When Chris and I first moved to Oregon, we found a little park not too far from our apartment that has benches, a playground with monkey bars, and seemed secluded enough to allow some “privacy” while working out. Then we joined VillaSport for the summer and when we left Villla, our workout park seemed…different.
It seemed to have grown crowded by annoying types of people. People smoking (weed), people who didn’t pick up after their dogs (ewww), broken glass on the ground (c’mon, people, KIDS play here), and folks who just let their kids walk up to random strangers and talk to them while said strangers were trying to get their workout on. Last weekend we hit our limit on how much we could take when we tried to do a circuit workout but with traffic on the road, and then stepping in dog poo during the workout, we were finished with the park once and for all.
On Tuesday, I found a map of all the city parks in the area, and found nearly 20 parks close to us. So, all this week, Chris and I have been trying different parks to find our new workout location, especially with Fall rainy season approaching. We wanted somewhere we can work out even if it’s raining, and it looks like we’ve already found it. We found Schiffler park on Tuesday afternoon, being the first park we visited. Since then, we’ve gone to a few other parks but haven’t found anything with the amenities that Schiffler has for us.
What we need for a Workout at the Park
- Covered shelter for rain
- AWESOME looking playground with monkey bars, a rope climb, and slides (yes, these are important! )
- Several tucked away areas for “privacy” while working out
- A short 400 meter running trail and a longer, 1 mile running trail
- Porta potties for when we do jump rope or jumping jacks and I have to pee on the spot
- Naturalistic wetland areas for wildlife
We’re somewhat disappointed we didn’t check this park out sooner than now. It’s got everything we want and need for our daily workouts.
Our workout on Tuesday was a Countdown with burpees, push-ups, squats, and sit-ups. Chris finished in 11:15, I finished in 13:02.
Just so we can say we are being thorough, though, Chris and I checked out a few other parks in the area today. They weren’t bad, but they definitely don’t hold a candle to Schiffler. Melilah Park wasn’t too bad, there was a huge area next to the basketball court that we could workout on our own without anyone bothering or even noticing us, but there were no benches or pull-up bars in that area. 
Arnold Park was WAY too busy with kids. It was a nice big park, though. 
Finally we came across Channing Heights Park which happened to be close to Schiffler. No convenient pull-up bars, but there were at least a couple benches we could do dips or box squats. We went ahead and set up for our workout and had the basketball court to ourselves.
On our last set of exercises, a lady commended us for working so hard. Which was nice to hear.
Here was our workout at the park:
Started with a Partner Warm-up. Each set was a 5 minute AMRAP, one person would hold the position while the other did all the exercises, then we would switch. It was a bit of an easy challenge, but a great warm-up. 
Our WOD was Tabata with sit-ups, push-ups, jumping jacks, and burpees. For those not familiar with what Tabata entails, it’s short intervals, 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds rest for 8 rounds each exercise. You try to get as many reps as possible in each round, then tally them all up at the end of the set for your total. 
For me and Chris, we did okay.
- Sit-ups: Chris- 80 Pattie- 82
- Push-ups: Chris- 80 Pattie- 62 (modified- on knees)
- Jumping Jacks: Both finished with 160
- Burpees: Chris- 36 Pattie- 38
After yesterday’s workout, we thought we would take it easy today, so I’m very proud that we pushed ourselves to try this Tabata today. I’m improving on my push-ups, so I’m glad I keep incorporating them into our workouts. 
A nice and easier workout after the hour and a half of running yesterday. Just hard enough to make me feel like I accomplished something. I think the 36 Burpee’s at the end was what did it.