Live better and longer with the fitness show hosted by fitness expert author and tv personality Fitz Kohler she'll tell you why diets are dumb supplements or snake oil and the truth about how you can earn a lean hard pain-free and athletic body now for our favorite bossy blonde Fitz Kohler. Music. It's a fitzy mini it's so cute, Well, hi, team. I'm Fitz Kohler, your super noisy race announcer from Fitzness.com. And welcome to the first ever Fitzy mini episode.
That's right. I'm going to give you just a little taste of me. It sounds kind of creepy. Just a little taste of me. And trust me, it's going to be delicious. Yeah. So I'm going to do some 50 mini episodes just because sometimes I have something to say, but not a whole bunch to say. And I'd rather stay in your ear on the regular. So we're going to do some minis. Sometimes my episodes are 30 minutes, 40 minutes, 60 minutes and more. Today, not so much. And you know what our first topic is?
Race day superstitions. Fascinating how people prepare for running events and walking events. I always want to include our walkers because a huge portion of our 5k, 10k half marathon ultra community is made up of walkers. So there you are. Everybody's included. However, sometimes people do some weird stuff. We do some very practical things, hopefully training for our running or walking event, right? We're training for our race.
We're going to put in the time, put in the miles to make sure our body is prepared. But then as we get right close to race day, people start doing weird things. So I put out a call. I put out a call in some of my favorite running groups, including my own, and just said, hey, do you have any interesting race day superstitions? Now, some people shared some fantastically weird, odd things that they do, and lovely and interesting too, not just weird and odd.
And then some people gave some practical things they do. Now, here's the difference. A suspicion is defined as a widely held unjustified belief in supernatural causation leading to certain consequences. So if I don't lift up my feet when I go over the railroad tracks. Something bad is going to happen. I don't know. I do that. And I'm not even superstitious at all, not even a little, not remotely.
I think it's habitual. I grew up in South Florida and we were always going to the beaches in Fort Lauderdale. And in order to get from my house to the beach, we had to cross the railroad tracks. And I don't know why, but we always lifted up our feet. I still do that when I go over the tracks. I'm almost embarrassed to share it, but I don't get embarrassed. So whatevs. I lift up my feet when I go over railroad tracks. Take that.
I don't know what could happen if I don't do that, nor do I really care. But there I am lifting up my feet. It's the same thing as step on a crack, you break your mama's back. And I think I did that. My poor mama definitely had some broken back issues. So blah, blah, blah. Do you implement some irrational, superstitious activity on race day or in preparation for race day? If so, please reach out to me. Use social media. Share it with me on Instagram or Facebook,
on Fitzness, on either direction. Tell me what your weird or fabulous race day superstitions are. But I'm going to read some of the responses I received from y'all because you are awesome. Okay. So Janet Dial, who I love, Janet is a bigwig at the Los Angeles Zoo. And she recently took me on a fantastic tour of the Los Angeles Zoo, a VIP tour. So thank you, Janet. And I love you, Janet. She's a sweet, beautiful, talented, and athletic lady.
So she says she never wears a race shirt before she finishes a race, 100%. And that's one I see all over the place. And it's interesting because. Well, here, this is what she said. I said, why? Why? She said, I just feel like you have to earn the right to wear the shirt. So if you wear it before you run, it's bad mojo. Okay, I get that. No, I don't feel that way. But there's a good percentage of the running community that does feel that way.
And it's very interesting to me because some folks are like, definitely not, never, never, never. And then when I show up at a start line and I'm on a stage as a race announcer, I look out into the crowd. Sometimes I see hundreds or thousands of people wearing that day's race shirt. And I actually really like that. I go to OC Marathon, for example, and they always have such beautiful shirts, quite often this seafoam blue type color, very beautiful or orange.
And I think it's fabulous to see everybody in kind of a uniform, right? Everybody's there wearing their OC Marathon or Half Marathon or 5K shirt, just gorgeous. So I like to see people in their race day shirt. Now, I don't usually wear the race shirt when I run a race because I just, I don't know. Now, I wear my own gear, right? My fitness gear. But that's a very popular belief. Somebody else commented. I went to Reddit to see what their superstitious suggestions were.
And this person said, you cannot under any circumstances, get this, any circumstances. Don't even think about it, psycho. It would be crazy. You cannot under any circumstances wear your race shirt before completing the race. That includes during the race, too. I have never met a real runner who wore the race shirt for that race. Don't come for me if you do this. Who is this person? Who is this person that is so adamant about runners not wearing their race shirt? Don't come.
Don't come for me if you do this. That's very funny. People get very intense on social media. I don't know who this person is, but feels very passionate. So here's the thing is if you, if you feel passionate about the subject that you cannot wear the race shirt on race day until you finish the race. What are you going to do about it? What are you going to do if you see a mob of people in their race shirts?
Are you going to go Karen on them? You're going to go wag your finger and tell them, how dare you? How dare you, you hellions, you evildoers, get those shirts off. I mean, what are we going to do, right? Anyways, I think it's very, very funny. So yeah, don't wear your shirt. Don't wear the actual race shirt on race day. That's what they say. I don't know if I agree with that. Do you agree with that? And we will be right back. Are you looking for the perfect gift for a loved one battling cancer?
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We're back. Oh, and then Janet says also, she has a favorite goo pouch. That's a belt. She's had it for so long. It doesn't fit any of the phones she has, but she always wears it. So she's wearing an unproductive running belt. That's right. She can't put any of her things in it, but she wears it anyways. That's very funny. Janet, I wonder what will happen to you if you don't wear your belt. What if you replace the old belt with a new modern belt that fits your phone?
I wonder. Janet also says she had one more fun item to share. And she said ever since she was running with masks due to COVID, mind you, what a psychotic thing to do. Not you, Janet. I mean, everybody who did it running with a mask on where you're inhaling and exhaling and you're trying to be increasing your cardiorespiratory capacity and someone's wearing a mask over their face, a suffocating mask.
Absolute insanity. I've never been so pissed off as a fitness expert in my entire life to see these dumb, moronic bulls in the government saying that people had to wear masks while running, while exercising. Balderdash. That makes me cranky. Anyway, so she said she found an actual valuable use for the masks. She said that she realized that they were the secret to success when she went into a port-a-potty.
She says, you can't smell anything. So now she wears one on her wrist and puts it on, puts that baby on when she goes into a port-a-potty during a marathon. So finally, I do actually think there's a good value for those stupid masks, I guess, to block the odor of the content, the content. Of the contents of a porta potty. Brilliant. Sorry for going on that rant. Had to do it though. All right. Carrie Patricia Honlois says push-ups for her. She does push-ups before race. And I said, why?
And she said, running isn't just legs and it's for self-confidence. So I guess she does push-ups at the start line and it makes her feel more confident. And I like that very, very much. Okay, Scott Matthew, this seems more like a practical issue than a superstitious one, but he says, don't leave the hotel before the PRD pre-run deuce. My mom would be so mad at me for talking about poop on a podcast, but I guess I've had to do it a whole bunch of times because runners love to talk about poop.
But he says, eating stuff at the expo booth counts as nothing new on race day. Okay. So a lot of people want to do nothing new on race day. If you've, if you've not experienced this, the reason is you don't want anything going weirdly while you're in the middle of a long distance race or even a short distance race. So if you wear a, say a new tank top, it might have a seam that runs down the side of the tank top that scratches the bejesus out of you.
When you put it on in the dressing room, it felt great. It felt fabulous, but now you're at mile too. And you've got this new shirt on and the seam is rubbing you crazy. Same thing for shoes. You never want to wear new shoes on race day. Really, we want to practice in the gear we're going to perform in just to make sure it's well used and it's comfortable and it's not going to cause problems.
So he, and the same thing goes for food, right? You don't want to go out and have some exotic meal you've never tried before. And then all of a sudden your stomach goes into spasms mid-race and you end up in the port-a-potty without a mask like Janet. It could be a bad thing. So anyways, he says, don't leave the hotel before PRD, pre-run deuce. Eating stuff at the expo booth counts as nothing new on race day though. So I guess if you have some exotic food, as long as it's at the expo, it's okay.
This is quite superstitious. He says, place shoes facing the start line the day before. So before he goes to bed, he's going to take his shoes and they're going to point towards the start line. He also wears his dad's ashes on his wrist for every important race. So part of the superstition is believing he's always there with me, with him when it counts. Well, I don't think that's superstitious at all. I think your dad is with you all the time.
Duh. Of course. even if you don't have the ashes on your wrist, which is actually really cute. I do like that people are not just taking ashes and leaving them in an urn on the shelf in their house. Some people have little lockets and they wear the ashes. I don't know. I do think that's nice. Okay, Laura Motter. She's got a great superstition. She says, if she has a really solid last run before a race, she does not wash the socks and she wears them on race day.
And I asked her, why? Why do you do that? And she said, well... I guess it feels like I want to run in what I know I'm fast in. So if she ran in those socks and it was a good run, she's going to keep those socks as her lucky socks, I guess. Very interesting. Okay, Kent Reinhardt says, he always lays out his clothes in a line on the floor of his hotel in the order he needs to put it all on. He also puts his Vaseline or Bodyglide in the line where he needs to apply it.
That seems practical. That's a really good idea. Yeah. Now I am someone who lays out my clothes because I like to wake up as late as humanly possible, whether I'm race announcing or running a race. In fact. I don't know. I definitely wake up early for race announcing because God forbid I'm late. I've never been late and nor do I want to be. But yeah, setting up my clothes the night before, that helps me not go into a panic mode that I can't find my favorite sports bra or the sock or whatever.
So yeah, that's good stuff, Kent. I don't know if it's superstitious. I think that's practical. Mary Cook says she's been wearing the same sports bra for races for years. It's her good luck bra. She says she's not sure what she's going to do when it's time to retire it. Also, no race gear till after the race. She's been doing that since high school. So she also will not wear the race shirt. But yeah, lucky sports bra.
Now, I like that, Mary. I like that you have a sports bra that feels good, probably looks great, probably holds you in place the way it's supposed to. But bad news, and I think you probably know this, is eventually that elastic will give. And your favorite sports bra will be... Nothing. It will just be unsupportive. And yeah, you're going to have to find a new one. So maybe look at the same brand and model and get one while you can.
I don't know how long you've been wearing it, but maybe it's still out there. Maybe do some shopping right now, Mary, or you may have to find a completely different bra. You may actually be thrilled with the new bra technology. And of course your boobs deserve only the best. All right. Derek Bailey says barbecue day before race. That's what he has to do. And he'll spare me the details. And Derek, I can only imagine.
Chong Altenberg. Chong has a good one. He says he brushes and flosses his teeth very intensely for about five minutes on race morning to put himself in a meditation while brushing and flossing 28 teeth. And I guess that's the way he's planning to run 26.2 miles. So he meditates while brushing his teeth very intensely and flossing. I actually, when I read that, I thought, ouch, the enamel on your teeth may start to wear away.
Do you ever brush too hard or too long? I have one of those electric toothbrushes and I've left it on. I've been brushed too long and all of a sudden my teeth became very sensitive. Be careful, Chong. I'm concerned for the enamel on your teeth. But yeah, I guess he focuses on each tooth like he's going to focus on each mile. And that's that's interesting. I bet it works for you, Chong. Chong is a member of the Boston Buddies running group.
And most of those folks, not all, because I'm a part of it, are real speedsters, real talented athletes. So I'm guessing Chong's got something there. OK, Catherine Ergen, who I love. She's also a Boston buddy. She says she always does leg swings, no matter if they are even just tiny little motions in the crowded start. I said, is that for mobility or luck? And she said both. She swings them every morning before a normal run for mobility.
But sometimes at races, she forgets to do the big ones that take up a lot of room. So she does even little baby ones that are about three inches in length. And that's definitely just for luck and superstition. No, there you go. Lucky leg circles. I got nothing wrong with that. All right. Warren Monk says he always wears his lucky singlet. He doesn't wash it because it will take the luck out of it. And he's been wearing it since 1979. And I said, are you kidding me?
You don't wash it? And he said, no, he does. That part he made up. But yeah, he's been wearing the same running singlet since 1979. And I believe it has his name across the chest, which works. I wore my name on my sports bra when I ran the Boston Marathon and everybody in Boston was cheering for me like they were my BFF. So having a shirt with your name on it. Good idea. And if it's comfy...
Wear it a lot. Nothing wrong with that. All right. Carrie Lolly says she always turns her engagement ring and the ring her husband gave her after their sons were born so that the stones are inside her hands instead of showing on the outside. The stones give her strength from them while she races. And it reminds her that they are 100% behind her when the race gets hard. That's very sweet. That's very sweet, Carrie. I could see her running, thinking about her, all of her boys. Cute, cute, cute.
All right. This from Reddit diet Coke cans. I like this person probably, especially if they like decaf diet Coke, like I do, but Mr. Diet Coke can says they like to lay out all the stuff they need for race and pre-pin the bib on, which is smart. And then set three alarms because he's needlessly worried. He'll manage to sleep through the race. I do the same thing. I, if I have to wake up at four o'clock, I set an alarm for four or four one for four Oh two.
And Sometimes I'll set it on my phone and my iPad just for backup. But again, I don't want to miss the race. I certainly don't want to miss it when I'm working. So multiple alarms, very practical. And then I can sleep like a baby, trusting that I will be woken up. All right, Papa Slunky says, he says his superstition is corny as hell because he's a white guy.
But he says the feel the rhythm poem from the movie Cool Runnings before each race, because that's what his high school cross country team did. Feel the rhythm. I guess we got to look that up and maybe try that out on race day. Feel the rhythm. Okie dokie. Sequence and Shaw says every race he's PR'd, he's had Panera for lunch the day before. Though the cost and quality of Panera is making him reconsider that for the future.
I mean, Panera is not wildly expensive, although it's a crappy economy so far. So maybe it is pretty bad. But yeah, Panera, what if you go to a place and there is not a Panera? What if there's no Panera around? What do you do, Sequence and Shaw? That's a pretty big superstition to have to deal with. Okay, Gathering Blue said she boops her cats on their noses for luck. And I think that's probably the best one I've seen is booping your cats.
I've booped my dogs in a variety of places, not necessarily for luck, but maybe you could start doing that. That's simple as well, unless maybe you have to boop them before you get on a plane, but booping animals is always a good idea, and if you don't know what a boop is, it's when you take your fingers or your nose, and you just touch their nose, and you say, boop. It seems pretty lucky. Lucky behavior. Okay. I'm going to reveal Rudy Novotny's superstition.
And I don't know if it's really his superstition, but I'm outing him. He's the other half of Team Noisy. If you don't know, we announced a ton of races together. We're besties. I would say Rudy's superstition is waking up too freaking early or no, I'm going to take that back. Showing up too freaking early. I like to be at a race an hour before I yell, go. That's plenty of time to do mic check and get the music started.
And that's really where most race directors want us there. He will show up two hours in advance. It's crazy. I think that's a lucky thing. I'm not sure what he's doing, but whenever we announce races together, he's like, come on, get ready. We're going to meet in the lobby in five minutes. Sometimes I say, no, no, I'm not getting out there until 30 minutes. You've locked your mind. I'm not going early. So sorry, Rudy, throwing you under the bus, but I love you. Okay.
And then for me, these are my, they're not really superstitions, but I, and I'm very pragmatic, but I don't believe anything anyone says until it's in writing. That's one of my big belief superstitions. Some people are totally straightforward and they mean what they say and they say what they mean and they do all of those things. But until I get a contract, I don't believe I'm going anywhere. So if a race says, hey, I want to book you for this race. I love you.
You're my favorite announcer. I've got the money. Here we go. I'll say, okay, sure. But I don't actually get excited or think about anything until a contract is signed. And that's a good way not to get burned. The other thing is I never tell anybody that I'm going to be announcing a particular race until I have a contract, because I feel like that is a way to get a race contract to blow up in my face. If I make a Facebook or Instagram post and I say, hey, everybody,
I'm going to be announcing the XYZ marathon. It's such a big deal. I can't wait to be there. I feel like four minutes after I make the post and 3000 people comment that a race director is going to say, Ooh, sorry, we don't have the budget anymore. Or I don't know. We were sick of blonde women, something like that. So I never believe anything until I have a contract, but I do lay out my clothes even for race announcing. Again, I don't want to have to take time digging for stuff in the morning.
So I put everything out, not superstitious, just practical, I believe. And then also not superstitious, but my pre-race includes a pretty cowbell. It doesn't really matter what color it is. I tend to bring pink. I really like pink. Although someone said, you have pink for breast cancer. And I thought, oh, no, I don't. Don't always associate with me with breast cancer. I'm happy to talk about cancer sometimes, but I am not breast cancer girl, not who I am.
So I have a pink cowbell, which I love, but it's not lucky. and it's just pretty, right? And then I also bring my windscreens, my pretty microphone windscreens. And you know why I wear those? People think it's just for color and they're fun. They're super cute. But what happens is when I don't have them, I'll be running around a finish line or a start line. As you may know, I'm pretty active as an announcer. Quite often, I bonk my teeth, my front teeth, my upper front teeth with the microphone.
And there's been quite a few occasions where I thought that I broke my teeth and I was mortified. I'm standing in the finish line and there's hundreds of people surrounding me. And I think, oh no, I have these jagged and crooked teeth. So I got the windscreens that protect my teeth from the microphone. And what else? I guess when I'm running, I also don't eat anything exotic the day before. I go pretty bland. I stick with beige food, potatoes.
Oh, what else? Basic salad, not stir fry broccoli or anything like that. Because I am afraid that my tummy will be a freak. But other than that, superstitions. Do you have pre-race superstitions or race day superstitions? Send me my way. Maybe we'll do a mini Fitzy episode based on your feedback. But yeah, this is fun. I love you guys. You're kind of weird, but I love you anyways. Get to work, team. Bye.
Hi, this is Rudy Novotny, the voice of America's marathons. We all love how much running has benefited every aspect of our lives, so much so that most of us only wish we'd started sooner. Wouldn't it be wonderful to gift the opportunity to children of today? Well, you can. The Morning Mile is a before-school walking and running program that gives children a chance to start each day in an active way while enjoying fun, music, and friends.
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