"I Made You Jump and Down!"

I went to Washington DC a couple of weeks ago, after my trip to the FitBloggin Conference. I was only there for a day, but managed to meet some old friends and some new friends. I'm lucky that way.

It was a chilly Tuesday morning in DC, and I was standing in front of the White House when I called my Twitter friend @NewMediaJim. I'd never met Jim, but I talk to him on Twitter which seems like real life, sometimes.

Jim's a very busy man, over at Verge New Media and I wasn't sure if I'd get to meet him on this trip or not, so I didn't want to get my hopes up. It turns out, he was just down the street in front of a Starbucks when I called, and through modern technology and excessive arm waving, we found each other.

Jim bought me some coffee and a hard boiled egg and we talked about Old Media and New Media and how everything changes and we have to change with it or we just end up stuck sitting around in the same old place wondering what to do next.

I get the feeling Jim isn't stuck. His life moves even faster than mine (amazing, but true) which is why I had to jump up and down in front of the White House just to get his attention. But it was worth it, just to meet Jim. Plus, I got some extra cardio in to boot, right?

Ah, the power of the internets...it's so great to meet other goof balls in real life. Makes me feel almost normal.

Running with Inga the Wolf Dog: he loves me, I swear it

I went running around the Deschutes River Trail in Bend today with Roxanne (not her real name) and her dog Inga (not his real name.) Roxanne runs faster than me, so I usually bring my camera.

Roxanne is a professional photographer, so it's easy to make her stop every half mile and take a picture of me, which allows me to catch my breath.

I love Inga the dog, but he's shy. Roxanne says he perked up when he saw me today which means he likes me, but I saw him perk up near a bush, and then I didn't feel so special. She said he loves bushes, too.

Sometimes it takes a while for Inga to warm up to me, but eventually, if Roxanne allows it, he'll let me hold his leash.

"I think you are stifling him," I said to Roxanne. "Clearly he needs a change of pace. He wants to run with me, obviously." She gave me his leash when he was busy watching a duck. I thought he might not notice.

"Look, Roxanne," I said, "he's fine. No need to worry. Inga and I are friends now, see?"

"He is not embarrassed, Roxanne," I said. "Inga is thrilled to be with me. Thrilled! I've never seen him so happy. Can we run again tomorrow?"

"Maybe," says Roxanne. "I'll call you after his therapy session. He may need a little quiet time tomorrow to regroup. Nothing personal. It's not you, it's him."

Dogs are so fickle.

@juliejulie. Mannequin. Vegas. U2.

This doesn't have anything to do with being chubby, a mommy, or running.

This is just me being weird, scoring some great tickets to U2 in Vegas, putting my mannequin on an airplane, and making my best friend come along for the ride. I wrote a story about the Francine goes to Vegas adventure a while ago, but there's just something about video...

I thought you'd want to watch.

Also, if you strolled over here from The Bloggess's blog, this one's for you people. I figure you're used to weird stuff, and you're funny. And really, a handless mannequin from the 1960's isn't nearly as weird as a line of Christmas cards based on a taxiderm-ied boar's head. Right?

Thanks for visiting Chubby Mommy Running Club, where you never know what I might come up with next, which is why you should keep coming back.

The Easter Bunny vs. Quaker Oats Guy

They are fighting for my very soul, I think. Who will win today? I need the Quaker Oats Guy to go all Ninja on my secret boyfriend, Mr. Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Do you think he can win? Will the cashews step up and help him? If the jelly beans side with Mr. Reese's, I could be in trouble. Stay tuned.

The Long Run

A funny thing happened today while I was running with a friend I haven't seen in a while. I ran 7 miles. In a row. That's the longest distance I've run in many, many years.

Sure, we walked a bit here and there on a few hills, and stopped for about 5 minutes to get some water, but the fact is, I ran 7 miles from start to finish.

It was the talking that did it. We had so much to catch up on, so many stories to tell, that we just kept going. I've been quite busy lately, and more than a bit lax about my running routine (I went twice last week, 2-3 miles a pop), so I was surprised that my body allowed this distance.

My legs and my lungs did start protesting at around 3 miles, like usual, but I was right in the middle of a good story about my recent adventures at the FitBloggin Conference, so I distracted my legs from themselves.

The protests were ignored. I hate to interrupt a good story.

I bet I can do a lot of stuff I don't think I can do, if I just keep distracting myself from the hard work by telling good stories and hanging out with fun people. It's worth a shot.

Is There a Chubby Mommy Inside?

Welcome Footzone!

Our newest sponsor here at Chubby Mommy Running Club is the Footzone store in Bend, Oregon.

Teague Hatfield, the owner, has a passion for running, but as the married father of two young kids, he wants women everywhere to know that there's no "typical" runner out there - you don't have to be a marathoner to enjoy running or join a local community of like-minded runners.

Footzone's Learn to Run classes have been a smashing success, and he's had to cap each session out at 150 people. But don't worry, new sessions start all the time.

I shot this short video of him telling me "There's a Chubby Mommy in all of us" yesterday, and I'm trying to figure out how to load it up here in the body of this post without crashing. For now, you'll have to click through to my YouTube channel. Ideas?