A Walk Before Toastmasters

If you've never been to Toastmasters, you should visit one or two clubs near you. We learn how to be more comfortable speaking in a group or in public. I've been a member of Expressions Unlimited, our Carlsbad club, for almost eight years. I found a club that's a good fit for me with some great people. Today at noon I was the Toastmaster of the day, which means that I'm the one running the meeting. Each meeting has a theme and mine was walking. Surprise. The meeting went well and our enthusiastic members really would have made you feel at home if you had been there. If you google expressions unlimited toastmasters, you can easily find the club blog. You can also check out the LINKS section of Big Man Walking over on the right of this page. I hope you visit a club and if you're near Carlsbad, California I hope you'll come see us.

This morning I took dropped my son off for calculus and instead of going home and puttering around for 10 minutes I went straight to Toastmasters. I was just over 45 minutes early and so I decided to take a walk. Our club is near the ocean and I could hear the waves as I walked to the southwest. I found a staircase I hadn't explored before and went down to the beach, stopping on the bottom step. I like finding ways to take a walk in street clothes as I hope to show people that walking more frequently can also be fairly convenient. I spent a few minutes taking in the beautiful view of the ocean on this cold, clear day. I had a smile on my face as I turned to go back up to the street and I walked to Fresco Trattoria on Carlsbad Village Drive. I sometimes see bumper stickers referring to this area that say something like "Locals call it Elm." I guess there was controversy over the name change some years back.

I realized that I didn't need to go to 101, which many people call Pacific Coast Highway or PCH, so I went back toward the beach and walked the path at street level which ends up along 101 as it sidles up against the Pacific. I stopped at the 30 MPH sign across 101 from the Tamarack Beach Resort and turned to go back to my Toastmasters meeting. Along the way I had a quick conversation with a woman reading a book on the bench titled The Best Travel Writing: True Stories from Around the World 2006. She said she liked the book and really liked our beach and places to walk in Carlsbad. I said goodbye and walked back past Fresco Trattoria again on my way back to Heritage Hall at Magee Park where Expressions Unlimited meets. My pedometer said I had walked 1 1/4 miles, some of it briskly and some of it leisurely, and then I was really ready for Toastmasters and my theme of the day: Walking. My walk took me 27 minutes.

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

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