My first 5k - Rachael's Paws and Purrs

I did it! I did my very first 5k! 

Ok I definitely didn't run the whole thing, most people didn't...but I completed a 5k! 

Pre-race smile in the chilly morning. Still felt fairly confident at this point!

And we're off! Runners first, run/walker combos in the middle (that was us) and walkers in the back.

Speaking of walkers...who's excited for The Walking Dead to come back on in October?! This girl!

The course was on the Blackwater Creek Trail in downtown Lynchburg. It was a beautiful day with no humidity and cool temperatures on this gorgeous trail hiding just next to the busy downtown life.

"Quick, act like you're running hardcore!" 

The bridge over the water was so pretty! Here's another "action" shot. That's my husband and a friend of mine in the picture. 

We ran a handful of times but none of us were fully prepared to run the entire thing. We power walked the rest of the time. Most importantly we had a great time! It was so much fun and all the pups that came had a great time too. 

Most of the finishers waiting for the last walkers.

Giving out trophies and medals to human winners and dog winners! Not to mention they had great prizes for the raffle portion!

Here's us as we were leaving. I'd like to title this photo "We finished!" but I think "Look at this mondo bag of fruit we got!" fits better. They had tons of food leftover and just told us to take it...so we did! We've got enough bananas and apples to last a couple weeks! Runner up title: "Oh joy the sun is right in my eyes."

And I'll call this one "We did it! Now let's celebrate with some Chic-Fil-A."

Up next...the Ashland Berry Farm Pumpkin Run that benefits the Hanover Safe Place! Saturday, October 5th in Hanover, Virginia. Come join me!! 

I'm thinking to keep myself motivated and to have a new goal always ready, that signing up for one 5k a month might be a good idea. Or insane? I haven't decided yet. 

We're deciding on our November 5k now. It's between the Glowstick 5k on Sunday, November 3rd in Fredericksburg, Bottom to Tap 5k on Saturday, November 9th in Richmond or the Children of Our Hearts 5k on Saturday, November 9th in Lynchburg. 

I couldn't find any nearby 5ks for December, though. Too cold?

Tell me about your first 5k! If you've never done one, what's holding you back? If I can do it, so can you! Know of any good Richmond/central Virginia 5ks? What's the most fun 5k to do?

Till next time,

Catherine

Scary Roads and Weekend Fun

I don't know how it is where you're from but here in Lynchburg it is COLD and WET! Yuck! Areas near Richmond got snow but we just got rain and ice.

On our way home from Richmond last night it began to rain a little, but nothing bad. The temperature was above freezing so we cruised as usual. All of a sudden, maybe 20 minutes from home, we saw about 6-7 sets of tail-lights going every which way on either side of the road. There was one car in front of us and they began to hit the brakes and fortunately we *carefully* followed suit. Just in the nick of time because we began to slide back and forth a bit but we were able to slow down safely without ending up like the other cars. It was a panicked 15 seconds for sure!

The odd part was that it was only that small few hundred foot section of road that was iced over but nowhere else was. I'm just so thankful we saw it in time! One car was facing down into a ditch but up on a hill on the other side so they were facing the road! No idea how they managed that but I hope everyone is OK!

Other than that we had a wonderful visit in Richmond. We got to spend time with family, including my precious niece and see some friends too. It didn't work out for me to have a girl's night like I had planned but that's ok...we'll be back soon and we can hopefully do it then!

My husband and his friends even made a bow out of PVC (for about $10) from this tutorial video I found! Man oh man did they have fun doing that! Unfortunately they didn't get pictures for a tutorial but the'll be making more and next time I'll be sure they get pictures! Maybe even a video too! So be on the lookout for that!

As for today, it's a snuggle under the covers and watch a movie kind of day! It's too cold for anything else!

How was your weekend? Are you as ready for spring as I am? 

Till next time,
Catherine