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

Couch to 5k - Week 4

Yowza.

That's all I can really say about Week 4 of the Couch to 5k program.

Now to be totally honest, I'm not the most out of shape person but I'm definitely no athlete. I've always been overweight but have always been used to hard work. My teenage years (and then some) were spent throwing hay and scooping poop at the barn. So I can keep up with hard work.

(via)

Running, though...is a different story.

And it always has been. I've always thought it was the coolest thing to be able to run but always relented to the fact that I "wasn't a born runner," "didn't have the drive to run," and "couldn't become a runner." This past couple of years I've become really determined to change that. Who says I should listen to those detrimental voices telling me "You can't do it."?! Not anymore. Even if takes me an entire year to be able to run a 5k, I'm committed this time.

Though I hope I can do it by my second 5k on October 5th! (A month from the date of this post.)

(via)

Later this week I'll try and write a more in depth post about the Couch to 5k program and my experiences with it so far. But for now I wanted to publicly declare that running will NOT get the best of me and it will be one thing I conquer.

And if I can do it...so can you!!!

Let's encourage each other and reach our goals!

What's your favorite motivational quote? How do you push through eating healthy/working out when you plain old just don't feel like it? What are your weight loss/health goals? Share with us! 

Till next time,
Catherine

Ivy Creek Park in Lynchburg, Virginia

I never get tired of that mountain view.

 My husband and I recently discovered a cute little local park called Ivy Creek Park. It was a beautiful day, high of 70 degrees in mid January! We knew we had to take advantage of it.

I pass the road to this park quite often so we decided to check it out. 

It's just a wee little baby park...it's not even 2 years old yet. 

There's a nice paved trail from the parking lot, past a playground, down to the lake. The lake is called Clemmons Lake and you can fish (catch and release), or rent a canoe and relax on the water. There's a nice dock as well. 

There's a half mile trail that circles the lake. 

How about that...Lynchburg's very own mini-swamp! Haha.

Nicely built bridge over the swampy area. 

Pretty even in the winter.

Check out this huge tree stump that a beaver took down! Amazing little critters.

You're so welcome :-)

Apparently we're slow to learn our new-ish surroundings. Little did I know that Lynchburg has a ton of parks! You can view a list of local Lynchburg parks here. I've decided that we will be visiting all of these parks in 2013. We love the outdoors so these will be fun little adventures for us! I can't wait till the weather gets better! It's been cold and raining for almost 4 days straight and now they're calling for ice and snow. Yuck. I'm even more grateful we took advantage of that warm day!

Do you live in the country or do you go visit local parks? Where are some of your favorite local parks? Do you prefer more amenities like playground and picnic tables or do you prefer just miles of beautiful trails? 

Till next time,
Catherine