borgess 10k recap – back in the racing saddle!

I’m so pleased to be writing this race recap!  It has been positively AGES since I last wrote one – November, in fact, and it does my heart good to be typing this.

yay! a finish line! that I crossed!

The Borgess 10k is part of marathon weekend here in Kalamazoo.  Once upon a time, only the 1/2 and a 5k were offered.  The Borgess 1/2 was around for a long time and it was my first ever 1/2 marathon.  I trained like a boss for it.  Look at all of the happiness.

I do love a good running skirt

This was/is my 1/2 PR – 2:04 and some change.

I’ve signed up for the 1/2 twice since my inaugural running of this event and both times I didn’t run it.  I wasn’t trained enough or whatnot.  We now have the Kalamazoo Marathon and last year they introduced the 10k.  I picked the 10k and I went into race day knowing my legs weren’t ready but I was determined.

The week prior to the event is the end of the semester so it’s always chaotic.  I woke up Sunday morning feeling like I was getting a cold but figured it was just some allergies.  Momentarily, I wondered if I should not run… really, I was just scared.  I got up at 6 am and was out the door at 6:35 am – only 5 minutes later than what I wanted.  Major score for me!

Now, the race didn’t start until 8:15 am but I was paranoid about finding parking.  It’s safe to say, parking worries me as much as actually running races worries me.  I hunkered down in the car once I arrived (prime parking space btw), adjusted my play list, talked to myself and just generally got mentally prepared.

The 1/2 and 5k are very established.  The marathon and 10k are continuing to grow so there was a fun crowd gathering.  All of the events started EXACTLY on time.  Well done, Kalamazoo!  The marathon and 1/2 marathon started at the same time and took a right out of the starting gate.  The 10k started 15 mins later and we went left, with the 5k starting 20 (or so) mins after this.  The 10k and 5k only partially shared the course but we were mostly ahead of them so we weren’t stampeded by speedy 5k-ers.  There was also a walking/family event which was part of the staggered start and were split from the runners during shared course time.  I explain all of this because it was very well-organized.  I was never mowed down by a 5k-er, nor did I slow up a 1/2 marathon person.  You should definitely consider this race someday.

runners as far as the eye can see

I started out and quickly realized a couple of things A) I haven’t run 6 miles since October.  B) This is/was a damn hilly course.  C) I wanted to walk – pretty early on!  But I kept telling myself I could wait to get to the water stop.  And I knew there was a steep hill at the end so if I needed to walk at all during this I had to save it for that biggie hill.  I pepped-talked myself a lot and remembered things friends said to me, one of my favorites being, “the faster you run the faster you’re done”.

a billboard facing the last stretch of the course

I did have to walk a bit on that last hill – it was at the end of the course, which is just stinkin’ mean!  I FINISHED!  Yay!  It was my slowest 10k to date but I’m crazy proud of myself.  There has been a lot of sickness and injury for almost a year now and I didn’t give up even though I really wanted to.  I celebrated with a brewski which is specially brewed for this weekend, “The Big Finish”.  At 9:45 am.

of course I kept the cup

It got fairly warm while I was out there (nothing unmanageable since I knew I would be finished soon) but the water stop seemed very far away.  I should’ve brought my own beverage.  Also, when we walked through the finish line there were some after-race fuel tables but it was confusing.  There were minimal options (especially for a gluten-free-er) and I thought there would be more outside of the finish area.  There wasn’t, unless you wanted to pay for lunch.  I grabbed a mini-orange slice, a bottle of water and then a chocolate milk.  These are my only two gripes about this race.  By the time I lingered a bit, got coffee, showered and dressed I was so beyond starving.  I need to work on my after-run fueling strategy.

Now I need to sign up for a million more races!