May 15, 2007

Walk Yourself Out

Wrestling the baby into his high chair, scrubbing veggie puree off the kitchen wall, strollering around heavily obstacled sidewalks – maybe you shouldn't be quite so hard on yourself for not making it to Pilates. You've got to be burning 8,000 calories a day just being a mom. Okay maybe not, but nobody can deny that mothering is an athletic endeavor. One might call it the ultimate marathon.

The motherhood-as-marathon idea is what inspired "Mom, the Everyday Athlete," a national run/walk event that will have mommies everywhere lacing up their sneaks this Saturday. It acknowledges moms for their daily efforts, but also gives them tools for eating a little better and keeping track of their fitness.

When you register online (the Wheat Foods Council is a co-organizer), you'll learn how to locate or start a walk/run group right in your hometown – no hoofing it to the nearest city and walking in a huge herd of participants. Your group decides exactly when and where you want to meet on Saturday, and you'll each get a pedometer. Enter the steps you accrue on the website, and they'll go toward a nationwide total that aims to break a world record.

The coolest part: An online quiz during registration will finally help you tally how much physical activity you're getting each day (and finally give you credit for it). And you'll find out how to continue to track your daily exertion level going forward, as well as gain access to nutrition and fitness materials provided by pros.

Plus, you'll get to meet other new moms and chat about how totally exhausted you all are, while getting a little bit healthier every step of the way.

When: Sat., 5/19.
Where: Nationwide. Register online at wheatfoods.org.

Monday's UrbanBaby Daily: 2006 Names of Note

Recently Discussed on UrbanBaby Message Boards: "I'm totally out of shape and I just got inspired to join a marathon to start running. How do I go about this?"

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