Learn why 62 year old Janice Collins is fitter then ever

Today we welcome one of LP’s longest standing members and someone that proves day in and day out Age is just a number!

At 62 years old, Janice Collins is in the best shape of her life running half marathons, hiking the Bruce Trail, crushing unassisted pull-ups, squats, deadlifts and living the fit life each and every day!

She is all business when it comes to scheduling in her workouts, setting big goals and meal prepping for success. But all of this is done with one big smile on her face living life to its fullest.

How does Janice stay motivated and committed to the Fit Life? What are her keys to success that she has built over the last 8 years with LP?

Tune in here to find out:

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Visit our website to watch or listen to our previous episodes.

Transcript

Chad [0:06 - 0:32]
community of members, coaches and professionals working as a team of like minded individuals in constant pursuit, connecting this exclusive group with the tools and resources they require to live a high performance lifestyle, conquering what life has thrown at them. We are living the fit life. Yeah, Welcome to the living the fit like podcast, episode 42. I'm your host Chad Miller and today I am joined by Michelle Dijon Michelle, how are you today?

Janice [0:32 - 0:34]
I'm good, thanks chad

Chad [0:34 - 0:45]
awesome. And today we are Welcoming one of LPs longest standing members and someone that proves day in and day out age is just a number. Welcome Janice Collins.

Janice [0:46 - 0:51]
Thank you very much. Thank you.

Chad [0:52 - 0:55]
I think there'll be a lot of people tuning into today's episode for sure.

Janice [0:56 - 0:58]
I think so too. Mhm

Chad [0:59 - 1:05]
Janice, you're a fan favorite with the L. P. Community for sure. So I think there'll be lots of fans running to listen this episode.

Janice [1:07 - 1:11]
Well I think some of the men heard my story before, but maybe they'll learn something new about me.

Chad [1:12 - 1:20]
Maybe, maybe we'll see what we can carve out today possibly. And yet you are

Janice [1:20 - 1:21]
running half

Chad [1:21 - 1:38]
marathons hiking the Bruce trail crushing pull ups, dead lift squats, living a full life each and every day. We would love to hear your story. We love these sort of podcast where we can sort of sit down with some of our members and hear about their story and I think these are some of

Janice [1:38 - 1:38]
the

Chad [1:39 - 1:47]
the favorites that we have. So it was really, really great to get you on the podcast and I'm sure you've gone through some obstacles and setbacks. So

Janice [1:48 - 1:48]
it's

Chad [1:48 - 1:49]
always nice hearing the

Janice [1:49 - 1:50]
journey to

Chad [1:50 - 2:00]
sort of living the fit life and because there's a lot of new members or new listeners that listen and I think they probably find themselves in sort of common territory. So if you get to

Janice [2:00 - 2:01]
get sort of a

Chad [2:01 - 2:21]
good sense of your story where you came from and look at how nutrition and recovery and fitness has kind of changed your life or been part of your life. So yeah, let's dive in. I think I always like to start it because I don't, whenever we have guests and I don't know always the story, Michelle and Adam always have this sort of the background, what

Janice [2:21 - 2:21]
was

Chad [2:22 - 2:28]
sort of life before. Um, like where did this start? How did you get introduced to LP?

Janice [2:29 - 5:09]
So back in 2013 was late August, I believe there was a color run and my son Kevin who was at the time going to LP um encouraged me to come and run with him. I think some members were running and while Michelle and Adam were there too. And I thought, yeah, I can run this. It's 5K, what the heck and do it with my son? For sure. I was 54 years old at the time. What was I thinking? And I had done a little bit of running before that not a whole lot. I did the Octoberfest run a few years before that and and when I am wasn't skating anymore, that's what I turned to was running to try to keep fit. So that was back in august 2000 and 13 did the color run met Adam and Michelle and the rest is history. Did we spray you with a lot of paint or what is that how we got you? I got lots, yes, you must with some magic dust there and went, come on, join the gym and I at the time I was looking for something different and it was, I think it was helpful that kevin was there and so I started that um september, I think there was a special challenge going on. I think you joined for a year or something like that. You mentioned, you mentioned skating, yeah, it's a little bit about that and what type of skating and I was always pretty active as a child, like I played, you know baseball with school teams, I did not ever do very much high school sports, you would know this Michelle being quite short, you know, volleyball, basketball was out um and I was figure skating at the time I did a lot of figure skating a little bit of competitive, competitive skating and then um that all came to a halt, you know, as years go by and then I kind of got back into skating when my kids were a little bit, they were still pretty young but um they weren't didn't need a lot of my tensions? I was able to get back into skating and I took in synchro skating and did that number of years too. So I was always pretty active and I always I think I have this personality where I just want to not sit around a lot. I'm not one to sit, I'm one to go a lot and always have been interested in fitness and kept moving because if you don't move it you'll lose it.

Chad [5:10 - 5:11]
Mhm.

Janice [5:11 - 5:14]
I love it, I love

Chad [5:14 - 5:17]
it. Synchro skating, that's really cool.

Janice [5:17 - 5:49]
Yeah that was post kids Um I the kids were pretty young still when I was that was in the 90s. They were probably like um wow 10 8 you would have been how old myself I would have been. So that was in the late 90s. So Um 20 years ago. So 40s. Late 40s. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. That's so cool.

Chad [5:49 - 5:54]
And so you do this color run and the color run in L. P.

Janice [5:55 - 5:55]
Are still

Chad [5:55 - 6:09]
somewhat different. Like how did you what was the push to get into like a fitness facility like that where I mean there's probably a lot of I guess I guess you had kevin to kind of give you a little sense of what you're walking into but what made you sort of make that sort of jump

Janice [6:09 - 6:18]
Chat. I had no idea what I was getting. We had a challenge at the time? I don't know what was it funny? eight days or something.

Chad [6:18 - 6:19]
Does

Janice [6:20 - 6:27]
anyone have any idea what they're getting, join L. P. Like

Chad [6:27 - 6:40]
did you do like would you be someone that did you know treadmills like general fitness facilities in the past? Was that something you would do or recreational fitness was more of your thing

Janice [6:40 - 7:37]
in the past. I think we belong to a couple of gems here and there. But you know it was nothing like the way gyms are set up now and they never lasted, you kind of got bored with it right? You go to the gym do the same thing all the time and it's boring and so when I first went to L. P. It was very challenging, it was very intimidating. Um You know when you're 54 years old and everyone else there is in their twenties um and I have never done weightlifting in my life, that was something that we never did a lot of in gyms. You know when I was you know 30 years old when you went to the gym it was treadmills and there was weight machines but not you know dead lifting and snatches and all that. So it was very very intimidating and at first I thought oh my god am I going to stick this out? But I have stuck it out,

Chad [7:38 - 7:40]
you have you have

Janice [7:40 - 7:41]
what

Chad [7:41 - 7:47]
what caught on for you like what what became the thing for you to stick it out, like what did you cling to?

Janice [7:48 - 8:27]
Well um I definitely became very fit and I think I had a whole body transformation too Way back in 2000 and um I think it was 2015, I did the body fat challenge and I lost like 8% body fat, learned how to eat properly and my body transformed and I was in the best fitness level ever in my life. Even when when I think back to how much skating I did and how much that took to do the synchro and competing and I was not fit. Like I was even now probably.

Chad [8:28 - 8:29]
Mhm wow,

Janice [8:30 - 8:45]
Like way back then when I ran my first k I would never, in a million years thought I could ever run a half marathon. I here I am, here you are, here you are. And Adams trying to convince you to run a full marathon.

Chad [8:45 - 8:46]
Of course he is.

Janice [8:46 - 8:54]
I got to get through the next half before I even think of ever doing that. So

Chad [8:54 - 8:58]
it sounds like you're you have a little bit of a competitive edge that keeps you coming back,

Janice [8:58 - 9:05]
definitely. Yeah. Yes. Um Sorry, go ahead. No,

Chad [9:05 - 9:09]
I was gonna say Michelle, I don't know how you keep attracting people that are so competitive as you

Janice [9:09 - 9:10]
because

Chad [9:10 - 9:12]
it seems like a very common thing when we talk to people to help people

Janice [9:13 - 9:54]
and well Janice is not only competitive but has like the best spirit. So she's very very, very positive and she talks like she was very intimidated, but Even since day one, I feel like she just took everything in stride and just kind of whatever whatever happened happened, she's gonna give it a go, you know? So it's been uh awesome to see her, see her grow and definitely her positive attitude has allowed her to shine for sure, awesome Janice. Did you have a buddy or anyone, like was there any any one that you sort

Chad [9:54 - 9:54]
of

Janice [9:55 - 10:40]
clung to at the beginning or was it just kind of you doing your own thing? Lots of times we see that people sort of make that little bit of relationship. I think when I first started at the gym when I think back to, you know in the old place there when I started going um I used to go to a 7:00 class in the morning and there was a few of the older members there that I used to enjoy the workout with and you know, would always team up with them at the rack. Um and I did know a few people there um like through kevin's friends that were working out there, but I always tried to stick to the older people. So there were a few, there were a few,

Chad [10:40 - 10:44]
yeah, remember remember the group of, I think they called him the Wiseman,

Janice [10:45 - 10:46]
seven

Chad [10:46 - 10:49]
A. M. I think it was when I started I was introduced to that group

Janice [10:49 - 11:08]
Cause I used to go to 7:00 AM sometimes when they were there? Yes and I used to I met Katie Katie Richardson and she was a synchro skater too. So you kind of had a bond there too, we would hang out and chit chat. Yeah.

Chad [11:08 - 11:09]
Oh no,

Janice [11:09 - 11:13]
still crushing it today. Yeah, both of you. Yeah,

Chad [11:14 - 11:27]
so so I have to, I do want to ask like what was your like as, so you have two kids when you were, what was your sort of fitness routine and lifestyle

Janice [11:27 - 11:28]
with,

Chad [11:28 - 11:32]
with like sort of trying to raise a family, like what was that like compared to what it is now?

Janice [11:34 - 12:26]
Well when our kids were young, I can honestly say, I don't think I had much of a fitness level um after after I stopped skating there um because I work ships and my husband worked ships, we had these two kids, we kind of, one of us was always at home with them, we never used daycare, we were very fortunate that way, but we were busy. My my kids would tell you probably that they were left alone or a lot, but I don't think they were and I really didn't have a fitness level back then or did anything really and then when they became a little bit older, that's when I started to do running. Um and now now my life is so easy, it's retirement kids are older grown, moved out, it's quite wonderful.

Chad [12:30 - 12:31]
What

Janice [12:31 - 13:05]
does your routine look like now Janice? Well I think over the years since I started at L. P. You know it's just like brushing your teeth, you just go it's part of your day, it's a habit. I get up in the morning, I love to go to the 8:00 or the 9:30 PM. I see some of my older peeps there and then I come home and the day is free now mind you, I am working a little bit now but just a couple of days a week and it's quite wonderful. I highly recommend

Chad [13:05 - 13:07]
retirement.

Janice [13:09 - 13:13]
Hopefully we get there one day you will before you know it.

Chad [13:14 - 13:16]
Yeah. Um

Janice [13:17 - 13:17]
And now

Chad [13:17 - 13:19]
sort of your your fitness level is like what you

Janice [13:19 - 13:20]
would say is

Chad [13:20 - 13:23]
near your peak. So are you like making sure

Janice [13:23 - 13:24]
that your

Chad [13:24 - 13:25]
kids know it?

Janice [13:25 - 13:41]
Oh they they I think they pretty much know that I am pretty fit, especially kevin because he knows what we do at the gym. A couple of his buddies are still there so I'm sure he gets chirped at work saying oh your mom can do more than you can

Chad [13:41 - 13:41]
do

Janice [13:42 - 14:08]
and I'll tell you my my younger son um a couple years ago when I did that half marathon in Toronto and he messaged me and gave me go mom remember you know it's this is something you can do that Neither one of your boys could ever do. I love it, I love it.

Chad [14:08 - 14:33]
How do you, I was just gonna ask a question of, you know, fitness is and sort of this type of lifestyle is obviously part of your your identity and sort of a big value that you have. Like how do you sort of try to teach your kids or anybody younger um that this is so important? Like do you do you find that

Janice [14:34 - 14:34]
your

Chad [14:34 - 14:41]
kids are inspired by you? Do they are they trying to be more fit? They're trying to catch up to you? Is there a competition within the family?

Janice [14:42 - 15:16]
Right. I don't think within the family so much. My younger son who's a police officer, he he tries to say fit and just because of his job, he needs to kevin plays hockey, but other than that he's not super fit. Um It did get my husband going a little bit and he joined me in, he didn't run the half marathon, but he walked it okay. And I think my friends are more motivated by me when they see what I'm doing and maybe my extended family.

Chad [15:17 - 15:18]
Mhm.

Janice [15:18 - 15:21]
Some of them think I'm absolutely crazy too, but

Chad [15:21 - 15:29]
yeah, because I was gonna ask like what keeps you sort of keeping you going, like what keeps you coming back to the gym, like not just necessary, coming back to gym, but like

Janice [15:30 - 15:30]
you

Chad [15:30 - 15:39]
have this fitness level and you want to keep it like what keeps you moving the strength and mobility? Like, is it because you want to be able to sort of show your grandkids that like, you're this fit grandma,

Janice [15:40 - 15:40]
like

Chad [15:40 - 15:45]
what's keeping you moving towards this sort of thing that you've already achieved more or less?

Janice [15:45 - 16:55]
Um Well for one thing, just to be healthy, when in my second pregnancy, I had gestational diabetes. So that's a wake up call that tells you that your body cannot handle extra weight and that they told me way back then that I should always try to maintain a healthy weight. Um so I don't develop diabetes later in life and being a health professional and seeing what diabetes can do to you. I definitely, you know, find that it's a big motivation for me to try to keep a healthy weight. And I can remember back about nine years when my one brother in law when he became a grandfather for the first time and he was a little bit overweight and he had a bit of a scare with his health too, and he said that he really noticed that, you know, when you're down on the ground and rolling around with these grandkids and trying to get up, you need to be like, pretty fit and you need to be able to move and and that too, I think has stuck in my mind saying that, yeah, like when you have little kids around, you gotta stay active because they're very active and you want to keep up with them and enjoy them?

Chad [16:58 - 16:59]
That's awesome.

Janice [16:59 - 17:00]
That's really

Chad [17:01 - 17:19]
that's a good answer. I love it. I wanted we had a few questions um here and I think there's probably a few people that would love to. I know a lot of people that would actually love this answer. Can you explain

Janice [17:20 - 17:20]
how you can

Chad [17:20 - 17:21]
do so many pull ups?

Janice [17:22 - 17:33]
I tell them because I'm so short. There's not a lot to pull up. Oh come on come on come on,

Chad [17:34 - 17:36]
gymnast back in the day or what?

Janice [17:36 - 18:22]
Oh my gosh no no I was not a gymnast. Although maybe I should have taken that squirt up because it's a it's good to be short to be a gymnast. I don't know. It's funny how I can do uh I can do a pull up and I can do a few of them. But man I cannot bench press. Like I've never hit over £100 someday. I'm going to try to bench press 100. I haven't reached that yet but I can do pull ups close close close so a little more back strength and you know, try strength there. Yeah I guess. Well you're close what like 95 maybe I could probably 95. Yeah But there's a big difference between 95 and 100 when you're bench pressing. I find the five calendars?

Chad [18:22 - 18:25]
That's fair. That's right. What kind of

Janice [18:26 - 18:26]
oh

Chad [18:27 - 18:38]
what is your favorite type of class that you at O. P. Do you like the cardio? You like the variety of different movements? Do you like just the strength days? What kind of stuff do you really get you kind of up in the morning going?

Janice [18:38 - 19:00]
I definitely like that Tuesdays and Thursdays cardio there, my father, I like those, but you know, one good thing about LP and I think that keeps me going to is of all the years I've been there. I don't think I've done the same class twice, like it's such a good change up every day. I just love that. Mhm.

Chad [19:00 - 19:15]
That's that's that's awesome. That's awesome. And what, so it sounds like endurance in running seems to be somewhat of a passion. You're doing this Bruce trail hike

Janice [19:16 - 19:17]
and

Chad [19:17 - 19:22]
then there's what what type of endurance stuff you're getting yourself into these days.

Janice [19:22 - 20:47]
Well the Bruce Trail came, we started doing that last August 2020 and it was something to get us out of the house and away from our husbands and we have a couple ideas with my sister in law and a good friend of mine, she's um she's a retired nurse too and she's she's always been very active, did the camino trail over in europe and she said We need to hike the Bruce Trail. I didn't even really know what it was? I had no idea that. It was like 911 km long and I didn't know that until you started doing it Janice too. I just thought it was trails, it was that long and we started in Niagara um down in Queens Stone And down that way. It's not so bad, but where we're heading now and we've just gone through Beaver Valley and we're up getting close to wire 10, it's become a lot more challenging mind. You were still challenging. Um, but it's, it's a lot more involved than I thought it was gonna be, but it's something we've started and we have to finish it. We cannot let this go. Like we're, We're like 2/3 done. We um, We have 286 km left to go. So we've done like 625, what's

Chad [20:47 - 20:51]
the routine look like? So like every weekend you go out and you just take a chunk.

Janice [20:51 - 21:54]
Well, it really varies by the weather and where we are and like logistically it's a, it's a huge undertaking because you have to take two cars, you have to figure out where you're gonna park. You have to figure out the terrain that you're gonna hike that day and how far are you going to get. Um luckily the one girl that we hike with has a place up in Collingwood that we've been able to use as a base point and now that the winter has come upon us and we did hike up. Um we hiked last winter and we did okay, We were kind of north of Toronto there. The calendar in area, it wasn't too bad of a drive, but now up in wire tonton and the Bruce, there's just, you shouldn't be up there hiking in the winter unless you're very experienced and you know, the weather will be good and like you're driving like 3.5, 4 hours, right? So you have to hike. So the chances of getting up there in the winter probably aren't as good right now, but we will finish it hopefully next year sometime. Yeah,

Chad [21:54 - 21:56]
that's a cool little project.

Janice [21:56 - 23:27]
It is, it's pretty amazing. It's pretty beautiful. I encourage anyone who would love to do some hiking. It's the trails are amazing. And to think that this is all in our province. Very, very fortunate and it's, it can be as challenging as you want. You can go as fast as you want. Sometimes you want to stop and enjoy the scenery though because it is pretty beautiful. Of course. Were there any times where you were nervous or was there a um, I think because I maintain a fairly good fitness level, I don't really find it a huge challenge. I think I could do it a little bit faster. The one girl, the retired nurse actually had a knee replacement several years ago and needs your other knee done and she keeps up pretty good. My sister in law, she's not as fast as we could be. And the last time we hiked we did run into a little bit of trouble with the weather and the conditions and we were very cold and it was a little bit scary there. Um And sometimes you can lose cell service and and you just thank God if something happened to us in this bush, like it would take a long time for someone to find you. You do you do have to be mindful of your ability and where you are and of the conditions. Yeah, awesome. Yeah.

Chad [23:28 - 23:33]
Well, good luck with that. That'd be cool feet to finish next year. I'll be looking forward to hearing about that

Janice [23:33 - 23:35]
story.

Chad [23:36 - 23:41]
I I think a lot of times when we talk about fitness, um

Janice [23:41 - 23:42]
you know that

Chad [23:42 - 24:07]
we say this all the time, but like finishes sort of the place where we start and it's sort of the hour at the gym or an hour and a half of the gym. It sounds like you have some really great fitness achievements. But I know that finish isn't the whole story. So like what does your uh what is your nutrition like? I know you mentioned something about body comp challenge, what does your nutrition look like or how has your nutrition changed with sort of the introduction of this type of fitness in your life?

Janice [24:09 - 26:17]
So back when I did that body fat challenge which was in 2015, I remember sitting in Michelle's office there and she said to me, Janice, you cannot work away the calories. It's all about what you take in. And I learned that, that what you eat is probably more important than what you do at the gym. And I think over the years doing some of the body fat challenges and learning how to eat properly and I have learned what I can eat and what I shouldn't eat and the amounts and when I get off track, I can feel it. I know it and I smarten up and, and, and like I said, I've always been uh in the back of my mind to maintain a healthy weight and again, the older you get to like your, it's easier to gain weight and that factor can come into play with diabetes again. So I just think over the years I've learned to eat properly and if I do go off track, I smartened up when you say eat properly, just you have like a little routine that you usually do or I, I would say so yes, I'm in a smoothie routine at lunch. I probably have the same breakfast all the time. And when I worked every sunday night I made my lunches for the whole week and I had the same salad cottage cheese. I did, I did a lot of meal prep when I worked, especially those last six years or so when I was working straight days, um it's a lot easier to maintain a good healthy diet. I find when you're working straight days and even I think my husband has kind of changed his routine to how we eat. And like I grew up eating very differently than I eat now. You know, back then it was meat, potato and vegetable and now it's salad and protein

Chad [26:17 - 26:19]
was gonna ask what your evolution of sort

Janice [26:19 - 26:19]
of

Chad [26:20 - 26:29]
growing up and then becoming a young parent and then now becoming someone that's like diving right into your fitness. Like your evolution of nutrition has obviously changed a lot,

Janice [26:30 - 26:41]
definitely. Yes, the way we eat nowadays is very different from the way that I grew up eating right. Like I think everyone realizes how much our food has evolved.

Chad [26:43 - 26:49]
Mhm Maybe not. Maybe not evolved or just gotten our food has gotten worse. Maybe

Janice [26:49 - 26:51]
harder.

Chad [26:52 - 27:04]
Mm hmm. So what is like somebody So your your, what are you a person that um like how did the prep like for the meal prep stuff

Janice [27:04 - 27:04]
like

Chad [27:05 - 27:12]
you're a person that has to put that time into preparing your food and preparing your stuff for the week. Obviously now you're retired. But it might be different. But that was one of the big things for you

Janice [27:12 - 27:13]
to kind of keep

Chad [27:13 - 27:14]
contract.

Janice [27:14 - 27:50]
Oh yeah. Very much so I did the meal prep thing. Yes. And uh not so much. Now I must say I've gotten out of that routine because I just find we can cook whatever we want. I do enjoy cooking. I have my one sister in law and her and I will get together, you know, every few weeks or maybe once a month and do some meal prep to just to enjoy some different meals. Um but yes, I, I would say that over the years I've learned that if you meal prep you will eat better, love it. What

Chad [27:50 - 27:54]
is your go to breakfast that you, you have every day?

Janice [27:55 - 28:16]
Um I'm, well, I do a lot of overnight oats. I do, I will change it up now. I will do an egg um with some peanut butter and toast and yeah, yeah, that's about it. A lot of oatmeal overnight oats. Eight. Yeah.

Chad [28:16 - 28:39]
And, and I did want to ask what your body comp challenge when you said you were, you felt yourself at sort of a really peak fitness level. Did you find it really difficult at that time to get there with that type of nutrition learning and stuff? I know you've gone through a few different challenges and it's now been, you know, five plus years of understanding this. But going back to that, one of those first challenges,

Janice [28:39 - 28:40]
like was

Chad [28:40 - 28:46]
that a struggle for you or were you able to sort of get into that and just kind of evolve with the learning?

Janice [28:47 - 29:17]
Yeah, I would say it was a bit of a struggle. Um it's kind of amazing. You know, how we used to track all our food and write it down, that was a lot of work. And plus sometimes when you write it down, you realize how much you are eating or not eating or what you're eating. Um and it was hard, I would say sometimes I was hungry, but but nowadays, like I wouldn't do that now. I would not track what I'm eating. Like writing it all down. I just kind of know

Chad [29:18 - 29:21]
that's me, that's, I guess that's where we want to get to.

Janice [29:22 - 29:33]
Yes. And ultimately, I think that is the goal, right? Like who wants to track calories the rest of their life? I certainly don't, it's a lot of work. I love it, Dennis. No one wants to. Yeah,

Chad [29:33 - 30:00]
no, for sure. And what, so what would you say to people that, or maybe early in their fitness journey and they're they're sort of going through that nutritional journey and there may be they are tracking their food and they've just started tracking really attractive for a few months. What would you, what would be some of the things you would tell them to kind of help them get to the point of where we're just saying, you know, the point is to get to a place where you don't have to track it, but, you know, you're confident that you're doing the right thing.

Janice [30:02 - 30:32]
Well, I think initially you do have to track it and just see it and just see what you're eating and know that if you don't follow it, it's not gonna work and then eventually, hopefully you'll have the, you won't give up and you'll keep doing it and you'll get the results and once you get the results, I think then, you know, this is what I should be doing and if it makes you feel better and you feel healthier and look better, you'll do it. That's great.

Chad [30:33 - 30:51]
That's great. So I did want to talk about the other sort of pillar that we end up talking about almost always in these sort of success stories and it feels like for someone that come on to the podcast, it's usually they kind of take all these boxes and the other one is recovery. And so obviously

Janice [30:52 - 30:52]
you've

Chad [30:52 - 30:54]
been doing this for a long time

Janice [30:55 - 30:55]
and

Chad [30:57 - 31:16]
I'm sure you have setbacks. Maybe you can give us a sense because jumping into L. P. What types of things like doing all these types of movements. All this sort of stuff was completely new to you. Imagine your body was yelling back at you a few times early on. How did you sort of get into it and

Janice [31:17 - 31:18]
keep sort of

Chad [31:18 - 31:24]
healthy moving, moving well early on. Did you find yourself your body sort of fighting back early on?

Janice [31:26 - 33:05]
Um I still think to this day, I get sore some days. Um Yeah, I I mean you're sore, but I would recover from it. I'm a big bath person. So, you know, into the absence baths a lot and rolling out and um I've had a few injuries that have been nagging like I hurt my shoulder one time but I went and had you know therapy had physio etcetera and that got me over that. Um I've had problems with my achilles tendons, the weirdest thing. Um I know way back when I was running I just went too far too fast and got sore achilles. But it was funny when we were doing those virtual workouts last year. I don't know if it was because I was working out in the basement on the cement floor that I had the worst case of achilles tendonitis again. But I just I struggled through it and had physio again for that and got some new shoes and did exercises and um but I don't know I'm I'm one of these people that just pushed through injury I think um I just don't let it get to me too much. I even I us about the rower, Oh my gosh, yeah I broke my foot when was 2008 summer of 2018. I broke my foot. Like all I did was step down off the deck in my backyard. I didn't even fall twisted my foot, broke my foot and you know walked on it for almost 48 hours before I would go and get an X ray,

Chad [33:06 - 33:06]
oh my gosh,

Janice [33:07 - 34:06]
oh I would come to the gym and Adam had this crazy idea that he saw someone else who was in all this big crossfit girl and she broke her foot and brought a skateboard to the gym and she'd get on that rower with, with her boot on that skateboards. So Tracy, my good neighbor and friend had a skateboard and off to the gym. We went and cute. I, when I think back to how dumb that was, we wrote those skateboard or scooter, there was a challenge going on, we wrote that scooter, sit down to the victorious street market for some dumb challenge. Can you believe that? So here's Janice in the gym on the rower, their skateboard going in and out just to get her workout in while her it worked. Oh my God, I hated that thing.

Chad [34:07 - 34:14]
What me, what made you keep coming to the gym to do that instead of just saying no, I'll just take a few weeks off

Janice [34:14 - 34:20]
chad you work so hard to get as far as you are, you don't want to lose it right,

Chad [34:20 - 34:21]
right. It's,

Janice [34:22 - 35:11]
I think that's another thing that keeps me motivated and keep going is like if you stop, you lose it so quickly and, and it takes a long time to get back. Like I'm learning that with running now, I've started running again and when I think, you know, running 10-K was easy peasy. Um and now I'm getting to the point where I started to train again and I'm going, wow, why did I ever give this up? Because it's so much harder to get it back? So I just keep going in the same way like when you go on vacation and you're sitting around and you're eating and you're not moving, I, I will run when I'm on vacation to just to get moving because you're so used to moving and if you stop, you lose it. So think about that, you know, I think when am I actually going to stop going to L.

Chad [35:11 - 35:13]
P.

Janice [35:14 - 35:38]
Like as you get older, you think how much longer can I keep this up? And but when you, when you stop, stop crushing the young kids jenny, that's when you can, I don't give it up. Well sometimes I think Maybe I should be looking at that boomer class, you know, that comes in at 10, 30 not quite yet there. Let's

Chad [35:38 - 35:55]
see. So, so it sounds like like what you're saying um informally, is that something you, you sort of actively did before or is that something that's kind of just come with the territory of doing crossfit and other types of fitness?

Janice [35:55 - 36:15]
Um I think I've always been a bad person, but I just know it makes me feel good and it really helps with recovery. So I think that I keep a roller in the basement and roll out, you know when you're watching tv in the evening tennis ball or like the, you know, X ball on your foot and yeah

Chad [36:16 - 36:31]
and so what how do you sort of like do you find you did you ever find yourself over training? Like how did you find sort of a balance with your fitness? Like what I guess my first question, what is your fitness look like? Like how many days a week are you going to the gym?

Janice [36:32 - 36:33]
I'm usually there five days

Chad [36:34 - 36:37]
and the weekends you're not just standing around doing nothing

Janice [36:38 - 36:56]
and sometimes Tracy and I will hit a class on the weekend to like if I missed during the week I'll try to make it up and go on saturday or sunday. Um I just find that's my habit in my routine so I do it and I feel better when I do it. So I just go

Chad [36:56 - 36:57]
so then

Janice [36:58 - 37:06]
now and now too I have to think about getting my running in there to get that going. So

Chad [37:07 - 37:13]
so how do you make sure that you're not overtraining? Like how how do you make sure that you're not putting yourself up against a place where you might get injured.

Janice [37:14 - 38:26]
I don't I don't think I've ever overtrained. I don't know that just I mean I I stay within my means I don't try to lift anything heavier than I know I can do because I don't want to get injured. I I just do what I can and I don't think I over train ever really I just I don't know what's over training? I don't I just go to the gym every day, Isn't that what everybody does? I don't love about it. I think Janice has a good like a mixture of pushing hard at the gym plus her recovery plus therapy if if needed, all of that stuff sort of combined. I think she does a good job of um really making those recovery things are priority instead of just hammering it and that's it. So she has a nice balance to kind of keep her, keep her going and chad once I hit my weight where I don't want to lift anymore and get hurt. I stopped Even though out of like put another 5:10 on listen

Chad [38:26 - 38:28]
up junior just

Janice [38:28 - 38:29]
yeah

Chad [38:29 - 38:33]
stop. I mean over training I think

Janice [38:34 - 38:34]
I

Chad [38:34 - 38:49]
mean outside of the LP walls, some people might say that you're overtraining by your age and you're going to the gym five times a week and then you're doing running like you know, I I don't mean to say that we're over training is just more or less, you know, there's a lot of people that might say

Janice [38:49 - 38:49]
that

Chad [38:50 - 39:17]
but it sounds like you know your limits which is the most important like it's even during a session you're not sort of going up against the wall and I guess like when you when you're in the gym and you see some of the young young bucks like you know going to a red line and then just like on the floor like dying. Are you like inside like laughing. Are you just like, oh man like what are you kids doing or just more or less? Just like. Yeah I did I would have done the same thing when I was younger

Janice [39:17 - 40:16]
too. Um I don't think I do that at the gym. I don't think I look at them and think about what they're doing and what I'm doing. Um I'm probably too focused on what I'm trying to do. Um I hope they're not looking at me going looking crazy woman down there, What is she trying to do? Um And I just know when it's my limit. I I stopped you know like with the wall walks and stuff like that. I mean I'll attempt it here and there but I won't go crazy and I really, it's funny. I don't look at the age too much when I'm at the gym and the difference in the age I just kind of do my thing now. I do enjoy when you know when some of the oldies are there with me at eight o'clock and 9 30. It's fun to be joined by some people that are closer to my age rather than my Children's age.

Chad [40:17 - 40:35]
I think that's the that's the really great thing about a place like L. P. A gym, a sort of a group fitness facility Like LP is because you can walk in the door. Doesn't matter your age or your fitness level whatever and you're all doing the same thing and you're all just doing the same thing. You're all just trying to get physically better or mentally

Janice [40:35 - 40:35]
better.

Chad [40:36 - 40:37]
And that's really what

Janice [40:38 - 40:53]
Yeah like you it's so nice at the gym because no matter who you are, what you are, what age you are, it's fun and everyone pushes each other and encourages each other and you just do your thing, you do the class.

Chad [40:55 - 41:00]
Yeah, that's a good segway. So I do want to ask you about the community. What what does

Janice [41:00 - 41:00]
this

Chad [41:01 - 41:08]
community sort of aspect of fitness mean to you and how has it helped you sort of get to your fitness goals?

Janice [41:10 - 42:12]
Whoa. That's a hard one. I guess. I it's so much part of my life and my routine and it's I've met some wonderful people there made some great friends. Um It's so nice to see everyone again. Like it was a killer last year not seeing everyone and they're just part of my life and I think too that's what keeps me going there. Is that how can I go on with all these people in my life And and it's just a routine and it's I love seeing some of my friends there, I've met some great friends and hopefully I'd be able to keep it up for a few more years. And of course the coaches are great the way they encourage us and push us and no matter how much you have to scale back, there's always something that they'll find us to do and keep us motivated.

Chad [42:14 - 42:16]
Yeah, for sure. They'll find you something to

Janice [42:16 - 42:20]
do. Never an issue.

Chad [42:22 - 42:23]
What are some of the,

Janice [42:23 - 42:24]
some of

Chad [42:24 - 42:30]
your big goals coming up in the next year? Do you have any sort of big things you're trying to achieve other than the Bruce trail? We already talked about that, but

Janice [42:31 - 43:38]
well, I'm going to do another half marathon in May and Ottawa, I've always wanted to do that one and I was planning to do it when Covid was canceled it. So that will be in May. It's, it's nice to have, I felt I needed something again to push me something to work towards. I find with my running, if I don't have a goal and something to work towards it, I won't be as motivated. So this, like, this is something that's motivating me to get out there running again and get work up to that 21 K, Do you have a specific goal time in line or just to do it again? Chance, I would like to beat my time from last time I did it, even if I beat it by like 10 minutes, I would be happy and I think too, I want to feel better. Um, the last couple of k, when I did it there back in Toronto a couple of years ago, I can't say the last couple of kilometers were very fun. Are they ever, I'm hoping that I'll feel better this time

Chad [43:38 - 43:39]
around.

Janice [43:40 - 44:16]
Um, also, and, and it's different because now I'm training in the winter as opposed to the summer. That's a big difference to, I think I like being out there in the cooler weather. It's, it's a lot easier. I find. I love it as well. I hate it. But if you have the right gear on, if you have the right gear on chat, it's so nice and you can always take off and add on during the run. Um, whereas when it's super hot, it's a killer. So

Chad [44:16 - 44:20]
half marathon man. And so you started your training now and you go through the winter time.

Janice [44:21 - 44:28]
Yeah, I got it all laid out. I know exactly what I need to do and I better stick to it.

Chad [44:28 - 44:30]
I don't think I haven't, you know

Janice [44:30 - 44:33]
that you won't, let's see,

Chad [44:33 - 44:35]
press it for sure

Janice [44:35 - 44:36]
and

Chad [44:36 - 44:41]
I'm sure there'll be lots of maps and all those fun things along the way too.

Janice [44:42 - 45:28]
Well, it was funny, you should say maps, we were discussing that this morning Wendy and at the gym, um, she was jumping around trying to get her my zone to start working and she goes, gosh, I feel like I'm in a map challenge and I went, oh no, she goes, no, never again, never again, those map challenges are crazy. I love it. She says that all the time and then okay, the only time that I did it last time was because you got me hooked up with Adam's mom and yeah, and it's the people that make it crazy Janice, we just set the rules, you know, like you're the one going crazy how they do it, it's fun,

Chad [45:29 - 45:36]
it's it's nuts, it's nuts. You have, it's one of those things that you have to do, but they wanted to do, it's like, man, this is not this is not happening again.

Janice [45:37 - 45:44]
Oh, for sure, yeah, but Janice has done it more than once here,

Chad [45:44 - 45:48]
you're one of the best ones to, you're always up there pushing the pace.

Janice [45:49 - 45:50]
Mhm.

Chad [45:50 - 45:52]
So Janice

Janice [45:52 - 46:07]
looks like we need a fall goal as well in there for some fitness stuff. Yeah, get through the spring 1 1st, love it, mm

Chad [46:08 - 46:21]
mhm, good stuff. And so I was gonna ask one more, one more thing about like you're saying forming habits and stuff like that, so going to the gym every day now, you're adding into this sort of running training, how do you sort of manage

Janice [46:22 - 46:22]
this

Chad [46:22 - 46:28]
type of thing for yourself? Are you sort of a schedule er in a preparation or you just kind of like wing it and go with it

Janice [46:30 - 46:57]
um Oh no, I'm a schedule er I uh I have the dates all written down when I have to run and I mean the gym, you just, you go every day and hopefully, I don't know, hopefully work won't get in the way of this, you know, when you're retired, you have a lot of free time and you can fit anything into your schedule pretty much, but I hope that these are vaccination clinics don't carry on too long, but who knows? Um,

Chad [46:58 - 47:02]
okay, so you schedule everything in?

Janice [47:04 - 47:25]
I do, I have I schedule it in? Yes. Got my little calendar right here. I was gonna say on your phone or in a print of the phone has some and this has the calendar has, um, and I have my, my running all written out over there. Yes. Amazing.

Chad [47:25 - 47:33]
I love it. Well, good luck with that. I hope hopefully it goes well. Hopefully with the hike and lots of lots of big things for you coming up.

Janice [47:35 - 47:37]
I like to be busy. I like to keep going.

Chad [47:39 - 47:39]
It's amazing.

Janice [47:41 - 47:43]
That's what life is all about. Right? Mm.

Chad [47:44 - 48:01]
Yeah. Well I guess that's, that's an interesting thing because I feel like maybe you can give me some good advice because like right now sometimes I'm just like, I just want to slow down and I just want less things to do and less things to do and not be in this place and I just want to just like slow things

Janice [48:01 - 48:02]
down,

Chad [48:02 - 48:10]
but I'm imagining that sort of ebbs and flows in life and eventually you get through it and then you and you're grasping for things to stay busy.

Janice [48:10 - 49:40]
Yeah, I, I think part of life too is learning when to slow down and relax and take it easy and not be doing so much. Um But I think I'm just at such a different stage in my life where I have no worries about, I don't have Children at home. I have a little grandson that's all I you know have to look after every so often. Um Yeah my parents are both gone. My husband's parents are both gone. So we we have we're very fortunate with our life right now and the way we're living um and I don't know how many people know this but Back in 2000 my husband was very very ill and was very seriously sick with cancer and it took a year away out of our life that was just very demanding and it totally changed our whole outlook on life and that you need to live life to its fullest and every day is like we're we're lucky he was he's still here and he got through it and That was like 20 years ago and we still enjoy life there. He is away with Bob watching football like we just we don't ever turn down the opportunity to enjoy life. Go away on a trip, have fun be with family because you just never know and it could be taken away from you.

Chad [49:43 - 49:46]
That is a great way to end the episode. I think

Janice [49:47 - 49:47]
very,

Chad [49:47 - 49:49]
very well said Jonas,

Janice [49:49 - 49:50]
thank

Chad [49:50 - 49:56]
you for that. All right, thank you so much for joining and sharing your story.

Janice [49:58 - 50:00]
Well, and thank you for inviting me. It's

Chad [50:01 - 50:01]
I

Janice [50:01 - 50:04]
hope people enjoy listening to this story.

Chad [50:05 - 50:15]
There's no doubt there's no doubt always amazing to hear another story from our amazing community. Thank you very much, Janice. Always nice hanging out with you, Michelle.

Janice [50:16 - 50:18]
Yes. Thanks for having me again guys.

Chad [50:19 - 50:19]
Especially

Janice [50:19 - 50:20]
with Janice. One of my

Chad [50:20 - 50:27]
faves. What? Mhm. Awesome. Thanks everyone for listening. We will talk to you again.