Governor's Cup 2016 Race Review

Hi Everyone!

I'm definitely behind on my blogging for the week. Here it is Wednesday, and I haven't done my weekly review of last week yet OR my Tri Tuesday post!! Yikes.

Instead, today I'm bringing you a race review. On Saturday, Jeff and I were in Helena to run Governor's Cup. This year, I did the 10K and Jeff did 5K. They also offer Full and Half Marathons. This is the second year we have done this race, and we each did the same distance we had done previously. You can read my review from last year HERE.

Governor's Cup 5K about to start.

We arrived in Helena on Friday evening. We live about 3.5 hours from Helena, and with a morning race start time of 7:00 a.m for me and 9:00 for Jeff, an overnight stay was a must. First thing upon hitting town, we picked up our packets. Last year, they had a small expo with a few vendor booths that I found to be really cool. This year, nothing. Nada. Zilch. Just get your s#1+ and get out, haha. It took us about ninety seconds to pick up our bibs and t-shirts. We didn't receive any other swag. Although, we had received emails the day before with our "virtual race bag," that included a few coupons for Helena businesses. We didn't use any of them. I'm curious as to why the race organizers changed from an expo to a virtual bag this year.

Has anyone else had this before-- a "virtual race bag?"
Would you prefer a virtual bag, or an actual expo, even if the expo is small?

We spent the rest of the evening taking it easy, staying out of the rain (it rained quite a bit that night in Helena), and enjoying a nice dinner. Then, went to bed early to rest up for the race.

The next morning, my alarm went off at 5:00 a.m. I wanted to be able to eat a normal sized breakfast and have a cup of coffee, and have plenty of time for all of that to settle. Hotel breakfast didn't start until 6:30, but I had planned ahead and brought some bread and peanut butter, and some dried apricots. I was out the door slightly after six and jogged a warmup to the starting area of the race, maybe slightly less than a mile away. I spent plenty of time warming up with dynamic stretching and form running, and did a few sprints. I know I race significantly better when I get a full warmup in ahead of time.

Race Day Outfit: Oiselle Roga shorts, Oiselle Volee singlet, Oiselle Runway Bra, Brooks Glycerin Shoes, Features! socks, and a black sparkly headband from HankOrange.

My goal for the 10K this year was primarily to do better than I had last year. My stretch goal was to get a new PR. Last year, I had run 54:54, and my 10K PR is 52:59. So, I basically had a two-minute window within which I wanted to finish. I knew from last year it would be a tough race on a challenging course, but I've also made some solid progress over the past year, too. I felt pretty confident in at least beating my last year time.

Looking around the Start area, it seemed like there were a lot fewer people than last year. I talked to a few people while waiting for the race to start, and I met another Team Beef Montana runner, named Heather. I've actually never participated in a race in which I've seen another Team Beef member, so it was cool to finally meet someone! I think this is because I live so far away from most of the places where races are held and where other team members live.

I was actually caught up in conversation when the race started (which is very unusual for me, as an extreme introvert!) but I was behind the start line enough that it didn't matter and I got my Strava started in time. I felt pretty good right away but I knew I'd have a big hill later on so I didn't want to go out too hard and have nothing left. I'm pretty famous for taking the first mile way too quickly.

Mile 1- 8:24
Mile 2- 8:45

We ran right up to the Montana Capitol building- very cool!

Mile 3- 8:25

...and then we turned and went up the dreaded Broadway Hill. Seriously. It's a killer. It goes for about a half mile, then slightly levels out, then goes up hill some more. So, uphill for nearly an entire mile. I slowed down considerably.

Mile 4- 9:28

Then, blessedly, headed back towards downtown and DOWNHILL which actually felt great. I knew the last half mile or so of the course would be uphill again, so I was trying to save a bit again for that...

Mile 5- 8:38
Mile 6- 8:25
Last .2 nubbin (uphill!)- 8:38 pace

I was very relieved to see the finish line and hear the announcer call my name. He even pronounced my town of Inverness correctly! Shortly thereafter, Jeff found me at the finish area. I must have looked like hell because he asked me if I was going to be sick, but I was fine- just tired from the effort.

I checked my time on Strava- which was 53:56. Obviously not my official time, but probably pretty close. I was happy because I knew I was right in the range that I wanted- below last year's time by about a minute. Later, my official results were sent to me through email:

Chip Time- 53:51.47
Clock Time- 54:01.53
Pace- 8:40

Overall Place- 90 out of 393
Female Place- 30 of 250
Female 30-39- 9 of 70

I don't put a lot of stock in finishing place because every race is different and truly, it's more important to me to just get better personal times. That being said, I'm still pleased to see that I keep creeping up in the rankings when I do races. It used to be that I'd be right in the middle, and slowly, with hard work, I'm inching closer toward the top 20-30% of the field, depending on the race. It feels good.

After the 10K, I hung out around the finish line area with Jeff. I had made a loose plan to meet one of my Oiselle teammates after she finished the Half Marathon. It was awesome to meet Kim! Again, this was the first time I've ever met a Oiselle teammate in person. She was very friendly (no surprise!) and it was nice to visit with her. I really hope we can meet up again sometime, or plan to do a race together. :)

Meeting up with another Oiselle teammate!

Soon, it was time to see Jeff off at the start of the 5K. I wished him good luck and left him alone to continue his warmup. I decided to watch the start of the race because Heather Lieberg was running and going for the win. She is a sponsored Oiselle athlete and competed at the Olympic Trials in LA back in February. She's an elite runner, and Governor's Cup is "her race." She has won each of the other distances at this event- Marathon, Half Marathon, and 10K- and was going for the win in the 5K today. I watched her get off the line, and then tried to spy Jeff as he crossed the start line back in the pack. After a few cheers, I decided to head back down and cheer for finishers of the marathon and half marathon while waiting for the 5K-ers to come in.

Heather Lieberg, bottom right, about to finish in the 5K.

It was a fun atmosphere near the finish line with people cheering the runners in. I'd have to say, though, that overall, this course is pretty devoid of spectators. At least on the 10K route. Maybe there are more on the longer courses, but I sort of got the impression there aren't many people watching and cheering. Heather Lieberg did end up winning the women's 5K, and was 5th overall I think. It was cool to see how strong she looked. Then, I was just looking for Jeff. I was so pumped to see him in what I knew would be a good time, and cheered him in to the finish. Jeff finished with a new 5K PR and was really happy with that. I am really proud of him and his work, too!

Jeff, looking strong at the finish.

Overall, Governor's Cup was a good race. It is well organized and has great course volunteer support. There were lots of water stops and other volunteers along the route, and they were very friendly. We were a little disappointed in the lack of expo this year. The other thing we missed was the motivational speaker event. Last year we attended a cool talk by Tim Catalano and Adam Goucher the night before the race, but this year we had nothing. But neither of these things put much of a damper on our overall experience. We are both really happy with our times and will likely return again to do Governor's Cup in the future.

Next up, Dawson's Run, a local 5K race this Saturday!

After the race!