https://chasingsummitswithlisa.com/

Chasing Summits with Lisa, 111 E Jefferson Rd, Pittsford, NY (2026)

09/08/2026

Happy 5K Tuesday 🏃‍♀️

Where are you focusing?

I thought about that during today’s 5K. We tend to go where our gaze goes. What we focus on gets our attention, our energy, and ultimately our effort.

It’s so easy to focus on what’s hard. How tired we are. How far we still have to go. What we can’t do—or what we’re afraid we might eventually lose the ability to do.

But what happens when we intentionally move our gaze?

Today I focused on what I can do. Another 5K. Another week of keeping the commitment I made to myself. And interestingly, the numbers followed: 3.21 miles in 29:44, a 9:16 pace, with an average heart rate of 152—six beats lower than last week while running slightly faster.

But the numbers aren’t really the point.

The point is that your attention is directional. Where your gaze goes, your energy follows. And over time, that becomes the direction your life travels.

So today I’m reminding myself to be intentional about where I look—not just when I’m running, but everywhere.

Where are you focusing? And is it taking you where you want to go?

Happy 5K Tuesday. Lisa Billard Lander
Giddyup. 🏃🏼‍♀️💪❤️🙏

09/04/2026

Don’t Let Tomorrow Steal Today

Today I climbed Bristol Mountain with 37 pounds on my back.

⛰️ 1,100’ elevation gain
🎒 37 pounds
⏱️ 48 minutes

As I get older, I sometimes find myself wondering—and maybe even ruminating—about when I’ll start to see a decline in my ability to do the things I love.

When will I not be as strong?
When will I not be as fast?
When will carrying 37 pounds up a mountain no longer be something I can do?

But today, somewhere on that climb, I had a different thought:

Why am I worrying about the day I might not be able to do this when I can do it right now?

So I stopped worrying about aging.

I looked around.

I enjoyed the hike.
I enjoyed the mountain.
I enjoyed the blue sky.
I enjoyed the strength in my legs and the weight on my back.

And I simply treasured the fact that today, at 65 years old, I can do this.

There will probably come a time when my capacity changes. That’s part of life. But worrying about that day doesn’t give me anything—it only has the potential to take something away from this one.

Today I don’t want to measure myself against who I was ten years ago or worry about who I’ll be ten years from now.

I want to be fully present for who I am and what I can do today.

Maybe part of aging well isn’t just fighting to hold onto our capacity.

Maybe it’s learning to deeply appreciate it while we have it.

Today was beautiful. Today I was strong. Today I could climb. And today, that was enough. Lisa Billard Lander ❤️⛰️ 💪

09/02/2026

Who Are You Committed to Being?

There’s a big difference between being interested in something and being committed to it.

We all say things like:

I’d like to be more fit.
I’d like to eat better.
I’d like to run more.
I’d like to be stronger.

But interest often means: I’ll do it when it’s convenient.

Commitment says: I’ve decided.

Today, September 1, marks eight months since I committed to running a 5K every week.

Not trying to become this incredible runner. Not hoping I’d automatically love running.

BUT showing up. Every week.

Today’s 5K was 3.21 miles in 29:48—a 9:17 pace. I’ve improved since January, and I’m excited to go back and compare those early numbers.

But what I’m most proud of isn’t the pace.

It’s that I kept the promise to myself.

Through travel, busy weeks, good runs and hard ones, I kept showing up.

That’s what commitment does.

You decide what results you want, but more importantly, you decide who you are committed to becoming.

What behavior will you accept from yourself? What standards will you set? What do you believe you deserve?

Eight months later, I’m not just interested in running more.

I’m someone who runs.

One 5K at a time, I’m becoming the person I committed to being.

So ask yourself:

Who are you committed to becoming—and do your actions show commitment or just interest? Lisa Billard Lander 🏃‍♀️💪🙏❤️

08/31/2026

Happy Max Effort Monday! 💪⛰️

Some days, it feels like anything is possible.

Today was one of those days.

It’s not that it wasn’t hard—it was. But today, hard felt possible. I felt like I had the capacity to do the work without questioning whether I could.

Those days don’t come along very often for me. But when they do, they feel incredible. Almost like you’ve earned them through all the other days—the days when you have to fight through the doubt, push through the fatigue, and convince yourself to keep going.

And today’s Max Effort Monday is dedicated to my good friend David, who I had the privilege of summiting Rainier with.

Right now, David is finishing something absolutely extraordinary—a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, nearly 2,200 miles from Georgia to Maine.

He has passed 2,100 miles and is heading into his final stretch toward the finish line.

More than 2,100 miles of putting one foot in front of the other. Day after day. Through weather, exhaustion, climbs, descents, discomfort, and all those moments when stopping would have been easier.

David, I am so inspired by you and so incredibly proud of your effort.

The finish line is right there.

GIDDYUP. Go get it! 🥾⛰️🔥

And if you want to follow along as David finishes this incredible journey, check him out on YouTube .

Keep showing up on the days when it feels impossible.

Because every once in a while, you get a day when you realize just how much capacity you’ve built.

Today, anything felt possible.

ChasingSummits AnythingIsPossible

08/31/2026

Well this was fun! A friend joined me on Bristol this morning. . We decided to hike with only 8 lbs on our backs. Look at that time! 👀 1,100’ elevation gain in under 38 minutes! 🤪 Crazy how carrying weight increases the difficulty or should I say, crazy how carrying weight makes it seem so much easier when I don’t have 40 lbs on my back. Lisa Billard Lander 💪🥾🏋️‍♀️

08/28/2026

What’s the thing you do every week that you’d rather not do but feels so good after you do it? Mine is a 2 minute dead hang. I’ve done it long enough that I just automatically do it once a week. I don’t give too much thought to it at home but traveling I try and still get it done. When I have to fit it in a busy day it’s easy to not do it but the older I get the more consistency matters. And yes grip strength correlates to longevity. Lisa Billard Lander 💪❤️🙏

08/27/2026

Happy 5K Running Day from the Canadian Rockies 🏃‍♀️🏔️

Yesterday’s 5K came with a pretty incredible backdrop—the Canadian Rockies—and a thought I couldn’t stop thinking about while I ran:

What if I let go of the belief that running has to be hard?

Beliefs have the power to create or destroy.

It’s not always the events or circumstances of our lives that shape us. So much of who we become comes from the meaning we attach to those events and the stories we repeatedly tell ourselves about them.

And apparently, I’ve been telling myself a story about running.

Running is hard.

I have to push. I have to suffer. I have to get through it.

But yesterday, surrounded by mountains, I started questioning that belief.

What if running can simply feel good?

What if I don’t have to prove anything with my pace or how hard I’m working?

What if I can look around, feel grateful that my body can carry me through five kilometers, and actually enjoy the run?

Same legs. Same miles. Different meaning.

And that made me think about how often we do this in the rest of our lives.

We experience something and immediately decide what it means.

I’m not good at this.

I’m too old.

I failed.

This is going to be hard.

I can’t do that.

And then we begin living according to the belief we’ve created.

But what if the belief isn’t true?

Human beings have this incredible ability to take an experience and give it meaning. And sometimes changing that meaning can change everything that comes next.

Yesterday I practiced letting one belief go:

Running doesn’t have to be hard.

Maybe it can be joyful. Maybe it can be a privilege. Maybe five kilometers through the Canadian Rockies can simply be five kilometers of being incredibly grateful to be right here, doing something my body is still capable of doing.

So Happy 5K Running Day from Canada. ❤️🏔️

And maybe today is a good day to ask yourself:

What belief are you holding onto that might be making your life harder than it needs to be—and what could happen if you let it go? Lisa Billard Lander 🏃‍♀️💪❤️🙏

08/23/2026

Delighted or Disturbed?

Do you want to be delighted or disturbed?

That was the choice I had to make this morning.

Different time zone, awake at 4:45 a.m., I decided I’d head to the gym and get an hour of lifting in before everyone else woke up.

Except the gym door was locked until 8:30.

So I pivoted. No weights? I’d walk the stairs instead.

And then my six-year-old granddaughter woke up and wanted to come with me.

At that point, I had another choice. I could be disturbed that my carefully planned workout wasn’t happening—or I could decide to be delighted by what was happening instead. Initially definitely disturbed, but then I took a breath and realized what a gift is. She wants to be with me and then I thought about my dad all the times he chose to take me with him running, hiking, biking, and he chose to be delighted as well.

So…I chose delighted.

And what a gift it turned out to be.

She ran her little heart out, absolutely thrilled every time she beat me up the four flights. She was excited, determined, laughing and so proud of herself. And suddenly, the workout I hadn’t planned became better than the one I had.

We don’t always get to choose what happens. But we do get to choose what we do with it.

So the next time your plans get disrupted, ask yourself:

Am I going to be disturbed by what didn’t happen—or delighted by what might happen instead? Chasing Summits with Lisa 🙏🥾💪🏃‍♀️

08/20/2026

Happy 5K Thursday: When Was the Last Time You Did Something for the First Time?

I tweaked my knee last weekend, so instead of running Tuesday, I hiked Bristol. This afternoon it was feeling good, so I figured I’d give my 5K a try. The knee held up, and I’m grateful for that.

While I was running, I found myself thinking about a question:

When was the last time I did something for the first time?

I think as we get older—especially those of us in the 65+ club—it can become easy to keep doing the things we already know how to do. We have our routines. We know what we’re good at. We know where we’re comfortable.

But there are still so many firsts available to us.

Something we’ve always wanted to learn. Somewhere we’ve wanted to go. A challenge we’ve wondered if we could accomplish. A dream we’ve quietly carried around but have been a little afraid to actually try.

Maybe the goal doesn’t need to be bigger or faster or harder.

Maybe the goal is simply to do something for the first time.

Because there is no perfect age to start. And there’s certainly no time like the present to go after something that excites you—and maybe scares you just a little.

So this week, ask yourself:

What is one thing you’ve never done that you still want to do?

Then set the goal. Take the first step. Give yourself the chance to find out what else you’re capable of.

There are still a whole lot of firsts waiting for us. Lisa Billard Lander ❤️🏃‍♀️💪😅

08/19/2026

Happy 70th Birthday to the Best Decision I Ever Made ❤️

Seventy years of this incredible man—and I still feel like the luckiest person in the world that I get to call him my husband and my best friend.

Rick is, quite simply, the kindest human I know. He loves unconditionally. He supports me through every crazy idea, every big dream, every adventure and every “I think I can do this.” And when those ideas don’t quite go according to plan, he never says I told you so. He’s simply there to pick me up, remind me what I’m capable of, and cheer me on toward whatever I decide to try next.

That is who he is—not just with me, but with everyone he loves.

And perhaps the greatest example of that is the way he loves our family. He is the most incredible dad to our four children and the very best Pop to our seven grandchildren. Watching him love them, support them, encourage them and take such pride in each of them has been one of the greatest gifts of my life. Our family is what it is in so many ways because of the man he is.

He is driven, determined and endlessly motivated. I’ve watched him pour his heart into Lander’s River Trips, always thinking about how to make it better and what could come next. He has never been afraid to think outside the box, take a chance or build something from an idea—including Lander’s River Mart, our convenience store, gas station and restaurant.

But as proud as I am of everything he has built, I am infinitely more proud of the man behind all of it.

The husband. The dad. The Pop. The friend. The person who shows up, loves fiercely, works hard and gives so much of himself to the people around him.

Of all the decisions I have made in my life, choosing you is still the very best one.

I am so grateful for every year we’ve shared, every adventure, every challenge, every laugh, every ordinary day and this incredible family and life we have built together.

And at 70, I know there is still so much ahead of us.

Happy 70th birthday, Rick. ❤️

I would choose you again and again and again.

Here’s to the next adventure. I can’t imagine doing any of it without you. ❤️

Chasing Summits with Lisa

09/08/2026

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09/02/2026

08/31/2026

08/31/2026

08/28/2026

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