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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Host Chat: This Bib's For Me!

Today I picked up a different bib than the kind I usually buy. This one wasn't terry cloth. It didn't have the name "Shane" embroidered on the front. It wasn't even baby blue! Instead, it looked like this:

That, my friends, is my race bib for my first-ever HALF MARATHON this weekend. I vowed right here that I would do a 13.1 mile race when my son was six months old.
For the past 10 weeks, Hollywood Super Agent Jim Ornstein and I have been in serious training mode. My beloved high school cross-country coach, Mr. P., would be so proud! Jim aims to finish the race in a respectable time. I'm just aiming to finish it. And, really, let's be honest: This was really about losing the baby weight more than anything else! I've achieved one goal: I'm back in my pre-Mom jeans. Now, can I go the distance and complete tomorrow's 13.1 mile trek? Tune in Sunday night for the (hopefully not too) gory details!

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Host Chat: My Morning Mix-Up

Storing two yellow plastic tubs full of powdery substances side-by-side in your pantry is a terrible idea. 

I learned that today, when instead of grabbing my Nestle Quik, I grabbed my baby's formula*... and nearly whipped up a post-workout drink that, rather than being chocolatey, was chalkolatey. Ew.

In other news, my pantry is always nearly as neat as in this picture. I'm like the villian in Sleeping with the Enemy! 
Also, yes, that is the Rachael Ray 30 Minute Meals for Kids cookbook pictured in the bottom right corner. Yup, I really do use it. I'm quite the celebrity chef! Plus, every other cookbook is beyond my capabilities. Sad but true.


*Yes, yes, I agree with you... breastmilk is best for baby. But I like to keep some formula on hand, too, for the insatiable Mr. Shane. Stop judging me, Judgy McJudgerson! I'm doing the best I can!

Magazine Monday: The Evolution

My magazine tastes have varied wildly through the years. Here's what my subscriptions might be saying about me:

1991- Sassy, Teen Magazine, YM, Seventeen: Someone's aiming for simple summer beauty... just as soon as she gets a fresh perm and gets her braces off!

1994- Runner's World: Look who's hoping to make it to State in both cross-country and track this year! Let's hope she can kick those shin splints!

1997- Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Elle: This poor girl. She doesn't realize that someday she'll have a great career with a steady paycheck, and she still won't be able to afford any of these clothes! 

2009- House Beautiful, Domino, Metropolitan Home: Time to call the movers! And time to buy the life-changing book "It's All Too Much" by de-cluttering expert Peter Walsh. Gotta make the new home a peaceful oasis-- even if that means giving half her stuff to the Salvation Army. She'll be so glad she did!

2010- Shape, Runner's World (again), Self: Someone's trying to get a fit as she was during her high school and college cross-country days! Let me guess, she signed up for an August 2010 triathlon? Good for her! I wonder if I should warn her that her lean days are numbered? I predict she'll pack on the pounds in 2011!

2011- New York Magazine, Fit Pregnancy: Look who's all grown up! She should enjoy full-fledged adulthood while she can. In a few months, she'll be watching Sesame Street and singing "The Wheels on the Bus!" 

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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