Al Roker Starts at a Trot

Photo: The Howard Stern Show

Al Roker stopped by early in the show to promote his new book, ‘The Midnight Show Murders,’ and told the crew he’d trimmed down to 195lbs after running the New York Marathon: “I didn’t lose weight training for it but I lost weight after it.”

Howard asked why it took him 7 hours to complete, so Al laughed: “Look, I am not a runner. Before March of this year, I wouldn’t run for a bus.”

The crew was curious about his schedule, so Al walked them through a typical workday: he gets up at 3:15am, “takes care of my toilet,” checks his email/the Internet and gets on the phone with his meteorologist.

He leaves the house at 4:40am and heads to the Weather Channel, where he hosts ‘Wake Up with Al’ every weekday at 6am. Afterward, he heads over to the ‘Today’ show where he usually finishes his on-air duties by 10am.

A Dedicated Man

Al credited Willard Scott for pioneering the workman-like approach to TV weatherman/host: “He was the trailblazer.” True to Willard’s model, Al works almost any event NBC asks him to–just last night he co-hosted the live Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony.

Howard asked if Al knew anything about last night’s technical difficulties, so Al shrugged that Boys II Men’s backing track accidentally ran during Sharice’s performance: “I still haven’t seen it. I guess the track didn’t roll.”Al said he also produces 5 current TV shows, including ‘My Life in Food,’ ‘Celebrity Holiday Homes’ and ‘Last Chance Highway,’ an animal rescue show on Animal Planet.

He applied the same dogged ethic to the pursuit of his wife, pursuing her for years before they started dating. He even did her laundry: “I was in that friend zone. It’s like you’re the sidekick…I stocked the refrigerator.”

Howard asked if he was bolder in the bedroom now that he’s slimmed down, so Al laughed: “No, but I think she was impressed because it looked bigger…I am a black man.”