Thoughts on Dr. Oz

Dr. Oz has been in the spotlight quite a bit this week, after being criticized at a Senate hearing for his "health claims" about a lot of weight loss products he's recommended on his show. I honestly didn't read much about the whole thing, because I formed my opinion of his claims a while ago. I'm no longer a viewer of The Dr. Oz Show, and haven't been for quite some time. I wrote a post in February 2013 about my thoughts on the direction the show has taken.

With all the hype about it this week, I thought that today I'd write an updated post to the one I wrote in 2013. But when I re-read what I wrote last year, I realized that I still feel exactly the same way. I don't normally repost things from the past, but because my thoughts haven't changed on this, I decided to go ahead and share (again) my thoughts on Dr. Oz's claims of "losing weight without diet or exercise". 

Repost from February 5, 2013:

Jerry and I had a bit of a lazy morning. Since he was off work, we sat around and chatted once the boys went to school. I turned on The Dr. Oz Show from the DVR, and was immediately annoyed with the theme he's had going on for while now with this shows: "Lose weight without diet or exercise!"

This annoys me for a couple of reasons:

1) Exercise is good for our bodies--particularly, our hearts. Dr. Oz is a cardiologist, who knows that fact better than anyone, but he still does these shows where he makes it sound like exercise is something to dread (or avoid, in this case).

2) This gives people unrealistic expectations. "Take this supplement, and you don't have to diet or exercise, but you'll lose weight!"

I used to love Dr. Oz when he was on Oprah, because you could really tell that he was passionate about telling people about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. He always got very excited when talking about it. The first time I met him, in October 2009, I still got that same vibe from him (his show was pretty new at the time).

When I met him again in November 2011, I didn't get that impression so much. He didn't seem to have that passion, and he just went through the motions on the show as it was written. I think I mentioned this before, but I wasn't allowed to talk about running while I was on the show. When I asked the producers about it, I was told that it was discouraging for the target audience to hear that I run, because that is unrealistic for them.

Um, I NEVER thought I could be a runner. When I was morbidly obese, becoming a runner was what I would label as "impossible". I like to write about running on my blog because I want other people to feel like they, too, can do what they once thought was impossible--whether it's running, or walking a race, reaching goal weight, cycling, competing in triathlons, or just being an active parent. Those are things that may feel impossible, but they most definitely are possible for most people.

Did I have any clue that I would run a marathon just a few
years after this photo was taken? Um, heck no!!

But anyways, back to the show--I watched for about 15 minutes before I turned it off. I think that there are people out there looking for a solution to their weight problem, and when Dr. Oz says it can be done without diet or exercise, it's like telling these people that they should look for an easy way out. Exercise shouldn't be looked at like a punishment, but more as a solution.

Yes, I'm the first to admit that I hate exercise--but I'm also the first to admit that I LOVE what it does for my body and how it makes me feel. I can't imagine my life without it, now that I know how much good it's doing me!

If there is one thing that I've learned while losing weight, and maintaining weight (and even gaining here and there) it is this: Exercise is crucial to losing weight and keeping it off. Period.

I've lost weight lots of times in the past through diet alone; but I always gained it back, because I wasn't exercising. Now that I'm at goal, I'm no longer working toward a specific weight--so I need other goals to focus on, and running gives me that focus. I am setting goals of getting faster, and running farther, and pushing myself. If I wasn't doing this, there would be nothing stopping me from slipping back into old habits--which did not include goal setting. 

Exercise doesn't have to be as challenging as running, either. Dr. Oz could talk about the benefits of walking, which is something that most people can do. My friend Stephanie wasn't remotely interested in running, so she walked while she was losing weight. She set goals just like you would as a runner--first, to work up to walking 5K; then to walk it faster; and even though it wasn't originally part of her plan, she is now running. I started out by walking for exercise, as well:

This was in Jan. 2010, after my first walk while losing weight

On to the "diet" part... the word "diet" has different meanings, and people interpret it in different ways. Most of us think of it as a way of eating in order to lose weight. When I talk about my diet on the blog, I'm referring to the foods I eat on a daily basis--"my daily diet". Others despise the word, and prefer "lifestyle change" in regards to eating for health or weight loss. But obviously, The Dr. Oz Show was referring to what you eat in order to lose weight.

I also am a firm believer that people have to change their diets (what they eat on a daily basis) in order to lose weight. When Dr. Oz says that you can take a certain supplement and lose weight without diet or exercise, that immediately makes it sound like people can eat the same stuff they are eating as an overweight person and still lose weight. Again, very unrealistic!

I didn't mean to turn this into a rant about the show, or Dr. Oz--I still greatly respect him as a doctor and health advocate. I just wish that he would go back to teaching people about a healthy lifestyle, which includes healthy diet and exercise, rather than doing shows like this.

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I'd been meaning to swap out the photo of me with Dr. Oz that's been on the home page of my blog for a long time, so I finally got around to doing it today :)

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Motivational Monday #66

Happy Motivational Monday! I hope that everyone's summer is off to a great start. I had such a great couple of days with Jerry, and it was the perfect way to kick off summer. I think that is actually what I am most proud of this week: Jerry and I had a couple of days without the kids, and we chose to use that time to do a race together. That NEVER would have happened five years ago!

What have you all done this week to make you feel proud?

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Crystal made a New Year's Resolution to run a 5K--and she did it, on January 25th, as part of my Virtual 5K. She had finished in 41:41, and became hooked on running. She signed up for The Color Run as her first "real" 5K, and was very nervous about running it. Last weekend, she did it--and finished in 34:25! She really enjoys running now, and hopes to run her third 5K later this summer.

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Sami just ran her first official 5K in Montana last weekend! It was a hilly course, with an elevation climb of 300 feet, but she rocked it out in 26:56! She just started running in late March of this year, after losing 43 pounds, and she's hooked.

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After maintaining a 100-pound weight loss for two and a half years, Kelly regained 15 pounds due to an injury. She tried everything she knew to lose the weight, but nothing was working. In March, she was introduced to weight training, and has since lost not only the 15 pounds, but a total of 23 (and 14% body fat)! She is thrilled with her strength now, and on Friday, she reached three new weight lifting PR's--lifting heavier weights than she ever had before! (Kelly's blog)

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Brittany has been running off and on since 2012, and has done twelve 5K's. She was able to run up to three miles during her training, but on race day, she always had a mental block, forcing her to take breaks during the race. Well, on Saturday, she ran an entire 5K (including hills) without any breaks! She had to dig deep for the last mile, but she was so proud when she crossed that finish line. She and her friend are currently training for their first half-marathon in February. (Brittany's race report)

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Hanneke just ran her first half-marathon on Saturday! She did the Midnight Sun Half Marathon--named appropriately because she lives in Northern Norway where the sun doesn't set for TWO MONTHS of the summer. The half-marathon didn't start until 10:30, so this photo of Hanneke and her boyfriend was taken in the middle of the night! She finished in 2:33, and her boyfriend in 2:05. Hanneke changed her lifestyle about a year ago, and has lost 37 pounds. She didn't enjoy running, so she did a lot of walking--and eventually, was walking so fast that she naturally fell into a run. She ended up doing Jeff Galloway's run/walk method, and her pace was the same as when she tried to run without any walk breaks. She recommends the program, because she said it's great for mental strength--you can always talk yourself into "just one more" interval ;)

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Congrats, ladies! Make sure you check out the Motivational Monday Facebook post as well, because there are some great stories today (and pictures). Feel free to share your own proud moment of the week!

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Lake Cadillac Team Marathon+ race report

Race day registration started at 6:00 near the starting line, so Jerry and I got up at 5:15 to get ready, then drove a couple of miles down the road to the race tent. We were the first ones there, and we each registered for the 10K. I decided that I wanted to do the race with Jerry, instead of running the half by myself—there really wasn’t any reason for me to run the half-marathon! We got all kinds of goodies for our registration fee: t-shirt (cotton! I love when races have cotton shirts, because I actually wear them); drawstring bag; shoe bag; and a plastic cup. 

We also got bibs and shoe tags. I haven’t gotten an actual shoe tag in a long time! Most races have the timing chips on the bibs now. Luckily I knew what it was ;) The race didn’t start until 7:30, so we headed to McDonald’s to get some coffee while we waited. It was kind of entertaining there, because there were four teenagers who were either hungover or still drunk from last night—each of them took turns going to the bathroom to throw up, which could be heard through the whole restaurant. So classy.

When it was time to go to the race start, we parked by the finish line, and then there was a bus shuttle that could take runners and/or spectators to the individual starting lines. The starting line for the 10K was only 0.7 miles away, so we decided just to walk. The scenery was gorgeous!

There were markings on the side of the road to show the course, and we kept looking for the 10K starting line mark. We saw the 20-mile mark for the marathon, and it only made sense to me that the 10K start should have been in the same spot as that—right? (20 miles + 10K = finish line). Well, we didn’t see anything about the starting line there, so we just kept walking. Finally, we saw two people standing on the side of the road, and a mark that said “10K start”. 

We chatted with them while we waited for more people to show up. They were locals, and couldn’t believe how few people were doing the race. I had looked at last year’s results, so I knew it was a small race, and it was just what I expected. I really liked the informality of it! Finally, the bus pulled up, and some more people got off for the 10K start. There weren’t many of us—13 in total for the 10K!

The race director stayed with us, and then got ready to announce on the radio when we would start, so that all runners would start at the same time, regardless of what distance they were running. It cracked me up how intimate this race was—someone on the radio asked if the "woman in the yellow shirt found her way to the 10K start", and the race director radioed back, “The yellow shirt woman is here. Are we waiting on anyone else? Have my parents drive them over.” This is totally unlike anything I’ve experienced at a race before, but I loved that they knew pretty much everyone in the race. 

Jerry said something about bag check tags on our bib, and it made me think that if there actually was a bag check, it would probably be everyone putting their bags in the truck of the race directors car, and he’d personally make sure that everything was safe ;)

Anyway, the race director counted down, and sent us off. I planned on being in the very back of the pack, but even at a pretty slow pace, Jerry and I were toward the front of the 10K’ers. The race went by super fast! It felt like I blinked, and we were already at mile two. We took some mid-race selfies, and we chatted with a couple of people along the way. 

We passed a few people who were doing the marathon or the relay (who started about a mile down the road from us). We were passed by a couple of people doing the half-marathon (who started about a quarter mile behind us). We enjoyed the scenery, and had some good conversation.

I have to take a second to rave about this course—it is FANTASTIC. It’s a 6.9-mile loop around an inland lake. Where your start on the course depends on the race distance you’re doing. For the 10K, you do a little less than a full loop. The whole course is very flat, because it’s right next to the lake, so if you’re looking for a PR, it’s great. It’s also such a small race that you’re pretty much guaranteed to place in your age group. Anyway, I loved the course, and can’t really say enough good things about it!

When we reached the finisher’s “chute” (not really a chute, but the finish line/relay exchange points), it was such a warm and intimate finish—I can’t really explain it other than that. There weren’t crowds of people, but there were probably about 30 spectators, and everyone was in great spirits. Jerry and I crossed the finish line, and promptly removed the timing chips from our shoes to deposit in a bucket. 

We spent some time hanging out at the finish line, looking out at the lake, watching our fellow 10K’ers cross the finish line, and chatting with some of the other runners. Because it was such a small race, you feel like you already know everyone that you ran with, and you want to see them do well! Then we went to the tent to see if they had our results.

They had a paper with the results printed on it, and I could clearly see “Female 30-39” with only ONE name under it—mine. I won first place (and last place) in my age group ;)  Under “Male 30-39” was only ONE name—Jerry’s. Turns out we were 6th and 7th place overall, out of the 13 that ran the 10K. (We finished in 57:21)

We got medals for our age group finishes, which was kind of fun. The ribbon on mine was SO short, that I had to work pretty hard to get it over my head. Haha!

I loved everything about this race! I was nervous about it being such a small race, and I was expecting a really competitive atmosphere, but it was nothing like that. It was very intimate, and fun. The race director was walking around talking to people, which really says a lot. I’ve never actually seen that at a race before! The course was fantastic, like I mentioned before. I would say that out of all the races I’ve done (which is a lot!), this one would make my top five. I would love to do it again next year—maybe the four-person relay with my siblings? 

In looking at the results later, I realized that if I had wanted to, I probably could have won the half-marathon, hahaha. The first place woman finished in 1:58:19; and for the marathon, the first place woman finished in 5:15:17! There were only 16 people to do the half-marathon, and 5 to do the full. There were a lot more people on the course than that, though, because there were several relay teams for the full marathon. Still--when I say it was a small race, I mean it was a SMALL race. I don't mean that in a negative way, though--the size of the race was part of what I loved so much about it!

After the race, Jerry and I went back to the hotel to shower. We decided to drive up to Traverse City after all, and we got there just in time for lunch. We stopped at this little sandwich shop called Bad Dog Cafe, and I had the best sandwich I’ve ever had in my life! Then we went to Chateau Chantal winery for a wine tasting.

Basically, you pay $3, and get to taste 6 different wines (of your choice). I selected a nice variety of what was listed, and we enjoyed all of them. We bought a glass of Chardonnay and sat outside for a little while, enjoying the weather and the scenery. I felt like I could have sat there all day long, and had several glasses, but we had to drive home, so we just stuck to one. 

I loved the wine glasses! We got to buy them for $1 and use them for the tasting

Jerry wanted to try out a brewery called North Peak before we left Traverse City, so we stopped there on the way out. I’m not a beer person, so I didn’t get any, but he had a flight of beer and was thrilled ;)

Then, we started the long drive home (now 5+ hours, because we had driven further north to Traverse City). I’m actually typing this in the car. It was SUCH a great 24-hour trip! 

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Spontaneous road trip and race

I'm going to keep this very brief, because I need to get some sleep for a half-marathon tomorrow. Yes, a half-marathon.

This morning, I was trying to think of something to do tonight or tomorrow, because my parents were taking the kids camping, and Jerry was off work. Someone on Facebook mentioned a local 5K, and I thought, "Hey, maybe I'll do a race!" Which then led me to thinking about wanting to do a longer race than a 5K. I searched for half-marathons online, but only found one, which was 4 hours away in northwest Michigan.

When it was clear that there weren't any other options, I started to think of the logistics of it. Would it be so crazy to drive up there for it? There was nothing holding us at home, because the kids will be camping until Monday. So I asked Jerry, and while he thought it was crazy, he thought it sounded fun, too.

The race had a marathon, half-marathon, and 10K option, as well as a four-person marathon relay. I tried to recruit my brother to do the relay with us, but he had to work, so it was just Jerry and me. Jerry decided to run the 10K, and I chose to do the half-marathon.

I looked up the race, and discovered that it is a SMALL race. Like, tiny. Here is the starting line photo from last year:

The race goes around a small inland lake. The loop around the lake is just less than 7 miles around, so you do almost two loops for a half-marathon, a little less than one loop for the 10K, and almost four for a marathon. All three races start at the same time, just at different spots at the course, and the finish line is the same for everyone.

I looked up the results from last year, and there was only ONE woman in the 30-39 age group (my age group). She finished much faster than I plan on finishing. So, in my brother's words, "If you ain't first, you're last!" ;)

The field is actually pretty competitive for such a small race. I will likely be in the bottom five finishers overall! Hahaha, I really don't mind, though. The marathon will be going on at the same time, so at least I won't be the last one on the course.

But first, we had to drive up there, to Cadillac, Michigan.

Jerry came home from work early, so we headed out at 3:15. The first half of the drive was nothing new to me, but once we got up to Bay City area and headed west, it was all new territory. And it was so nice! Jerry and I both kept talking about how pretty it was. We listened to old school music, and had a good time in the car.

When we got to Cadillac, I was surprised, to say the least. I don't know what I was picturing, but it was completely different than I expected. It's a super cute town--not much to do/see, but really pretty, clean, and spacious. I was absolutely starving, because it was already 7:00, so we headed down the road to a bar/restaurant called Clam Lake Beer Company (highly recommended by the hotel). Jerry was thrilled with the selection of beer, and I just wanted food. NOW. I ordered a pesto chicken quesadilla with sundried tomatoes, and it was really good!

Anyway, after dinner, we drove around the course of the race, to check it out. Holy smokes, is it ever GORGEOUS. Photos don't do it justice at all.

(It just took literally over 40 minutes to upload that one photo! The Holiday Inn "Express" clearly wasn't named for its internet speed.)

After seeing the course, I was so happy with the spur-of-the-moment decision to drive up here. It’s SO pretty, and I can’t wait to run on it tomorrow. I am pretty sure it’s going to be my slowest half ever, because I plan to take at least a few dozen photos on the course. 

I was actually thinking of doing the 10K instead of the half-marathon, because I’d like to run with Jerry. There really isn’t any reason to do the half over the 10K, so we’ll see what I end up registering for in the morning. On one hand, I feel like if I drove all this way, I might as well do the half; but on the other hand, running with Jerry would be more enjoyable, and something we could do together.

After the race, we plan to spend the day here before driving home. We were planning to go to Traverse City, but now that we’ve seen Cadillac, we think we’d be just as happy hanging out here. It’s just such a nice little town! 

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Turtle oatmeal

I found myself feeling kind of stressed out this morning about getting in a long run. Now that the kids are out of school, I can't just go run whenever I feel like it. As I was thinking about it, though, I realized that stressing out was completely counterproductive to what I was hoping to work on this summer. I wanted stress-free running! That's why I cut way back on my mileage.

So, I'm going to try something I've never really done before. I'm going to toss my running schedule out the window, and just run when/where/how long I feel like. The only "rule" I have is that I must get in at least 3 runs per week, 3+ miles each time. That's been a rule of mine since I started running four years ago. I will most likely run 4-5 days a week, but the minimum is 3.

I don't want to stress out about trying to get in a long run on Fridays, or any run at all if it's ridiculously hot and humid. So if I have a good opportunity to go for a 10-mile run on a nice, cool Tuesday, then I'll go for it. And if my friends are running on Saturday, and it works out I can go, I'd love to do that. I've always followed a schedule, so I have no idea how well this will work, but because I'm not actively training for a particular race right now, it's the perfect time to give it a try!

Noah was at a friend's house this morning, so I was home with Eli. I had oatmeal for the first time in a while for breakfast, and I tried a combo I'd never tried before: oatmeal topped with caramel, chocolate chips, and pecans. I can't believe I never thought to do that before! I've done the caramel, chocolate chips and peanut butter, or caramel, chocolate chips and coconut; but never the pecans. It was really good--tasted like a turtle chocolate!

I used 33 grams of oats (which I cooked in water), 17 grams of caramel dip, 10 grams of mini chocolate chips, and 7 grams of pecans--which made the whole thing a total of 6 PointsPlus.

Eli went to my mom's house for a little while in the late morning, so I decided to go to the State Park for a long run. I decided to do 6 miles at a 9:1 run/walk ratio (run 0.9 miles, walk 0.1 miles, repeat). I really enjoy doing the 9:1 thing for my long runs. Since I was going to be taking a walk break each mile, I figured I might as well try and hit a decent pace during the running portions. I was hoping for sub-9:00 pace, but wasn't sure how I'd feel once I was actually running.

I had to start at a different part of the park, because the usual lot was closed, so that actually made the run a little more interesting. I didn't know where the mile markers were without looking at my watch, and it was kind of nice not knowing. As soon as I pulled into the park, it started to rain very lightly. I hoped the sprinkling would keep up through the run--running with light rain is the best!

I was able to hold a sub-9:00 pace for the first interval, so I made that my goal for the rest of the run. Run at a sub-9:00 pace for 0.9 miles, then walk for 0.1. Doing the 9:1 ratio sounds like it would be a lot easier than it actually is--this was a tough run! But mentally, it worked out well, because if I had been trying to hold a sub-9:00 pace for 6 miles this morning, it just wouldn't have happened. Physically, I'm sure I could do it if I really tried, but mentally, the desire just wasn't there. When I do the 9:1 intervals, I only have to hold pace for 0.9 miles, which doesn't seem far at all. It's much nicer to focus on a short segment at a time, rather than the whole distance at once.

I even managed to take a decent mid-run selfie (during my run portion, not my walk portion) ;)

It continued to drizzle rain the entire run, which felt great. The last mile had a couple of hills (not steep, but more than the 1 foot of elevation gain I had yesterday!), so I just made it a mission to run a little harder. And somehow, I managed negative splits for my running segments!

I think that most surprising to me is that my overall pace was 9:28, which included the walking segments. When I'm actually out there walking them, I always feel like it's going to drag my pace down. I think that if I had run the whole 6 miles today, my pace probably would have been pretty close to 9:30, so it didn't really affect my average pace at all. Doing it this way was actually harder than running the whole thing, because I pushed my pace while running.

It was a nice run today, and left me wanting more... which is definitely a good thing!

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Running with family

I had a very strange wake-up call this morning. Last week, my brother and I made plans to run together on Thursday morning (today) at 6:15 AM. Yesterday, I got a voicemail from him at around 8:00 AM, saying something like, "Katie, are you coming? I've been waiting here for you for a while..." and I totally panicked. I was second-guessing what day it was, and what day we made plans for. I felt guilty for making him wait. (All of these thoughts were just a second or two, in reality). Then Nathan said he was just kidding, and wanted to make sure we were still on for the morning. Asshole. ;)

Last night, I had a dream that I was at the dorm for the Heartbreak Hill Half & Festival, and while I was there, Nathan called me to ask if I was planning on showing up for our run. I said, "Oh crap, I forgot! I'll be right there!" and then I got distracted. I called him an hour later, and he told me that he'd already run five miles without me, so I could just forget about it. I felt awful in my dream.

Then, I woke up. I was so relieved that it had just been a dream, because it made me feel so stressed for some reason. I glanced at the clock, and it was 6:15 AM. I was supposed to meet Nathan at the State Park at 6:15 AM. My stupid phone had shut off for some reason during the night, and I was using it for an alarm at 5:50, so I obviously didn't get that alarm.

I flew out of bed in a panic, ran around the house looking for a phone to call Nathan (my cell was still taking its good old time turning back on). I called Nathan and told him I was leaving right then, and he said that was fine, because he had gotten out of work about 10 minutes late. I threw on some clothes and ran out the door. I ended up getting there just after 6:30. Usually, I am the queen of being on time, or even early, so this made me a little crazy. Thankfully, my brother is super laid-back, and didn't mind at all.

We ended up running the three-mile loop around the park. I hadn't run with Nathan in a couple of weeks, so it was nice to catch up. He's thinking about a goal race for the fall. When I was going through race pictures for yesterday's post, I realized that I've done a race with all three of my siblings at some point, but not all at the same time.

Me, Brian, and Jeanie (May 2010, Indy 500 Festival Mini Marathon)

Nathan, me, Brian (April 2014, Martian Meteor 5K)

Jeanie, me, Nathan (April 2014, Glass City Marathon Relay)

And individually with each of them:

Brian and me during Ragnar Great River 2010; Jeanie and me during the
Rockford Half-Marathon 2013; Me and Nathan after the
Memorial Day Run 2014.

But still no race with all four of us!

I love that we are all runners now, especially because none of us ran when we were kids. Brian took it up in 2005-ish(?) because he said that he loved his ice cream, and as he got older, he would either have to give up the ice cream or start running. Sound familiar? ;)  I started next, and that was in 2010. Then Jeanie followed in 2012. And Nathan, in 2013. I think it would be so fun to do a "family Ragnar" or another sort of race together. 

Anyway, my run with Nathan was good. It felt hard, but that's nothing new for 96% humidity!

Dang, check out that elevation gain. The State Park is a tough course, what can I say?!

In my rush to get out the door, I forgot my heart rate monitor, so the calories burned are wrong. I wish I burned that many during a three-miler!

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Today was the kids' last day of school. Finally! It feels kind of strange to have such a short summer vacation, because they went to school for an extra two weeks. I signed the kids up for a couple of day camps--basketball and football, which they did last year and loved them. They're only three days each, for two hours a day. We don't have any major plans until the end of August when we go to Punta Cana. 

I'm hoping to have a relaxing summer, without too much stress, and maybe even get back down to my goal weight before our vacation. My weight hasn't budged much at all for months now (hanging on in the 147-149 range). I'll start doing my Wednesday Weigh-ins again when something actually happens. I know what I need to change, but this year has just been extra tough for me. Talking about it with Heather during the interview for her Half Size Me podcast was actually kind of therapeutic, and it made me realize some things that I hadn't thought of before. I'm hoping that after this (the difficult time I'm having) passes, I'll look back and say, "Yeah, 2014 was a tough year for my weight maintenance, but I stuck it out, and now I'm back where I need to be."

Sometimes that's all I need to do--remind myself that some days/months/years will be harder than others, but it's pretty much a fact of life. Compared to 2014, I feel like I skated right through 2013 (well, until Mark's cancer diagnosis, anyway). 

I'm not even sure what the point of all this rambling is! I need to get back to spring-cleaning my house, before spring is officially summer. ;)

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Tips for running (and training for) your first half-marathon

If you missed it, I previously wrote about running (and training for) your first 5K and your first 10K. The half-marathon distance is where things take a big leap, and your training gets longer. You're probably no longer a "beginner", and you've likely done a few shorter distance races.

My first half-marathon was a race that I had walked for three years in a row before I decided to run it. It was the Indy 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, which is the largest half-marathon in the country, and third largest in the world (source). I didn't have a time goal in mind, but I really wanted to truly enjoy the entire race--and I think that made all the difference in how great of a race I had!

I've now completed 11 half-marathons, so it's no longer an intimidating distance for me. My favorite distance is still the 10K, but half-marathon is a close second. It's long enough that you have to train for it, but not so long that the training consumes your life (like a marathon does). Anyway, I hope these tips will be helpful! Feel free to share your own tips in the comments.

A couple of other posts that may be helpful are:
A guide to "running lingo"
50 running tips

*I do not recommend a half-marathon as your first race. I'd start with a 5K, move to a 10K, and once you get at least a couple of races under your belt, then think about the half. I think if you've finished a 10K, you're running regularly, and have the discipline to stick to a training plan, you're probably ready to tackle the half-marathon!

*Choose a training plan based on your goal. If your goal is just to finish, feeling strong, find a plan that doesn't focus on a bunch of speed work. I've written a plan for beginners, which you can find here on my Training Plans page. I don't recommend having a time goal for your first, because it adds a lot of unnecessary stress in what should be an enjoyable race.

*If you DO decide to have a time goal, at least make it a realistic one. I love this pace calculator. You can input a recent 5K or 10K time, and it will give you a prediction for a half-marathon time. That is also a realistic goal.

*Pick a race that works well with your goal. If you're a slower runner, or a walker, you'll probably want to choose a race that has a lot of people in your pace range. You can check the website to see if there is a time limit on the course, and then check out the previous year's results online to see where you fall. Just for reference, the winners of a half-marathon will usually finish just over an hour; and a common time limit for a half is 4 hours (18:19/mi). So in general, you'll be finishing somewhere in there ;)  (Fun fact: In 2012, the median finish time for males was 2:01:28, and 2:19:47 for females. Source)

*Announce on Facebook, and all your social media sites, that you've registered for your first half-marathon. Telling the world makes you much more likely to stick with the training ;)

*Don't slack on your training! While some people can manage to complete a 5K or 10K with little to no training, the half-marathon distance is definitely tougher--even if you plan on walking it. When I walked my first, I didn't train at all, and I paid the price for that (I had to wear a walking cast for a few weeks because I had bad tendonitis). You should get in a long run of 10 or more miles about two weeks out from the race.

Walking my first half-marathon

(*Also, don't wear your bib as high as I pinned mine. I had no clue when I pinned it there, but nobody wears their bibs that high!)

*On a related note, if you DO happen to miss a run for a very good reason, don't worry about making it up. Just start where you left off.

*Practice your fueling plan during your long runs. When you run for 13.1 miles, you're going to on the course for roughly 2-3 hours--and you're going to need something to help give you the energy to keep going. During training, you can experiment with gels, chews, sports drinks, etc. to find out what works for YOU. This is one area that truly is unique to each individual. Your training partner may do great with gels, but they might make you nauseous. Or vice versa. Try out all different types of fuel during your training runs to find out what agrees with YOUR body. In general, I'd aim to take in 1-2 gels, or 3-6 ShotBloks (or equivalent) for a two-hour half-marathon (maybe miles 5 & 10?). An additional gel for three hours.

*Check out the race website to see where the water stations are, and practice taking in your fuel at those points during your training runs.

*Make a mental plan about what you're going to do at the fuel stations. Personally, I walk through the stations and drink at each and every single one (unless I'm doing a 5K or 10K). It's important to hydrate early on, before your body gets upset that you're running for so long. And yes, walking through the water stations still "counts" as running a half-marathon ;)

*If possible, find a training partner to prepare for the race with. Running with a partner really helps the long mileage fly by!

Jessica was my training partner for my first full marathon, and it helped a LOT!

Partners that run together, treat themselves to fro-yo together!

*Check out the course, and try to mimic the terrain if possible. If there are tons of hills, then you'll obviously want to include a lot of hills in your long runs. If it's a trail run, then you'll want to run on trails.

*If your shoes accumulate more than 300-450 miles, you may want to swap them out for a new pair. My shoes have to retire at 350 miles, not a single mile later! I learned this the hard way ;)

*Running your first half-marathon is a really big deal, so make sure you treat it like one! Let your family and friends know how much it means to you, and if you want them there, just ask. Non-runners usually have a hard time understanding how important a race is, and it's not personal. Just tell them what you're hoping to get from them--cheers, posters, whatever floats your boat.

*Like always, don't go out too fast when you're at the race. Chances are, you'll be feeling great, and with the spectators and other runners around, you'll want to push the pace a little. But that almost always will come back to bite you later. Start out very conservatively, and if you're still feeling great at the 10 mile mark, push the last 5K.

*Some half-marathons have "pacers", which are people who are assigned to finish the race at a particular time. They'll carry a sign that reads the projected finish time, so you know who they are. If you're afraid of going out too fast, or if you want to finish in a particular time, you can always choose to stick with a pacer to help with your goal.

*This is an obvious tip, but make sure you go to the bathroom before the race! The porta potty lines are long, so allow enough time.

*Don't worry about stopping your Garmin, or other sports watch, right as you cross the finish line. There will likely be a photographer taking photos of you, so smile big and forget about your watch until you are well across the line. You want great race photos ;)

What NOT to do when you cross the finish line!

A perfect finish line photo ;)

*Be prepared to be sore for a day or two after the race. Once your legs are accustomed to doing that distance, it won't be so bad; but after your first half-marathon, you'll likely be pretty sore! Plan on taking a week off of running to recuperate.

You may need help putting on pants (be careful not to spill
your celebratory beer). 

I hope this helps! If you prepare yourself by training well, and sticking with realistic goals, I would bet that you'll do great at your first half marathon! Make sure you take pictures so you can submit your accomplishment for Motivational Monday ;)

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Thrift store finds

Well, I guess I spoke too soon about the fish flies not being too bad this year. Yesterday, Jerry and I went to the rec center so I could sign the boys up for football camp, and I couldn't believe how many fish flies were on the wall!

In the afternoon, we went to the thrift store to see if we could get cleats for the kids for baseball. Whenever I go to the thrift store, I end up browsing around for the longest time, just looking at all the interesting stuff that accumulates there. I found a couple of cool things:

A CamelBak! It was literally brand new, and only $2.99; the only problem was that it was missing the bladder. But I knew I could buy a replacement bladder, and Jerry really wanted the CamelBak, so we bought it.

I also found this book, which I just had to buy!

I love that the woman on the cover is wearing a button-down collared shirt to run ;) The book was published in 1978, so I'm really curious about what kind of advice it offers. Should be an interesting read, to say the least.

Last night, the kids had a baseball game at 7:00. I had to leave early, because I had a Skype interview at 8:00 with Heather from the Half Size Me podcast. I was on her podcast before, in the fall of 2012, and I really enjoyed chatting with her. I love her podcast, so I was happy to do it again. We talked about maintenance, and the struggles I've been having, as well as a little about the From Fat to Finish Line documentary. I really don't have any news about the film--when I asked Angela, the producer, she said it could be a while before it's available. Apparently, documentaries take a LONG time to go from filming to screen.

Anyway, the interview went great (at least I hope so). I felt a lot more comfortable this time around, and I don't think I said "um" so much ;)  Heather is really easy to talk to! I'll let you know when the interview from yesterday is available for download.

This morning, Jerry was off work and we decided to let the kids play hooky from school today. They only had a half-day, and their last day is Thursday (tomorrow and Thursday are also half-days), so we didn't see any harm in letting them stay home. As soon as I got up this morning, I wanted to get my run out of the way. It was already 73 degrees with 83% humidity at 7:00 this morning! I only had three miles on the schedule, so I wanted to get it done before it got any hotter. I hoped the fish flies would leave me alone for 30 minutes.

To say it was a hot run was an understatement. I hate when it's super humid, because my sweat doesn't evaporate, which makes me feel like a slippery mess. I ran at a 9:00/mi pace for the first couple of miles, and was tempted to slow it down for the third mile. As soon as I hit the start of mile three, some birds started dive-bombing me, and I ran hard to get away from them. After that, it was really hard to maintain pace, but since I'd already gone 2.2 miles at that pace, I decided to just try and run a sub-9:00 for the last mile. Not a bad pace for this humidity!

When I finished my run, I was pretty much gasping for air. It was so hard to breathe when the air was so thick. I sat in front of the fan drinking some ice water for a few minutes before taking a shower.

In the late morning, we took the kids to the wave pool at the Metropark. There was a threat of a thunderstorm, but it looked like it would hit north of us, so we took a chance and went to the pool. I really don't like swimming, so I brought Bart Yasso's book (that I bought at the Runner's World Half expo), and sat in the shade to read while the boys swam.

It was really windy, and I started to worry that maybe we would get a storm, but it never came. Because of the wind, the Metropark deflated their huge water slide, though. The kids lasted a few hours in the pool, and then we headed home.

We're supposed to have thunderstorms tomorrow, too, so we'll see what happens.

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