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.