15 Races in 2015 – Race #4 – Best Damn Race Orlando 10k

As with most of my races for 2015, things changed for this one at the last minute. About a week before Best Damn Race Orlando I decided to run the 10k instead of the half marathon. With everything I had going on I hadn’t been able to train like I wanted and I just didn’t want to push it. Thankfully a majority of my friends were doing the 10k and it gave me plenty of folks to enjoy the race with.

Friday afternoon my friend (and fellow Zooma ambassador) Jenn came down for the race. We met up at the expo after I got off work to pick up our packets. Its was cold, windy, and kinda rainy but we stuck around for awhile to chat with folks and see some of my friends. After a quick stop at my house to drop off her things and visit with my pup, we headed to Bonefish Grill for our pre-race dinner.

I had $75 in gift cards from a Yelp event (more on that soon!) to use so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity. We started off with some cocktails, shared the Ahi Tuna Sashimi, and then each had an entree. Jenn had the wood-fired salmon and I had the wood-fired shrimp and scallops. Everything was amazing! I really need to start taking advantage of the fact that Bonefish is right up the street from me.

Since we had an early wake up call we just got our race stuff together and packed it in early. Around 5:15 am we were up and getting ready for the race! It had rained over night and we had our fingers and toes crossed that it wouldn’t do so again during the race. We arrived at the race site around 6:15 am and there were already a ton of people there. Thankfully I was able to find a lot of my friends (although I still missed a bunch of them) and get settled before our 6:45 am start time. The rain held off for the race and the temperature wasn’t too bad. Unfortunately all of the rain brought a TON of humidity with it which definitely put a damper (ha!) on things.

Jenn is a bit speedier than me, so I said goodbye at the start line and we agreed to meet up afterwards. I decided to run the race with my lovely bestie Karen which was a great idea. We’d never done this 10k before and were looking forward to the challenge. The course was great and took us through a ton of super cute neighborhoods near downtown Orlando. Although, it was pretty mean of the folks at Best Damn Race to have us run right behind Gigi’s Cupcakes and then right by Se7en Bites bakery. Mean I tell you!

We didn’t have any PRs that race, but we accomplished our goal which was “don’t die!” 🙂 One of the best things about BDR is they really do have the BEST damn after party. Its always fun when you can run a 10k race and be drinking cider or beer by 9 am. Sounds like a great way to start the weekend to me! We got our medals, grabbed some food, took some pictures, and then made our way to the beer garden. Once there we had some beer & cider while chatting with friends and waiting for other friends to finish.

Even though we didn’t PR and the weather wasn’t so great, I once again had a great time at BDR Orlando. I definitely want to do the 10k again and try to get that PR. Its a tricky course with all the brick and the sneaky hills, but I know I can do it.

Unfortunately this was the last BDR of the season and I will definitely miss them. You won’t see me writing about BDR much until the fall when we start preparing for BDR in Cape Coral. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure you know all the details about registering for the races and how you can save a few bucks with my discount code.

I’m a BDR ambassador and I LOVE it! I’m an ambassador because I love the race series and all the it represents. I love the BDR staff, my fellow ambassadors, and the kick-ass locations of all the races. If you haven’t been to one yet you really need to in 2016!

*Disclosure: Yep, I am a BDR race ambassador but I did pay for my own entry into this particular race. As always all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.