soneevda: RACE: OUC Half-Marathon, Orlando, FL @ 1:45:18

Yesterday morning I headed out to Downtown Orlando for the OUC Half-Marathon. I had woken up at 5:20am but didn't get out the door until 6:00am, so I was sort-of rushing to make it to the race. Because of my incredible driving skills, I made it to downtown in 55 minutes (including one "let's park here and try running to Lake Eola only to find out that it was still miles away so I reparked"). I ran to and from and to the race start, and made it with five minutes to spare. I used the five minutes to wait in line for the port-a-lets where I changed to "get rid of more clothing"... tmi? only if you use your imagination.

Anyways, the race course was different from last year, and for some reason I just didn't care for it this year. Maybe it was because I'm more familiar with the area and I couldn't be "naive" to where we were. *shrug*.

I started too quickly, running the first couple miles at 7:20 pace, and after a couple weeks of hard running and the fact that it was pretty warm and quite humid (moreso than last year), I knew at mile 7 that there was no way I was going to get a PR, and decided to just enjoy the rest of the race.

And so from there, I ran, I walked, I ran-walked... looking ever-so forward to the water stations. And managing to pet a doggie along the way. I also partook of one of the on-course med stations to get some anti-chaffing ointment (gotta take care of yourself). Anyways...

At mile 12 (Central Ave), I found my "carrot" from the start of the race, and we ran to the finish on Robinson together (no pictures of the said-carrot until the "official" race photos are processed). Sometimes it's not about the time but having a good time. :)

Anyways, after the race, I went back to my car to get the camera because I just had to get some photos:

I got back to the lake and met up with the Orlando Front Runners and my friend Herb, who ran the 5k and got 2nd in his age division (congrats!). Here I am with Herb (I'm pointing to the beer ticket):

And then he took a "Yatta!" picture of me:

Anyways, there were a lot of pretty guys at the event, and as shameless as I am, I couldn't get myself to take pictures of them. Thankfully, there was no trouble finding others who had no problem (as long as I send them the photos... so thank you OFRW Scott):

After that, I managed to get out of my shell and ask for pictures of/with random people:

Grass Skirt Lady

The Mullets and Me

I saw the Mullets last year, so it was cool to see them out again; they said that it was their third year running it, though this year they chose to run only the 5K. That race finished well over an hour before I met these guys, so many of them had already headed home -- on the other hand, the two pictured have been drinking ever since. They were a lot of fun!

Bonus Mullet Photo

(I love those shorts!)
Anyways, after my trip to the Beer Garden, I headed to Pinera's to meet up with Herb, Eric, and their friends. There, I met Jonathan, Jason, and Jackie. Jason and Jackie had to leave, but Herb, Eric, Jonathan and I stayed there for another... um... a long time -- taking pictures, playing with cups and dowels, and being generally inappropriate... it was great! And it was what I really needed this weekend. So thank you to everyone involved. Until next weekend!

Eric and Me, being monkeys