When: October, 18th 2009
Where: Lincoln, NE
Introduction
A large group of runners from work went down to Kansas City for the the KC Marathon this year. I unfortunately wasn't able to make the trip this year with the 6-week old and other considerations. So with the weekend open and a strong desire to run another race this fall I signed up for the Governor's Cup.
The Race
First off, I learned yesterday that I am not a big fan of afternoon races. With October weather in Nebraska I understand why they do it. The biggest challenge I had was sitting around all day dealing with my normal pre-race nervous energy. With early morning races I know how to channel that energy. I have a pretty good routine for those cases. Also the afternoon gun challenged me to figure out what to eat/drink and when. Lastly, it allowed me to rationalize staying up late the night before, drinking (kind of a lot) with my Dad and watching a 13 inning Yankees game to completion.
The race was a family affair this year, with Noah making his racing debut with Blake and his cousin Cole (and chaperonage Shana) in the 1 mile race. My older brother Andy and sister-in-law Chrissy ran the 15k too. We all made it to the start line on time and ready to race.
The first mile I went WAY TOO FAST, then settled in for a pretty consistent run. The hardest part about the run was dealing with the wind. 20mph winds with gust up near 30mph are not fun to run in any time let alone race in. I stuck on the heals of some great runners for the first 6 miles or so and faded back slightly as a small group of them accelerated towards a strong finish. My last 1/2 mile I was completely "running on E", I lost one overall spot in my slow-down.
In the end, I ended up with 13th place overall. A decent time only slightly slower than my (lofty) goal. And accounting for the afternoon race, drinking the night before and the wind on race day, I'm pretty pleased all the same. A first for me in my albeit short running carrier, I did get a Age Group prize for coming in second in the 30-34 y.o. mens division. A nice $20 gift certificate to the Lincoln Running Company.
New 15K baseline: 1:03:21
Start to mile marker 1:
Split: 6:02
Mile markers 1 to 2:
Split: 6:41
Mile markers 2 to 3:
Split: 6:51
Mile markers 3 to 4:
Split: 6:59
Mile markers 4 to 5:
Split: 7:12
Mile markers 5 to 6:
Split: 6:48
Mile markers 6 to 7:
Split: 6:44
Mile markers 7 to 8:
Split: 6:50
Mile markers 8 to 9:
Split: 6:49
Mile markers 9 to finish:
Split: 2:26
Noah jumped out to run to the finish line with me. :-)
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