Kalamazoo Klassic

Saturday was the 31st annual Kalamazoo Klassic. There is a 5K run, and a 10K run. Last year, the 10K was the official start of my training for Detroit. This year, I signed up for the 10K.

At the start of the morning, it was 68F, and a beautiful morning for a run. It started at the Maple St. YMCA, at the top of the hill (more about that later). The local weatherman, Keith Thompson was the starter/marshall, which was neat. I was feeling good, but tried to be controlled with my pace. Unfortunately, that didn't work. I ran the first mile in 8 minutes flat, good for a 5K, but a little fast for a 10K. I worked to slow down my pace, and turned up Maple St., with Metallica's "Enter Sandman" blasting through my iPod.

Maple St. contains a long tough hill, and is halfway through the race. I picked up speed through the hill, lowered my head, and worked my way up it. I admit, I did have to walk a bit up it as well. Once at the top, it was back to the same loop I had just run. At about Mile 4.25, I had a Gu, with the water provided, giving me enough of a burst of energy to get to the finish. As I rounded the corner to finish on the football field, I picked up speed into the finish. My time: 53:38, almost 10 minutes faster than last year.

Having run 7 miles last week, 6.2 miles was less than that, so I decided to join the 5K run as well. After grabbing some gatorade and fruit, I climbed up the Maple St. Hill to the start, and took off for the 5K. I ran a steady 9:00/mile pace, and pulled out at the 3 mile mark, as I did not register for the finish.

Finally, after 9.2 miles, I was tired, and felt good about my workouts.