Host Chat: Half-Marathon Moments

I can't believe it! Six months after having a baby, I ran my first half-marathon today!* Scroll down for some highlights...

Shane Quincy watches the marathoners run by, while
Hollywood Super Agent Jim Ornstein and I pose for the paparazzi.

Funniest Motivational Sign: "You've trained longer than Kim Kardashian's marriage."
Cutest Motivational Sign: A "Good Job, Mom!" poster with a big photo of a cute baby who, coincidentally, looked a LOT like my 6-month-old, Shane. I actually did a triple-take to see if it was my little guy!
Worst Motivational Moment: Running past spectators who decided to pump us up with the soothing ballads of Train. The dude crooning "my heart is bound to beat right out my untrimmed chest" is just not helping me zip through Mile 9. I need some Eye of the Tiger! Or really, anything that doesn't mention manscaping!
Biggest Surprise: I felt strong enough to respond to each cheering spectator with both a thumbs up and a smile (read: grimace). I even laughed at the lady waving a "Need Beer?" sign at us. Beer? Now? You're so weird for offering. Not because it's 6:50am and we're running a race. Because I'm clearly under 21! Heh.
Least Surprising Moment: When this ham found the strength for a real smile and a friendly wave for the official race photographers. The pain of Mile 12 is fleeting, but a photo is forever!
Proudest Moments:
-Finishing the 13.1 mile race in a much better time that I expected (2:11)
-Finding out Super Agent Jim Ornstein totally rocked the race (1:38!)
-Walking (read: limping) home and immediately getting a big smile from baby Shane. (Which, unfortunately, you can't see in the photo above. Because Shane has asked Mommy not to post his picture on the web. Something about protecting his online reputation. That Shane! So forward-thinking!)
*Thank you, Fit Pregnancy magazine, for giving me this idea last summer, during my second trimester. One of your pieces quoted reader Becky Frost who said, "After I had each of my two babies, I signed up for a half-marathon, trained for it and ran it about six months after giving birth." Aside from the two babies thing, I did exactly that. Thanks for the inspiration!
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5K Success!

I did it! I ran 5K!
As I may have mentioned once or twice, I had a baby in October. In December, I eased back into running by doing the Couch to 5K program. The goal: To train for and run a 5K (3.1 miles) in about two months.
Well, it's been two months, and...
I did it! 
Over the weekend, I ran a full 5K in 30:02... not quite my personal best of 20:46 from my high school and college cross-country days, but I'll take it!

Jill Dobson looks EXACTLY like this when running

My planned post-baby makeover is underway!
All the running, along with lots of baby-feeding,* has helped put a big dent in the baby weight.
Next up: More running, a new 'do, and some new threads... and I do NOT mean Mom Jeans!


*Am I immature because I'm too shy to say "breast-feeding?" Why doesn't anyone say "nursing" anymore? Move over, Justin Timberlake... I'm bringing nursing back! 

Back on the Treadmill!

When I was six months pregnant, I vowed I'd get back on the horse treadmill soon after I had my baby. Today, I proved to my each of my millions of five readers that I'm an honest woman. 

Jill Dobson wishes her waist were this small.
Perhaps her 5K training will help make it happen!

This morning I started the Couch to 5K training program. Couch to 5K is designed to help people like me (and you!) get off the sectional and train for a 3.1 mile race. Sure, I'm only one day into it, but I already believe it's perfect for just about anyone. It's great for a former college athlete like me,* and also ideal for my training partner, Alicia, who is famous for statements like this one:

I'm not familiar with this thing called exercise. People do it?

Whether you're a running rookie, or you're formerly fit and want to get back into shape, you're invited to join us. Hey, don't you want to get a jump on your upcoming New Year's resolution? (Then, come January, you can scoff at all the people who suddenly show up at the gym, since you were there ages ahead of them. Well, three weeks. But still.)

The full program is here, but in a nutshell, today's workout was: Run 60 seconds, walk 90 seconds, repeat. If I can feed my newborn son Shane, then bathe him, dress him, get him into his stroller, get out the door to the gym, and hit the treadmill while watching him (and occasionally stopping briefly to calm his crying jags), then I bet you can go out and pound the pavement. And if I can't inspire you, maybe my talk-show hero (and 2007 marathon finisher), Ms. Oprah Winfrey can. As she has said, "Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it." What do I want to get out of it, you ask? I'm hoping to get my pre-pregnancy waist back. 

I see you shaking your head at me. Should I have said something loftier? How's this: I want to improve my cardiovascular health, so I can be a healthy parent to my son for many years to come. Is that better? Sheesh.

*Troy State, y'all!

Favorite Things: Crossing the Finish Line!

Welcome to Favorite Things!  Here at The Jill Dobson Show, your favorite Oprah segment lives on, as I reveal the coolest tech, beauty, home products and more... except without Oprah, without any TV airtime, and without the free giveaways.  Hey, I'm doing the best I can here!

Ever since my friend Alicia told me about a program called "Couch to 5K," I've been intrigued and inspired by the concept.  It's a workout plan designed to "transform you from couch potato to runner."  It aims to help non-runners ease into fitness, so that in just two months they are able to run 5K (3.1 miles). 

I love the idea, for several reasons.  Among them:

--My favorite thing in the world is a good makeover story.  So I can't get enough of Average Moms Wear Capes blogger Christie O's story of losing 40 pounds after starting Couch to 5K (and advancing to triathlons).

--I'm expecting a baby later this year, and the idea of returning to my old fitness regimen afterward is pretty daunting.  But the Couch to 5K program sounds like something I can do.  Here's Day One: Jog 30 seconds.  Walk 90 seconds.  Repeat.  I could do that!  And so could you, right?

--A recent issue of Fit Pregnancy magazine included this quote from reader Becky Frost: "After I had each of my two babies, I signed up for a half-marathon, trained for it and ran it about six months after giving birth." Ever since reading that, I've been inspired to try to do the same thing!

--I just learned my best friend Heather is doing the program, with an upcoming race later this summer.  Go, Heather!

--And the real kicker...  I was reviewing the blog stats for The Jill Dobson Show and I learned that one reader found my blog the following way: By googling the phrase "Jill Dobson Fat."  Ouch!*  The correct term for my condition is "pregnant," buddy.  Give a girl a break!  

You've heard the phrase "success is the best revenge," right?  When I successfully cross the finish line in a 2012 half-marathon, that dude (we all know it's a guy, right?) can belly up to his computer, google "Jill Dobson FaSt" and wish he had it in him to run 13.1 miles!  

But I digress.  Couch to 5K is one of my Favorite Things because it gives people a realistic, step-by-step way to achieve something they might not have ever otherwise achieved.  And that's awesome.  Kudos to the plan's creators.  And to everyone who's ever finished a 5K.  And to retired Quincy High School cross-country coach Andy Parzych, who inspired me through many a 5K, and whose words are with me every time I gear up for a workout: "The hardest step is the step out the door."  Thanks, Mr. P!  I'll head out the door now!

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*This is better, though, than the (ax-wielding?) reader who found my friend Ben Bowman's blog, The Boiling Point: A Journey in Improv, by googling "Benjamin Bowman Murder."  That kinda puts being called fat in perspective... at least no one seems to be actively plotting my demise! (Note: I asked Ben's permission to share this story.  He responded, "Feel free to use as you see fit.  Unless you plan on murdering me.  Then don't.") Love him!

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