The Humane Society "Woof Walk"

(An overcast day for the Woof Walk but the mountains are still beautiful with the clouds covering them.)

It was a dreary and overcast day for the Humane Society's Woof Walk, but that was okay.  Unfortunately, I guess it wasn't okay for a lot of people.  The turnout was terrible and because the Humane Society didn't do online and early registration, I bet a lot of people backed out at the last minute.  I think there were less than 20 people at the walk.  I think if they had people register online or even just locations that people could register at, I think a lot of people would have still participated even though the weather was yucky.  Anyway, the walk was still fun.  Actually it was more of a hike than a walk.  

(Rhododendruns in bloom)

Before the official walk got started, I got there early to register because I thought a lot of people would be there.  Registration started about an hour before the walk so I got there when registration started thinking I would have to wait in a line for a long time.  But that wasn't the case.  I got there right away and registered with about 45 minutes to an hour to spare.  To make use of my time, I started walking early.  I walked around and took some pictures of the park.  This is my local community park.  It's such a beautiful park with the mountains in the background, a pond with ducks and frisbee golf.  The rhododendruns were in bloom so I took some pictures of them while I walked around.  

(Before the walk got started)

Earlier in the morning, I got up and walked to the farmers market.  But as you can see in my self portrait, I was clearly spending more time on things other than my appearance!  I am not even sure if I brushed my hair.  It looks terrible.  Plus, the humid, rainy weather wasn't doing me any favors.  

I have walked at the community park several of times before the Woof Walk but I have always stuck with the path that circles the park.  I figured that would be what we would do for the Woof Walk too.  But the walk had 2 paths that you could take.  One of the paths was to circle the park like I have done before but the other route was to hike up into the woods and then come back into the park on the other side.  I decided to go up into the woods since I had never done that before.  I really wasn't expecting to get much of workout on this walk but I was pleasantly surprised once we started climbing up into the woods.  It was a hike!  It was also very beautiful back in the woods.  Everything is green again so the woods looked like an enchanted forest.  For about 5-10 minutes of the woods hike, you are climbing straight up at a pretty steep incline.  Then once you get to the top, you start the descent back down to the other side of the park.  

(Lovely sweat after the Woof Walk/Hike-you just thought I looked great in the before picture!)

As you can see, I worked up quite a sweat during the hike into the woods.  I burned quite a few calories in a pretty short amount of time.  I was so happy to discover this hike.  I have been back 2 times since because it's such a calorie burner and because it feels like I am hiking without having to drive out to a hiking trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  

Below are two recent pictures of me.  They don't have anything to do with the Woof Walk, but I wanted to include them maybe to show that I do occasionally wear something other than workout clothes and I do occasionally brush my hair!  :)  I am starting to feel good about the way I look.  This is a foreign concept to me so it's taking a lot of time to get used to.  But it's a very good feeling to feel comfortable in my own skin.  That's one of the the best kinds of non-scale victories I could ever ask for.