Best Damn Race Orlando Review and Half Marathon Race Recap

No knee pain!!!

Really that’s about the only thing you need to know about this race.

However, I am happy to tell you more because it was indeed a good day and we love the people who put on this race series. Hopefully it continues to grow each year so more people can have fun and feel free to curse when discussing their results, good or bad.

RESULTS
We finished in 1:52 this year.

Avg pace: 8:36
Avg HR: 165

I haven’t run more than 1 mile at that pace since doing the Kinvara Relay in Ireland…in JUNE!! Seriously a normal run lately has looked more like: Avg Pace 9:30, Avg HR 145.

Which is to say for a race where we weren’t ready to PR, I am pretty proud of still pushing and embracing some discomfort to find out exactly what I can do. Now I’m even more pumped to tackle training and find a great race this Spring to attempt a PR. As I said up front, the biggest thing for me was building my confidence back to push the pace without pain. It appears all of the PT exercises for my knee, hips and IT band are doing some good!

QUICKIE RUN DOWN
Outfit: Asics NYC top, Lululemon shorts, McDavid compression socks, Kinvara shoes, Flipbelt, TomTom Cardio Runner watch

Pre-Race: 1/2 muffin, 1 tbsp almond butter
— Did my normal short walk and dynamic warm up

During race: Water and nursed 1/2 a gel for miles 6-10. I really just didn’t plan well.
The race started at 7:15 am and while I was happy it wasn’t raining, it was HUMID.

Both David and I felt like the first few miles were just hard to get in a groove. I think for me it’s harder to breathe when the air is so thick.

But we had agreed to run together and though I know he could have taken off later in the race, it did me a world of good to have him by my side.

Around 6-8 miles it started to rain and I was soaking it in! That dropped the temperature and kicked the humidity so we both started to perk up and I began to actually think I might be able to hold the 8:30 pace right through to the end.

Mile 10 I started my favorite game — YOU WILL NOT PASS ME.

Yup, this game is what keeps me from going too fast at the start. I start to count who I have passed and if I pass them, I am determined not to slow down so that they can pass me back.

Mile 11-13 David and I both locked in on people in front of us and you could tell we were just focused on reeling them in. It’s so much easier for me to focus on that rather than having any kind of finishing kick and sure enough mile 13 was our fastest of the entire race at 8:07!!.

Post-Race: Not hungry, but got down a green smoothie within an hour
— Quads were so tight post race I thought I’d be in pain today, but nope. Looks like the compression pants and an afternoon of watching tv shows was a great little recovery.

RACE REVIEW
The course this year seemed drastically different from 2014 Best Damn Race Orlando and I definitely preferred last years course, but let’s back up a bit and go through a little pro/con.PROS
Easy – It starts literally on our doorstep. A race just doesn’t get any easier from a start line perspective. For everyone else, there is plenty of parking within a few blocks since it’s a smaller race.

Beautiful – I LOVE running where we live, it’s pretty

Small – I like that this isn’t an overly crowded race (only 1,000 doing the half)

Medals – I think this is one of the coolest medals. I’m sure that’s biased because I know we will move and this portrays the view I look at all day long.
CONS
Bricks – This is the major drawback to running downtown. Lots of running on bricks, which means watching your feet carefully and I kept slowing down because it was wet and they felt slick.

Turns – Lots and lots of turns and running back and forth. Not so much out and back where you pass each other, just going back and forth the same directions which messes with the mind a bit and of course slows you down each time you turn.

Crowds – If cheering crowds are you thing, you won’t find them here. Some families definitely come out, but there are lots of events here so people are a bit cheered out.

Well really that’s all I have, we genuinely like this race and the one we did as part of the series in Safety Harbor last year.

Thanks everyone for the good luck messages and congrats! Even though it was not a PR attempt, I couldn’t let myself totally go easy so this feels like it was the perfect balance of push without pushing too hard.

Did you race this weekend?

Do you have A and B races?

Read more:
Race Day Etiquette
Manage race day nerves

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