Remember to come to training this Monday - Ewen will be bringing his camera for more group photos, to put up on this site.
This month's Vetrunner has an interview with Lisa. I reproduce it here. Given the current lack of access to Vetrunners on-line.
Lisa powering along! (Click on the photo to enlarge it. Now who could that be warming up in the background?)
Lisa Wilson has progressed in just two years from being a good local W35 runner, to becoming an outstanding race walker. On 19 April 2004 she completed a 20k walk in 1:55.51, and on 23 April walked 50k in 5:23.08, which was not just an Australian W35 record but a new Australian open record as well. Both walks were at the World Masters Non-Stadia Championships in Auckland, and both resulted in gold medals.
Based on these and other performances, on 2 December Lisa was awarded the ACT Masters Sports Star award for 2004. The award’s scope is ALL sports, not just athletics, and includes both men and women, not just a separate women’s award.
I interviewed Lisa to see if I could get an insight into her achievements.
Geoff Moore: When did you start in Athletics?
Lisa Wilson: I started in 1984 at High School, and joined the Werribee Women’s Athletics Club in Victoria. The 800 and 1500 were my main events as they did not offer longer events,
GM: What other sports have you played?
LW: I have done gymnastics, soccer, some basketball, judo, and later some swimming with AUSSI Masters. Of these soccer was the most serious, I played competitive women’s soccer for six years.
GM: What made you interested in running?
LW : The 1984 Olympics, and also Rob de Castella’s performance in winning the World Marathon.
GM: What kind of coaching did you get in those days?
LW: General club coaching, a couple of times a week at the local track. Helen Steadman was the main influence on me – she was a Victorian Veteran 800 metre champion in the W35s at the time and had me doing interval training. In addition I would do my own training around the suburbs at Hopper’s Crossing.
GM: How did you get into walking?
LW: Only last season at the Vets when my achilles was getting a bit sore from running, I entered a walk just for fun. Denis Strangman the walking coach thought I didn’t have a bad style, so he encouraged me, told me I had natural ability, and got me to go in walking races. With my achilles injury I would have been right out of the scene if I hadn’t taken up walking.
GM: You were out of sport for a long time since your school days. What got you back into sport after the long break you had from it?
LW: I would never have got back into sport without the jogalong and Vets. My first goal was to be competitive in Vets. After my second child I started back training in May 2002 and joined your training group in September so I could break 50 minutes in the Canberra Times Fun run. Then I started running on the track. Before 2002 I hadn’t run properly since 1991. I was always interested in running and I had made a couple of unsuccessful attempts to get back into it.
GM: What makes a good race walker?
LW: The ability to put up with the judging! You must be able to rise above the issues of what people say about your style; judges, colleagues in the sort, your fellow competitors, armchair critics.
GM: How have you managed to overcome such criticism?
LW: I generally disregard it. And when I walked in Auckland there were six Olympic judges – and I didn’t get one warning or caution! So I know that I can be confident that my style is acceptable.
GM: What are your goals for this year?
LW: To concentrate more on the 20k and reduce my time by ten minutes by the end of the year. This would bring me close to 1.38, qualifying for the world cup team (where five are chosen) and for the Commonwealth Games (three are chosen). As there are about six walkers in contention, the World Cup team is a more realistic possibility.
GM: Then what about running? Do you have any plans to get back into running?
LW: Yes, I have just resumed some running training. I plan to get serious about running in twelve to eighteen months, provided my walking goals have been achieved. I will move up to longer races, I believe I am more suited to distance.
GM: What events do you like best?
LW: The 20k walk is the most enjoyable.
GM: What motivates you to compete?
LW: I love winning, and I love doing PBs. I get a feeling of elation when I have tried really hard and done my best.
GM: But five hours is an awfully long time to be racing? How hard was it? What was the first hour like? The last hour? How do you maintain concentration for so long?
LW: It was not hard at all. I went out conservatively, and all these European men were with me, Italian, German, Russian. I couldn’t speak their languages but we kept together for the first thirty kilometres until I broke it up by having a toilet stop. I still ended up ahead of all but one of them. They helped me along psychologically, they were very helpful, even letting me go around corners first, and we worked together well. Also the atmosphere on the day, and all the support along the course, were a great help. My husband Donald was there to cheer me on and help out with food and drink. It felt like I was in Europe; my husband told the Italian wives of some of the walkers that I was half Italian so they started cheering me on too.
The last ten k was good because the judges were being nice, being positive, telling me I looked better than when I started. I felt very good because I knew I was going to make it. And other walkers were falling apart, but I wasn’t.
GM: When competing in such long races, do you maintain a focus on form, speed, relaxation etc – or do you try to think of other things not related to your performance?
LW: In the past I used to think of other things. Now I focus on form, I try and focus on the walk. I learned from watching the Saville sisters walking, to look straight ahead and concentrate on the walk.
GM: Would you like your children to be athletes when they grow up?
LW: Only if they like it, if it makes them happy
GM: What’s been the most fun?
LW: The last three years with the Vets. You can be as serious or as relaxed as you like and it doesn’t matter. The only pressure is what you put on yourself.
GM: Are there any other highlights you would like to mention?
LW: One of the judges at the Masters wrote and said I had potential to be a pioneer in Women’s 50k walk. And then, getting an invite to walk in a 20k walk in Malaysia, where there were 10,000 competitors. I was third woman home, behind two internationals. Good prize-money! And the walk at the Gold Coast that I won, that was a buzz too.
GM: What are your feelings about getting the Sports award?
LW: Honoured and surprised and very pleased.
GM: What are your current interests outside of athletics?
LW: Getting into a new career – I have just been accepted into UC for a Bachelor of Education in Primary Teaching. And of course my children
GM: What advice would you give people wanting to take up race walking?
LW: That’s a hard question – I would say, get a coach who knows what they are talking about. John Fitzgerald, who was a coach at the AIS last year, was very helpful. It’s a lot of hard work.
GM: Congratulations again Lisa, and thank you for answering all these questions!
This month's Vetrunner has an interview with Lisa. I reproduce it here. Given the current lack of access to Vetrunners on-line.
Lisa powering along! (Click on the photo to enlarge it. Now who could that be warming up in the background?)
Lisa Wilson has progressed in just two years from being a good local W35 runner, to becoming an outstanding race walker. On 19 April 2004 she completed a 20k walk in 1:55.51, and on 23 April walked 50k in 5:23.08, which was not just an Australian W35 record but a new Australian open record as well. Both walks were at the World Masters Non-Stadia Championships in Auckland, and both resulted in gold medals.
Based on these and other performances, on 2 December Lisa was awarded the ACT Masters Sports Star award for 2004. The award’s scope is ALL sports, not just athletics, and includes both men and women, not just a separate women’s award.
I interviewed Lisa to see if I could get an insight into her achievements.
Geoff Moore: When did you start in Athletics?
Lisa Wilson: I started in 1984 at High School, and joined the Werribee Women’s Athletics Club in Victoria. The 800 and 1500 were my main events as they did not offer longer events,
GM: What other sports have you played?
LW: I have done gymnastics, soccer, some basketball, judo, and later some swimming with AUSSI Masters. Of these soccer was the most serious, I played competitive women’s soccer for six years.
GM: What made you interested in running?
LW : The 1984 Olympics, and also Rob de Castella’s performance in winning the World Marathon.
GM: What kind of coaching did you get in those days?
LW: General club coaching, a couple of times a week at the local track. Helen Steadman was the main influence on me – she was a Victorian Veteran 800 metre champion in the W35s at the time and had me doing interval training. In addition I would do my own training around the suburbs at Hopper’s Crossing.
GM: How did you get into walking?
LW: Only last season at the Vets when my achilles was getting a bit sore from running, I entered a walk just for fun. Denis Strangman the walking coach thought I didn’t have a bad style, so he encouraged me, told me I had natural ability, and got me to go in walking races. With my achilles injury I would have been right out of the scene if I hadn’t taken up walking.
GM: You were out of sport for a long time since your school days. What got you back into sport after the long break you had from it?
LW: I would never have got back into sport without the jogalong and Vets. My first goal was to be competitive in Vets. After my second child I started back training in May 2002 and joined your training group in September so I could break 50 minutes in the Canberra Times Fun run. Then I started running on the track. Before 2002 I hadn’t run properly since 1991. I was always interested in running and I had made a couple of unsuccessful attempts to get back into it.
GM: What makes a good race walker?
LW: The ability to put up with the judging! You must be able to rise above the issues of what people say about your style; judges, colleagues in the sort, your fellow competitors, armchair critics.
GM: How have you managed to overcome such criticism?
LW: I generally disregard it. And when I walked in Auckland there were six Olympic judges – and I didn’t get one warning or caution! So I know that I can be confident that my style is acceptable.
GM: What are your goals for this year?
LW: To concentrate more on the 20k and reduce my time by ten minutes by the end of the year. This would bring me close to 1.38, qualifying for the world cup team (where five are chosen) and for the Commonwealth Games (three are chosen). As there are about six walkers in contention, the World Cup team is a more realistic possibility.
GM: Then what about running? Do you have any plans to get back into running?
LW: Yes, I have just resumed some running training. I plan to get serious about running in twelve to eighteen months, provided my walking goals have been achieved. I will move up to longer races, I believe I am more suited to distance.
GM: What events do you like best?
LW: The 20k walk is the most enjoyable.
GM: What motivates you to compete?
LW: I love winning, and I love doing PBs. I get a feeling of elation when I have tried really hard and done my best.
GM: But five hours is an awfully long time to be racing? How hard was it? What was the first hour like? The last hour? How do you maintain concentration for so long?
LW: It was not hard at all. I went out conservatively, and all these European men were with me, Italian, German, Russian. I couldn’t speak their languages but we kept together for the first thirty kilometres until I broke it up by having a toilet stop. I still ended up ahead of all but one of them. They helped me along psychologically, they were very helpful, even letting me go around corners first, and we worked together well. Also the atmosphere on the day, and all the support along the course, were a great help. My husband Donald was there to cheer me on and help out with food and drink. It felt like I was in Europe; my husband told the Italian wives of some of the walkers that I was half Italian so they started cheering me on too.
The last ten k was good because the judges were being nice, being positive, telling me I looked better than when I started. I felt very good because I knew I was going to make it. And other walkers were falling apart, but I wasn’t.
GM: When competing in such long races, do you maintain a focus on form, speed, relaxation etc – or do you try to think of other things not related to your performance?
LW: In the past I used to think of other things. Now I focus on form, I try and focus on the walk. I learned from watching the Saville sisters walking, to look straight ahead and concentrate on the walk.
GM: Would you like your children to be athletes when they grow up?
LW: Only if they like it, if it makes them happy
GM: What’s been the most fun?
LW: The last three years with the Vets. You can be as serious or as relaxed as you like and it doesn’t matter. The only pressure is what you put on yourself.
GM: Are there any other highlights you would like to mention?
LW: One of the judges at the Masters wrote and said I had potential to be a pioneer in Women’s 50k walk. And then, getting an invite to walk in a 20k walk in Malaysia, where there were 10,000 competitors. I was third woman home, behind two internationals. Good prize-money! And the walk at the Gold Coast that I won, that was a buzz too.
GM: What are your feelings about getting the Sports award?
LW: Honoured and surprised and very pleased.
GM: What are your current interests outside of athletics?
LW: Getting into a new career – I have just been accepted into UC for a Bachelor of Education in Primary Teaching. And of course my children
GM: What advice would you give people wanting to take up race walking?
LW: That’s a hard question – I would say, get a coach who knows what they are talking about. John Fitzgerald, who was a coach at the AIS last year, was very helpful. It’s a lot of hard work.
GM: Congratulations again Lisa, and thank you for answering all these questions!
