As I mentioned in my post earlier this morning, today was the Fort Worth Zoo Run Run, and Julie and I ran the timed 5K. We don't have the official results, but I do have my Garmin Forerunner results (started and stopped on the timing mats).

According to my Forerunner 305, my time was 26:31.13, with an average pace of 8:34/mile, which is an average speed of 7 mph. My average heart rate was 182 bpm, with a max heart rate of 196 bpm, which came right at the end, along with my fastest speed--10.7 mph. Here are my splits:

• Mile 1: 8:49.86 - 174 bpm
• Mile 2: 8:44.80 - 185 bpm
• Mile 3: 8:21.45 - 187 bpm
• Final .1: 0:35.02 - 193 bpm

This was a tough race, with a lot of people, lots of kids, strollers (fortunately most of the strollers were towards the back), and hills. It was also a fun race, as the early part of the course wound right through the zoo, and included runner taunting monkeys.

Overall, I am very pleased with my time. It definitely indicates that my training is working, as I've now dropped my 5K time significantly in the last few months:

• 31:25 - Jingle Bell Run 5K - December 1, 2007
• 28:45 - Cowtown 5K - February 23, 2008
• 27:45 - Bunny Boogie 5K - March 22, 2008
• 26:31 - Fort Worth Zoo Run Run 5K - April 19, 2008

Julie ran her first sub 30 minute 5K! We're estimating her time in the range of 29:15-29:45. Hopefully the official results will be posted later today and we can verify the actual time.

Next Saturday is the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Please join our team or make a contribution!

It's racing day today--the Fort Worth Zoo Run Run 5K/10K. Julie and I are doing the 5K. This will be the 3rd race that I've run since buying my Garmin Forerunner 305, and I am curious as to how other people with Forerunners utilize them during a race?

In the previous two races (the Cowtown 5K and Bunny Boogie), I've set a quick workout for pace and distance. The allows me to just worry about hitting start, and then I keep the display on pace to make sure I'm not too fast and not too slow. Of course, if the course is off a little, or if I am not running perfect tangents, then the Forerunner will finish the set distance somewhere besides the actual finish line. So far, though, my Forerunner times have been pretty close to my actual finish times. However, in today's race, I am thinking of just hitting start and then manually stopping it at the finish line.

How do you race with your Garmin Forerunner, or other, similar device?