This upcoming Sunday, October 15, some familiar faces will be running at the Detroit Marathon. I’ll be running the half-marathon (one full was more than enough for me) alongside fellow Biggest Loser Season 7 contestants: Helen, Damien and new lovely wife Nicole, Carla. Some faves from Season 6 will also be running: Coleen, Amy C. and Shellay; and from Season 2, Pete Thomas.
Pops (Ron, my dad, if you didn’t know) is going to be doing the 5k, but is having knee surgery this month, so its all still up in the air. Renee, mother of Michelle from season six, will also be doing the 5k.
Because completing my first Olympic distance triathlon was not enough, I decided to follow up a week later with my first ultra marathon – a 50K (31 mile) trail race in The North Face Endurance Challenge series! If you’re surprised, trust me, I was too! I actually thought I was competing in a 20-miler! But, you know what, when it came down to it, I trusted myself and my nutrition fueling plan. I just committed to having fun.
Here’s how I survived my ultra marathon:
- Carb-load - Carbs are gasoline for the body and you can’t attempt a 50K without putting gas in the tank. I had two cups of whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce and some salted steak fries the night before my run.
- Early riser breakfast – I woke at 4 a.m. for a 7 a.m. start and I noshed on a toasted plain bagel with almond butter, a banana, and water.
One of my top ten tips for parenting includes the reminder that the idea ‘do what I say, not what I do’ never works. I encourage parents to consider the characteristics, habits, and values they want their child to have as an adult and to allow that to help them shape their parenting. Once we pass a certain age, most of us realize that we are becoming more and more like our parents (for better or for worse). Do you want your children to be like you when they are your age? What else do you want for your children?
Whether your children are old enough to start joining you in your fitness routine or you even have children yet, now is the perfect time to start developing the habits in yourself that you want your children to adopt. Your child is unlikely to want to join you in activities that you do not enjoy. Your child, who sees you as a role model, is more likely to do the things you do. I rode in bike races as a child because that was what my father did.
Even though I’ve never considered myself a runner, after being on the sidelines photographing for my marathoner/inspiration a couple of times, I signed myself up for the 2008 500 Festival Mini Marathon because everyone does it and it doesn’t feel overly competitive. It was my first race ever, and I was so impressed with myself. Starting back in corral Y I walked the first mile until I got through some of the mass of humanity. I started running and did not stop. Of course I signed up again!
In August I had surgery to repair a labreal tear in my hip joint from a 2006 injury. (Yes, I learned to run with that injury.) I told the surgeon and physical therapist that teaching dance is part of my income and I was going to run the mini again. Running had become an important escape for me. I probably started teaching dance before I should have and my recovery slowed. It was nearly Spring before I was allowed to start trying to run, and my training wasn’t very consistent.
It’s a precarious position this father-son team has found themselves in, in fact Mike Morelli called it a worst-case scenario. They are part of the four finalists on Biggest Loser 7, but both Mike and his father, Ron Morelli, fell below the yellow line in the last week on the ranch. Neither were eliminated, but only one will advance as the third finalist to compete against Tara and Helen for the $250,000 prize and title of Biggest Loser.
“I hope that America votes Mike up,” pleads his father. A similar situation occurred with husband and wife duo Heba and Ed in season six, and fans ignored their pleas to send Heba to the finale, instead voting for Ed. When asked if they fear the same situation, Ron responded “Mike’s won enough hearts that Heba didn’t.”
(Vote Now to make Ron or Mike a Biggest Loser Finalist!)
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