Monday Morning River Walk

Quick update for locals interested in Bend's next Chubby Walk Social:

We're meeting at 6:15 a.m., Monday, July 14th, at Farewell Bend Park. We'll walk around the river trail; last time it took us almost an hour, but you can walk faster or run, or turn around early, if you need to.

No beer involved in this one. Even I can't drink this early.

Bacon optional.

Please be prompt! We're set for one early a.m. (Mondays, West side) and one evening walk a week (Wednesdays, East side)and I'm happy to add a lunch time walk, too (Fridays, downtown?)

You can join one day, or come to all. This is FREE and FUN. Please pass this annoncement on to friends and neighbors!

Non-locals: email me if you want help setting up a local group.

Gold Star Will Power

I did not drink a beer last night, even though I really wanted one. I think I'll give myself a gold star.

But I did eat some bacon this morning. I made a "restaurant breakfast" for sleep-over guests so I can keep my "best mom ever!" status. I got some of that nitrate free stuff from Trader Joe's, and I had to make sure it wasn't poison.

I know that saying no to beer and yes to bacon probably cancel each other out, in some way. But that's not the point. The point is to have some control over something, anything, just to prove I can.

If I can say no to beer and yes to exercise, I could probably get on Oprah some day. Not sure how yet, but I'll figure it out. I like to feel in control, and I like gold stars.

Maybe I'll create a super fancy gold star chart system for running without bacon and beer, and Oprah will think it's nifty. Bob Greene doesn't give her stars, I bet.

But man oh man, I love bacon even more than beer. So this concept could just be a pipe dream. I'll keep you posted.

Beer Diet

Dang it. Just when I was entering my 2nd day of not drinking alcohol, my husband came home with a case of Mirror Pond Black Butte Porter.

I've been preparing for this clever diet trick for two days. I can always drop a few pounds if I stop drinking. Easy. Right?

I drank through the rest of the wine two days ago, and knew he drank the last beer yesterday. I went to Trader Joe's and bought salad and stuff. I have been eating plain yogurt recently, and thinking about chicken breasts.

I was prepared, mentally, to lose 3 pounds this week by cutting out the beer and wine. If you've tasted a good Porter on a hot day, you'll understand my dilemma here.

So, what should I do? Hide it? Ask him to hide it? Go on vacation for a week, away from the house?

Ideas?

Pub Walk - the Ultimate Social Exercise Idea

Spin class, 5k Runs, and Bootcamps are all good ways to exercise in a group. But, well, seriously, are they as fun as going out to a dinner and drinks with your girlfriends on a Wednesday night?

My friends Jen and Elise had a great idea, I'm just here to pass it on:

Let's start at Jen's house, walk two miles along the river to Reed Pub, in SE Bend, where we eat salad, drink beverages, and then walk back again.

Every week, we can pick a different place to start, and end up somewhere fun for dinner. The only catch? You still have to walk back to the beginning. Unless you convince someone to come pick you up from the bar. I don't care if you cheat, really.

Reasons I like this idea:

1. "Honey, you watch the kids tonight, I have to exercise."

2. "I'm not drinking and driving, I'm drinking and walking."

3. "Hurry up ladies, there's beer up ahead."

Non locals: try this in your home town. Grab some neighbors, pick a destination, and go for it. Maybe your local pub can "sponsor" your Chubby Mommy Pub-Walk Club? If you bring 10 people, will they give you a 10% discount? 15 people for 15%? If so, tell them to email me, and I'll let them put up a free ad on our new site for a month!

[New site, with space for sponsorships, social groups, and Chubby Mommy Running Club t-shirts, will be up soon]

Bend, Oregon Locals: We're meeting at Jen's house at 6:00 p.m., tomorrow, July 9th, and walking to Reed Pub, in SE Bend. Email me for directions at julieanderson@hotmail.com

Together, we can put the beer back into exercise.

Shht...Walkies!

Alright Chubby Mommy Running - Walking Club, here's our next local assignment: Pilot Butte, parking lot, 6:30 a.m. Monday, July 7th. That's tomorrow morning, people!

I'm trying to decide if I should bring my funny little dog, Pierre. If I leave him home, he whines, which doesn't bother me, but irritates all the people at my house who are trying to sleep past 6:00 a.m.

If I bring him, he weaves around and trips people, runs like the dickens at the beginning, then gets tired out in and sits down suddenly in a shade spot after a mile. And then I have to pick him up and carry him the rest of the way. Ridiculous.

Maybe it's time I rig up a short leash on a belt around my waist and teach him to walk on the left, like a well trained dog with manners. And I can watch re-runs of dog training shows to learn how to make him mind me with little tongue clicks and sweet phrases like "Walkies! Walkies!"

I wonder what would happen if Barbara Woodhouse married the Dog Whisperer.

Neighborhood Party Crashers -4th of July

I hope Mr. Rogers won't get mad, but it seems we spend a lot of time in other people's neighborhoods, especially on 4th of July.

We like our new neighbors, we really do. There are many, many houses for sale in our neighborhood, and we like open houses, so we've seen the majority of our neighbors' kitchens and bathrooms and bedrooms. We feel like we know most of these people now. Sort of.

Yet we have a strange habit of hanging out in our friend's neighborhoods. We get to know their neighbors, and we manage to get ourselves invited to their neighborhood parties. Usually, we just invite ourselves.

If our current neighborhood had a 4th of July party, maybe we wouldn't have to crash other neighborhood's parties. I'd plan one, but I'm just too booked out now.

When we moved to Bend, our first new neighborhood had a fun family 4th of July picnic with kid's bike races and water balloon tosses. We still crash that party for a beer and a Popsicle, even thought we moved away two years ago. It's a good party. They even have prizes.

Luckily, we've found another neighborhood 4th of July party to crash, too. It features a backyard fire pit for making s'mores, and includes coolers of beer and some good porches with rocking chairs for super sparkler viewing. There's even badminton.

It's pretty easy to find new neighborhood parties. But is it luck, or skill?

I met one of our new 4th of July party families accidentally at the San Francisco Airport several years ago. Here's what happened:

After a delayed flight, I was frantic to check my email at the T-Mobile hot spot, but I was too cheap to pay for minutes. Luckily, a nice man who I'd seen on the plane from Bend, offered me the rest of his minutes.

Turns out he went to college with my best friend's brother in Eugene, Oregon. He knew a bunch of people I went to high school with. So using his leftover minutes was more like borrowing a cup of sugar. It just seemed right.

He and his wife had just moved to Bend too, and they were looking for friends. So we decided right then and there we should have a party when we got home.

Airports are like neighborhoods, sort of.

So I brought my airport friends to our New Year's Eve party, and my husband brought a family he picked up at work. Guess what? Both those families live next door to each other. They were neighbors! They had met on the street once, while bringing in garbage cans.

It's such a small world, when you think about it, and somehow, I always seem to be in the middle of it.

Of course, we suggested they have a neighborhood 4th of July party every year. Of course, they invite us, especially when we remind them, and tell them we'll bring some beer.

We've been trying to get some of the old neighborhood friends to crash this new neighborhood 4th of July party for the past couple of years, but they say they're happy with their own neighborhood. They don't fly much, so they tend to stick to the same old friends, year after year.

Sometimes I feel sorry for the old friends. There are so many people, and so many neighborhoods to try out. If only they were as pushy as us, they'd see how nice it is to crash someone else's neighborhood, especially if there's good food and prizes.

I continue to be on alert at airports, and grocery stores, looking for the next new best friends who might live in friendly neighborhoods with good parties.

And I keep my eye out for Mr. Rogers, just in case. I sure wish he could crash some of our friends' parties...and maybe bring Mr. McFeely with him.

The Power of Community

After our 3rd local "Chub Club Fast Walk" outing, I think we are officially a club. I think we should be a national club. I think everyone who wants to be a member of Chubby Mommy Running Club should be. I think I'll need to figure out a way to give everyone a gold star for trying, not crying.

The virtual world is great, of course, but it's nice to get together in real life. We are working on some changes to this site to facilitate easier community building.

Wow. What would happen if every city had a Chubby Mommy Running Club? Can we change the world through community exercise? If we build it, will they come?

Ideas: for newbies, try exercising one hour, two days a week with a group. Two people can be a group. Recruit friends and neighbors. It's okay to divide your group into morning, noon and night walker/runners, and skill levels.

Think community! Think encouragement! Don't worry too much about your heart rate and your intensity level if it freaks you out. Just two days of group, you can push yourself on the other days.

Rules:

1. Try, not Cry - time to get up and get outside. No superstars needed.
2. You don't have to be a mommy - it's just a state of mind, really.
3. You don't have to be a runner - but if you are, find other runners too.
4. You don't have to be Chubby! We are an equal opportunity club!
5. Be kind to each other and to yourselves - no gossip.
6. Share your stories with us - for now, let's use comments as our forum.
7. Stay positive - whiny people end up walking alone.

Start a club, embrace the Chub.

Let's do it.