THE MAGAZINE FOR COSTCO MEMBERS

January 2025

© FIBA3x3

Paige Crozon

© 2D; OLHA; DMITRY ERSLER;

© MATES / STOCK.ADOBE.COM

From nutrition to community and more, the Connection recently asked several athletes to share their tips for fulfilling their goals.

Caring for yourself and others

How does a single parent take care of both her child and herself while training 20 hours a week, coaching other athletes and volunteering for Living Skies Indigenous Basketball League? For Paige Crozon, Canadian Olympic basketball player, it’s all about preparation.

“I’ve had to juggle many different roles the last few years, and I think what has made it possible is time management,” she says. “I’d go to Costco on Sundays and stock up on everything we needed—snacks that are easy for grab and go, lots of fruit and vegetables, and meat, and I would do meal prep for the week. That way I always knew that my daughter and I would have nutritious, healthy meals.”

Crozon, 30, involves her 6-year-old daughter, Poppy, as much as possible in her daily activities. “Whenever I train, I bring her with me. If I’m doing stretching at home, or in the kitchen cooking, I include her. I also feel like I’m being a good example for her when she sees me work out.”

Because it isn’t always possible for Poppy to travel with her, Crozon also has a strong support network. “I have a community of women around me that support me,” she explains. “My mom comes and stays with Poppy, and my sister lives in the same city and really steps up to help out as well. They have backed my dream and allowed me to do what I do.”

Focusing on the positive

Scottish rugby player Jamie Ritchie debuted for the Scotland team in Canada in 2018 and last year earned his landmark 50th cap against the US in Washington, DC.

Throughout his career, his positivity and sense of perspective have helped him to overcome setbacks, including injuries. “The worst injury I had was in 2022 when I tore my hamstring off the bone. I’d been consistently getting picked for Scotland, and that [injury] was me out for nine months,” he recalls. “I’ve always tried to look at injuries as an opportunity to get better at something else or to do things I maybe wouldn’t have been able to do if I had been fit.”

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Rugby player Jamie Ritchie

For 28-year-old Ritchie, that has meant trying to put more bulk on his upper body, spending more time with family and friends, and even thinking about what he might do when he retires from international rugby.

“My ‘make it better’ mentality helped with [my wife] Mils and I having our children quite young—that decision could have put a lot of pressure on my career, but in many respects it was absolutely the best thing that could have happened,” he says. “If I’d had a bad day at training or hadn’t played well, I had something to throw myself into when I got home. Rugby was not all-consuming.”

Ritchie adds, “I know I’m saying you should always see a setback as an opportunity, but it’s also all right to feel a little bit rubbish. Sometimes you’ve got to feel to heal, and it’s OK to ask for help and to draw on the experiences of your peers.”

Staying active

Judy Leden, member of the Order of the British Empire, started hang-gliding when she was 19. Multiple world records, gold medals and daredevil stunts later, the 65-year-old is still flying hang-gliders, as well as paragliders and microlights.

Having retired from commercial tandem hang-gliding last spring, Leden has re-engaged with her own aviation: “Now I’m free to go to the hills, which is the place I love to be, so any time the weather’s good I go flying. I used to be very competitive but I think a combination of aging and having my children has mellowed me. I have nothing to prove; I can just enjoy it,” she says.

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Judy Leden has been hang-gliding for more than 40 years.

“What I’ve noticed over the years is that although I don’t feel older in my head, my body is definitely changing,” she continues. “I’m a big fan of staying active, but I would never go running, for example, because I know that my spine can’t take it. … I’m now more considerate of my limitations.”

Leden regularly lifts weights with a friend who’s a fitness trainer. “We work hard, but we have a laugh,” she says. “If you don’t enjoy it, what’s the point? There are so many options that everybody can find an activity they like.”

“My best recommendation is to get a dog, because, rain or shine, you always do your 10,000 steps a day.”

Finding motivation

Maintaining motivation can be a challenge for people new to exercise and seasoned athletes alike. Keegan Lisenby, a 20-year-old student-athlete at California Lutheran University, has been swimming competitively since he was 9 and attending early morning training since he was 13. He swims for his local StingRay team in Snohomish, Washington, as well as for his university. 

During semesters he trains every day except Sunday.

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Keegan Lisenby has been swimming competively for 11 years.

Three days a week he gets up at 4:30 a.m. and stretches

before spending two hours in the pool, fitting in a second swim and a weights session in the afternoon. On other days he does a straight swim practice or takes part in a competition.

How does the son of Costco members cope with the early starts? “I kind of fake it,” he laughs. “I tell myself that I’m awake and ready to go, or I use a method that a teammate taught me—I say, ‘3, 2, 1, go,’ and then I’m up.”

After an injury at the age of 15 derailed his swimming—and spirits—for a year, Lisenby had to find his “why”: “I realized that motivation could only get me so far; I needed discipline and grit to keep going, to try to achieve my long-term goals.”

Taking the advice of one of his club coaches, Lisenby writes down a little goal every day, plus monthly and yearly aims. He also records his achievements, and this approach means he can look back to see how much progress he has made.

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Members of Fern Giesbrecht’s tae kwon do club

Feeding success

A healthy approach to eating can have a positive impact on work, sport and life as a whole. This is affirmed by Morgan Windram, a 42-year-old ski instructor, yoga teacher, competitive runner and running coach at Monument Mountain Regional High School in Massachusetts.

“Healthy eating is incredibly important,” she says. “I’ve

not always been the best at prioritizing it, but as I’ve

spent more time coaching athletes, I’ve realized how

valuable it is to their performance. That has rubbed

off on me. I know that when I eat better, I feel better

and I run faster, so that’s good motivation.”

Besides teaching and coaching, Windram has a

demanding training schedule with twice-daily runs,

weight training three times a week and a daily yoga practice.

Windram, who set a new course record at the 2024 Chesterfield Gorge Ultra 50-kilometre running race, is aware of the need to strike a balance between being lean and feeling strong.

“I used to get on the scale all the time, but I’ve learned to forget about the numbers and focus mostly on how I feel. My race results show me that’s the better way to be.”

As a vegetarian, Windram eats a lot of pulses, beans and spinach, and also takes supplements to ensure she gets the nutrients she needs. “I always carry plenty of water with me, make sure I have snacks on hand, and take leftovers from≠ dinner for lunch,” she adds.

Kirsti Sharratt is a freelance writer who lives in St Andrews, Scotland.

© CHELSEA PROULX PHOTOGRAPHY

Morgan Windram in a yoga pose

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