My Beloved and I booked a hotel room right at the start/finish and made a little run-cation out of it.
We took off work Friday and drove up early so we could get checked in and take a long look at the expo.
While at the expo, we visited with the Saucony rep at the Run816 booth and we each bought our next pairs of shoes.
My Beloved went for a pair of Freedoms and I got another set of Rides.
When we got done looking around there, we did a little sight-seeing. KC has an awesome newish street car that I had yet to ride so we had to check it out.
After that we had dinner at a nice Italian place called Milano's at Crown Center then went back to the room. This was the view from our room that evening.
Isn't that incredible? I love KC!
We didn't sleep very well that night, I get so excited the night before a race like this.
Also I'd adjusted my nutrition plan a bit since my first half back in April. This time around I woke up around 2 a.m. and had a bagel with peanut butter and banana. I think it definitely helped.
My start time was a little after 7 a.m., so we were up and at it by 5:30. We got ready and headed to the start line.
It was blustery and felt pretty chilly, but I knew it'd warm up when we started running.
After the anthem and some fireworks, we were off!
I had a little debate with myself whether I should stick with the 2:05 I trained for or push for that sub-2. Instagram unanimously voted I should try for the sub-2, but I decided I should stick with what I trained for.
About a mile in though, I realized that purposely holding myself back was just as stupid as pushing myself too hard. So I left the pace group and ran by feel.
I wasn't planning on taking my phone out for any pictures, but it's so easy to access it with the Nathan VaporKrar pack and there were so many great scenes I couldn't resist, so I did snap a few.
It was mostly cloudy that morning, but as I came up this hill the sun peaked out and hit these trees with changing leaves.
There were several live bands along the way and it was great to hear their music while I ran.
And I'm so happy the race photographers got several good photos of me as I was running.
I had such a great race, my time was 2:02:31. I felt like I gave all I had to give.
However, this past week I have not hurt nearly as bad as I did after my first half last spring. I really credit the different training program for that. My first half I was following Garmin's heart rate plan, which was a fine plan I just don't think it fully prepared me for what I wanted to do. This time around I followed the Hanson's Method which I loved and I think did a much more thorough job. I will talk more about the Hanson's plan in an upcoming post.
The Kansas City race was such a great race! It was so beautiful. Yes, it was challenging, look at these hills!
And the wind was blowing steady in our faces for a good portion of the middle of the race. But I LOVED it! I can't wait to do it again.
Maybe next time I can crack that sub-2 hour mark.
I had planned to go from here to the full marathon distance. But I've had a couple thoughts on that.
First, I love the half marathon. It's the most popular distance for good reason. It's enough distance it really requires effort. But not so much as to interfere with the rest of a person's life. Which is what I fear training for a marathon would require of me at this point.
Secondly, I think my body is telling me I need a few more halves before trying to tackle a full. I didn't hurt nearly as much after this one as I did my first, but I did still hurt a little. And I think it will be wise to have more preparation before making the jump to full.
I'll leave you with a little video I put together of our trip.
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