘I did it’

Here are a couple of quotes that I’m hoping will help me through – maybe they’ll help you too when you need some words of encouragement.

Wish me luck
Lisa

I am not a human being. I am dynamite. Friedrich Nietzsche

I am here to live out loud. Émile Zola

I didn’t know…

Posted on by
Reply

Lisa is training for the GoodLife Fitness Toronto Marathon this Sunday, May 6th! Check back next week and find out how she did!

April 27, 2012

There are so many things that I’d actually use to make my training for a ½ marathon walk more achievable. Well, actually I did know about many of them because I do live with a runner – but never thought I’d be using them.

How about all the different types of clothing to make your workout more comfortable.  I definitely noticed a big difference in my ability to move when I changed from wearing a winter coat and snow pants in January to a few layers of ‘stay warm wicking tops’ and winter running pants.  Except for previously buying a few things to wear to the gym I never felt ‘worthy’ of looking at this other stuff.  Now I even have a few things I picked up – on sale mind you – to wear just because, no workout attached.  Never thought I’d do that.

Not knowing what a training schedule would look like I decided to sign up for an online training program.  Not only did I get a schedule, but also training logs, a curriculum of information, and access to an online coach who provides a wealth of personal experience information and answers individual questions.  The online training program has worked better for my schedule and was cheaper than the in person program run at a store.

I’ll admit that I’ve been wearing one of those GPS watches – those big ugly things that take up half my arm.  I’ve been lucky to have a used one to wear. Even with its numerous glitches it’s been our guiding light in knowing how far we’re walking (because that’s important), how long it takes, and even what our pace is. This time we haven’t been very good at paying attention to our pace, which maybe isn’t smart as it seems we move quite quickly.  But next time I think I’d start paying attention to this as another goal marker.

A hard foam roller is my second best friend after a training walk.  My husband picked one up at a great price at a discount shop and I use it more than he does.  My gluts, IT band and quads say ‘Thank You’ every time I use it.

My ‘VERY BEST FRIEND’ – heated car seats! Lucky for me both our used vehicles have heated front seats and I have them on all the time – even when it’s warm out.  I wasn’t looking forward to a long car ride out of town after my first 18km walk and these seats saved me.  I could actually get out of the car and move.  Love my heated seats THE BEST!

Lisa is making her walk even more meaningful by raising funds for a cause near and dear to her. Support her efforts by donating now! All funds raised will support GoodLife Kids Foundation’s mission: To give every Canadian kid the opportunity to live a fit and healthy good life.

How did I get here?

Posted on by
Reply

Lisa is training for the GoodLife Fitness Toronto Marathon this Sunday, May 6th! Check back each day this week for an update on her training leading up to the big day.

April 25, 2012

Way back in January when looking ahead to my half marathon walk training schedule and saw that near the end of training there would be a 20km walk –  I wondered how  I was ever going to be able to do that.  Actually I wondered that a lot over the last few months.  I wasn’t worried about the 21km race, but this one training walk seemed to be a stumbling block in my ‘I can do it’ mantra.

Guess what? Yesterday, I did it!  And it wasn’t without some great support and motivation that I got to this point.  Yesterday I had to do it for my great walking partner Danielle.  If she could take the red eye home from a trip and go out there and walk for around 3 hours on no sleep in the last 29 hours than I could do it.  I had to be in it for her – to keep her awake and motivate her to finish too.  I could do it because I listened to my body and took an extra day off of training last week. If I hadn’t I’m not sure I could’ve completed the 20km. I could do it because my family has supported me 100% through this over the 4 months of training.  In particular my teenagers have had to get used to Mom not being around as much as usual – they probably liked that anyway.

Today, I’m still not wondering how I’m going to complete the 21km race in our goal time – I’m not ready to confront that yet.  Instead I’m wondering how I’m going to manage the next 3 days of training because today my body does not want to walk anywhere!

Lisa is making her walk even more meaningful by raising funds for a cause near and dear to her. Support her efforts by donating now! All funds raised will support GoodLife Kids Foundation’s mission: To give every Canadian kid the opportunity to live a fit and healthy good life.

It takes a village

Posted on by
Reply

Lisa is training for the GoodLife Fitness Toronto Marathon this Sunday, May 6th! Check back each day this week for an update on her training leading up to the big day.

April 20, 2012

GoodLife Kids Foundation is very fortunate to be connected to so many individuals passionate about getting more kids active.  I’m thrilled to be sharing my own journey of walking in the GoodLife Fitness Toronto Half Marathon with 2 relay teams made up of Group EXercise instructors of the GoodLife Toronto BODYCOMBAT Team and members who love to take part in their classes.

This is not the first year that Toronto BODYCOMBAT has been part of the full marathon in support of GoodLife Kids Foundation.  For a few years now this event has given them a wonderful opportunity to come together as instructors and members – beyond the classes at GoodLife Fitness.

The 2012 Relay Team is made up of individuals who go above and beyond their fundraising efforts for GoodLife Kids Foundation.  For example Team Captain Claudia has helped GoodLife Kids Foundation connect with her own community when researching potential grant recipients.  She has also helped a group of college students understand the importance of kids building physical activity into their lives.  By reaching out into the community beyond fundraising, the outcome is that more people understand the importance of this issue, and more people are doing something about it.

As a team, the Toronto BODYCOMBAT group is part of the ‘village’ that wants to make a difference in the future health of today’s kids through physical activity. If you would like to support their fundraising efforts please make an online donation today.

To Team Toronto BODYCOMBAT – I’ll be cheering you on even when you race by me on May 6th!