Bridge-to-Bridge - Lynette

The 2005 Bridge to Bridge 12K race is done! That's me, #2305, trying to kick it up a hill to the finish line chutes. Despite my best intentions I executed this race all wrong. Karl and I deliberately planned to stay in the Bay Area on Saturday night so that we wouldn't have to get up early and make the 2-hour drive from Sacramento to San Francisco. However, that's where "according to plan" ended. This morning we were running late, pardon the pun, from Oakland to SF's Fisherman's Wharf. My Google Maps directions didn't take into account a lot of construction so we had to take the long way to the wharf. The race had already started by the time we figured out where to park and had gotten oriented. We scurried from the parking garage to follow the crowd along Embarcadero. I was so flustered doing this that I didn't settle into a stride until mile 4! By then we were coming up to the Golden Gate and the turnaround to the Presidio. My other silly decisions were to wear my new shoes even though I hadn't run in them to speak of, and the worst was that I ate breakfast. I never do this before a regular run but I did it today because the race was at 9am. This was a mistake. Nevertheless, I made it! My average pace was close to 10:00. Slow but steady. I ran some files much faster but I forgot my watch/heart rate monitor too. Where was my brain?

As races go, this one is an easy, pretty course. It starts at the south end of Fisherman's Wharf near the Bay Bridge, through the touristy section, along Crissy Fields and the Marina to the Golden Gate Bridge and then up to the Presidio. There are only 2 hills, a short steep one midway and a longer gradual one at the end. The party afterwards is more fun than the Bay to Breakers. This race has only about 12,000 runners. The bands and the vendors post-race are pretty good.

I posted some pictures here. As you can see the morning skies over San Francisco were remarkably clear and the temperature was warm.