Bridge to Bridge Complete!

What a great day. Sunny, felt like somewhere near 70 degrees. Lots of people. This is the first race I've run. I've participated in races before, but as a walker. It was really interesting. Top things I noticed were:

• The start is majorly slow and somewhat irritating. The bands of five walking arm in arm blocking the path at a 15:00 pace ... the runners oblivious to others sharing the same course cutting you off then slowing their pace. I'll I can think to do about this is get used to it. A few times I called out when passing ('on your right') and that seemed to help.
  
• The water tables were a huge bottleneck. As this was a short run and water was on the course, I did not bring any with me. I'm debating whether bringing water and avoiding the lines or taking advantage of the short breaks (~30 seconds) while queing up for water as micro-recovery is the right answer.
• The end of race 'thing' is weird. All these people run -- then drink beer and eat french fries. I like beer and french fries as much as the next guy, but after working hard to burn the calories, I don't want to slap them back on. Also, it's *crowded*. Not sure I'll venture into the next one any farther than it takes to get my t-shirt.

My Race Stats:

Bridge to Bridge 2005
Originally uploaded by michellefleury.

• Total Distance: 7.66 mi
• Total Time: 1:12:46
• Average Pace: 9:29 /mi
• Average Speed: 6.3 mph
• Total Calories: 803 cal
• Average Heart Rate: 167

I set out to 1) finish and 2) run the whole way vs. run/walk. I'm proud to say I did both!