Happy Friday!

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Northern Virginia, so Layla and I took our morning run to Burke Lake Park. It is quickly becoming one of our favorite places to run and hike. Walter and I first took Layla here on Thanksgiving morning. We ended up sort-of crashing a Turkey Trot that day, so it was a little more crowded than normal, but overall we loved it and knew it would be a great spot to keep coming back to.

The main trail is about 5 miles long and wraps all the way around the lake. It is relatively flat and the scenery is beautiful!

About 1/2 of the trail is dirt and 1/2 is paved. The dirt portion makes my legs happy since it is a less impact than running on pavement 🙂

There are many other activities to do at the park such as fish on the lake,  play frisbee golf or use the outdoor gym! Along the trail there are 18 stations, each with a different apparatus and description of each exercise. Such as this:

Layla loves it because she can explore a more wooded area than she has in our neighborhood and because there are far more squirrels to chase! Yesterday she got extra lucky, though. We were exploring a nature trail that broke off from the main trail where we encountered 2 new playmates.

(she obviously had to make herself the center of attention)

Their owners showed us a big open field where the dogs can run and play! The black dog is a pug/black lab mix, he is 8 years old and named Scoundrel. He really could not keep up with Layla or his brother, Gypsy, but he watched and barked from a distance and would waddle around best he could, he was cracking me up!

Last week on our second visit to the park we had a much more serene run and we discovered many other great off-trail path options. I like that it the park is big enough that you have choices and do not always have to run the same loop, but not so big that you feel like you may not be able to find your car again. It is also great that there are always people on the trail so you don’t feel alone, but never enough that it feels crowded (at least not during the week).

Another perk is that it tires this girl out! On your left is how Layla rode to the park and on your right is how she rode home 🙂

Enjoy your weekend!