Now that it’s getting nice (relatively) out again, almost spring, we’ve been stepping it up a bit on the running regimen. Today was a gorgeous sunny winter day, so we decided to head down to the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge for a jog around the water. Turns out, this is a spectacular spot to go running.

The small loop trail is very well maintained, there is hardly anyone there, the visitor center is a great warming hut for cooling down and getting a drink of water, and the one loop is 3.3 miles around which is just about 5k. Perfect!

On top of that, it’s only about a 10 minutes drive down just past the PHL airport. And it’s terrific to be in a quiet nature preserve with lots of wild birds and information signs and bird lookouts like this:

On this past gorgeous springtime Saturday morning, Audrey and I ran our first “competitive” running event ever. It was a 5k race to raise awareness for the Clean Air Council. Our buddy Roz organized Team IndyHall Fit Club which included a bunch of blogging buds including Sara and Scott. After our half-assed attempt at pre-run yoga (see evidence below), I pounded a Steaz – I swear to God the strongest energy drink I’ve ever had – and it was off for a mile and a half up West River Drive along the Schuylkill and back.

I have to say, for our first time, we didn’t do half bad:

Feelin’ groovy, just after the race:

And on our way back home, the lot of us decided it would be awesomely cliché of us to run the Philly museum steps (á la Rocky). Fun! Yes, we nerdz.

[thanks for cheering us on and taking awesome photos, Marisa!]