"Man's Best Friend"

We all know what I'm referring to here. "Man's Best Friend" = his dog. Have you ever wondered WHY dogs are called a "Man's Best Friend?" Well, this weekend, I found out EXACTLY why...

I've been getting back into running and really trying to go everyday! I've even started pursuing the weekends as an obligation to run as well. Something I definitely never did before. Weekends used to be my relaxing times, but if I'm home, not doing anything, and I didn't run on Friday because I was too busy grabbing a meal Downtown and attending a Happy Hour, then Sunday can be my day to run! :)

I took a run around the neighborhood. I found this beautiful little track of houses right by the Snapper House called "Victoria Lane" or "Victoria Place". Either way, "Victoria" had a sweet set of houses. All different sizes, colors, it was a nice scenic place to run, instead of the boring GOLF COURSE that I'm constantly looking at. I continued around Victoria Lane/Place and then cut over to the golf course and on the other side, found some more tucked away houses back in the woods that I never knew existed! I'm starting to realize that when I go for runs, I like to switch it up a bit so there's more for me to look at. Being bored on a run is NEVER a good thing. So why not just venture out into the neighborhood? Longwood is a great little city, and it's safe. Or atleast, I feel safe there! :)

So I'm running a new route, on the opposite side of the golf course, and out of nowhere this dog starts running after me. I'm jamming out to my "Dance/Pop" genre of music and realize that this dog is CHASING after me. His owner running after him. It was an awkward situation. Almost like, you really don't know what to do? Do you stop? Do you continue running so there's a chase?

I decided to stop running and wait until the dog caught up to me. To my surprise, it was a GORGEOUS dog. Some beautiful spotted dog, that I just immediately fell in love with. It was so playful, all it wanted was for me to just give him a little rub down.

So what happens with the owner? Cute guy, really nice, really chatty, but then goes and HITS ON ME!!!! I mean really buddy? REALLY?! I, honestly, couldn't believe it. I figured he would be more concerned about his dog. I just got the "Thanks for stopping..." and then the hitting on continued. What's Your Name? Where Do You Live? Do You Always Run This Route? I wasn't sure whether to be flattered, or think that this happens all the time with his dog and him.

It was like they were a team. Like the dog did his/her part, and now it was up to this guy to continue what he set out to do. I wonder if the dog got a reward after that encounter? But I still can't believe it.

So when I hear that a dog is a Man's Best Friend.... I now know why. :)

Break Time

Since I was in Savannah, GA this past weekend for St. Patty's Day celebrations, I didn't get a chance to run the CNL Bank 2mile or 10K. I have been taking some time off. Finishing up all of the football leagues and kickball leagues, and just trying to get everything on track to start really running everyday!

The next race isn't until the Corporate 5K on April 16th. So I'll be running leisurely until then!

Be back in about a month! :) oh...and HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!!

Fiddler's Green 5K

So running for an Irish pub? How fun was it? It was alright....
I was actually surprised that there wasn't MORE people there, especially for the free pint at the end of the race!!! The entire street was full of about 500+ people dressed in all green, and a lot of Europeans actually.
This race was to support the Special Olympics of Central Florida, and that too, where were all the Special Olympic athletes? I saw MAYBE about 3 the entire race. I expected more. But maybe running a 5K would ruin their training schedule?! :-P Who knows! But I did expect more to be there.

I ran this race with Katie K. Okay, so we jogged, and walked a bit. But it was good! Another race, just getting somewhere out there on a Saturday morning and getting a little work out before the weekend really kicked off! I almost love taking these little breaks with friends. I say ALMOST because I know it's probably not so good to take such time off if I really want to be serious about getting my time down, but oh well. Again, I'm not there racing anyone. I'm just racing myself.
We ran the first two miles, walked around the loop, then ran the rest of the way. Totally realizing this race was the EXACT same as the Lady 5K a few weeks back. It was full of hills and turns, but all in all, I felt good the entire time. Katie and I just talked about anything and everything, didn't even listen to music and it definitely makes the time and race fly by; being able to just take my mind away from the fact that my knees are killing me, I'm running out of breath, and my time was not going to be anywhere I wanted. My legs hurt after this race, and I think it was because I wasn't going at MY pace. I remember running with friends in college and them telling me they were going to be sore because they weren't running at their own pace - I now know what that means. :) But hey, I'm a firm believer in any muscle pain is good pain. It just means my muscles are working and getting stronger!

We finished at around 35:00. The website said no clock, and this race wasn't supposed to be timed, but I guess they decided to have one. And hopefully this will start Katie K out on the obsession with 5Ks as I am! Anyone I can turn onto 5Ks - is always fun!!! :)

And then it was time to DRINK! Katie and I both had some Shipwreck Blueberry beer. Let me tell you - I thought those bananas were good after running the races, but this Blueberry beer takes the cake!!!! We compared it to having a Blueberry muffin for breakfast - BUT BETTER! :)

This beer was so delicious. It still makes me wonder why EVERY SINGLE race I ever supported an ex-boyfriend or friend at, in Buffalo, there was ALWAYS beer tents afterwards. People would generally run FOR the beer.

<-- I saw these shirts a TON back home. Maybe Buffalo just has a drinking problem? Or maybe we're just a "Work Hard, Play Hard" type of city?

But here, in Orlando, not so much. Hence the incredible reason for me TO run this race! And have a good time with it.

This was my first time at Fiddler's and I definitely want to go back because of this experience!

Next Race: It would be the CNL Bank 2 mile and 10 mile, but I'll be celebrating St. Patrick's Day in Savannah!!!!! :) So I may be waiting until April 16th for the IOA Corporate 5K around Lake Eola.

My Plan: Flag football and kickball will be done in a week or two, and I'm going to be more serious about running everyday after work from then on out. I need to start running some intervals to gain some speed - get those legs moving faster! But I think taking a bit of a break, and really trying to focus on my running (and saving a little bit of money), will be good to build up my endurance and speed work.

Chiefs on the Run 5K for Dommerich Elementary

Running for the kids! :) Nothing better than doing such, unless those kids are kicking your ass! LOL

We ran this to support Dommerich Elementary, which is a school that a PUSHer's kids go to. Seriously, definitely nothing like some 10 year olds running circles around you. They can go ahead and run their 6-7 minute miles - I'm good with my 9 minute miles!

Before the Race:
I realized a few things during this race: I may be better NOT eating before a race, although the bread is fine, I just did not feel great like normal. My shoes - definitely need to get used to them. There were no blisters this time around - THANK GOD, but I had to actually STOP running to untie my sneaks because they were just too tight and cutting off some circulation. I also need to learn to dress for the weather. I've been so used to running in 30-40 degree weather, that this 50 some degree weather kicked my butt! I got so extremely overheated, it was seriously hard for me to even FINISH this race. I really need to dress "for the racing" and not so much for "the weather". Because it's only going to get hotter outside and I still have a lot of 5Ks to run!!! :)

The Race:
Because of the weather, I knew I was going to get overheated. I already had it set in my mind, and I was right! I felt the worst I have ever felt before a race standing in tha crowd of about 300 people (maybe). Started the run - went out pretty hard (LOL TWSS!), stuck with the majority of the crowd and even tried keeping up with some FULL OF ENERGY kids! Hit the first mile, and I thought my heart was going to literally stop. I've been having problems with my left arm lately on these 5Ks. I'm not exactly sure what is going on! :( I dont know if I'm just not swinging my left arm as efficiently as my right arm, if it's just bad circulation on that side, or something more serious than that. Nobody EVER wants their LEFT arm to go numb, it's never a good thing. Left side of the body = closest to the heart. Let's hope it's just me not being in the shape that my body needs for what my mind wants to do and accomplish for these races. Through all of this - I stopped between mile 1 and 2, untied the shoes, re-tied the shoes, and just kept up with the people around me and stuck it out.
I also realized that people really need to STOP handing out GATORADE or POWERADE during these races. It's bad enough that trying to continue running and drinking at the same time is a task in itself, but now add a sticky liquid to it? I mean really?! Let's just stick with the water please! Atleast if anything, I can dump water on my body or head to cool down. Gatorade/Powerade on the other hand - I'm not Urban Meyer.
Between mile 2 and 3, I finally caught up with Kevin. More slowing down, more water, a little complaining from both of us, a tiny bit of walking, and then the end of the race was approaching us. We decided to finish the race together - but obviously, how competitive we are, are you kidding me?! We would never want to finish anything together. One of us just HAS to beat the other. I definitely had other plans than us finishing together :) I started to speed up a bit, until he realized what I was doing. We both completely started BOOKING it to the finish line and by this picture - you could see how much of a joke it was! :) HE HAS LONGER LEGS THAN I DO!!! So technically, this wasn't fair! Just saying! But it's true!!!! But we finished about 1 second different than eachother. I was just happy I didn't trip and do a face plant in front of everyone at the finish line! That would've been a great pic though!

Through all of the above...I STILL HAD A PR!!!! I honestly couldn't believe it! I swore I was going to cross the finish line at MORE than 30 minutes. But nope!

Race Time: 28:41

Next race: Fiddler's 5K. Nothing like getting up at the Top O' the Mornin' with a hydro pack full of beer instead of water! We'll see if that happens though. BUT FREE PINT AT THE END OF THE RACE!!!! Hell yea!

P.S. Dear the 40 year old hot cougar, thank you for making the day interesting for all of the guys! But please stop running in skirts. It's just stupid.