Woohoo! My second, yes second half marathon is over! I few years ago I never thought I could complete one and now I have done 2! I am not sure if I will ever do more half marathons, but I am happy to have two under my belt within a 6 months time...that's like running a marathon, right if you just add them together ;)...without that 6 months break in-between...that's as close to a marathon you will see from me! I still love the feeling of accomplishment you get from running a half marathon, but my body is over all the training you have to do before one. From now on I think 5k and maybe some 10ks will be more my speed.
For this half marathon I did the KC Marathon. It is a big race around here with over 12,000 runners this year. It was crazy the amount of people you would see around you the entire time you were running...a little different than my Garmin half marathon. You get to start in the Crown Center area, go through downtown KC, UP to the Liberty Memorial, through Westport, down to the Plaza, by Hyde Park, and back to your start...so pretty much you get to see all the major attractions in the KC metro area.
This time I not only ran with Ryan, but my friend Kendra, who was doing her first half marathon! It was nice to have someone else to talk to during the 13 miles...it made the time actually go by "fast" if you can call it that. I actually didn't even listen to any music during the entire run, which is kind of abnormal for me during a race day. Ryan is great about helping me stay motivated through the race, but I think it helped even more having Kendra there with us...I couldn't stop and let two people down!
Now I did a mile-by-mile recap during my last half marathon and you can read all about it here, but as I said the miles seemed to go by faster during this race so I don't think I can give as detailed as a recap this time ;).
Here's a mini recap of what this race is like:
Before the race:
It was a cold, cold morning of 35 degrees! I like running in the cold better than heat, but I think my hands were numb the entire race!
We actually were waiting in the restroom line up until 2 minutes before the race begin at Union Station...so it was a quick jog to actually get to the start line, but once we got there we still had to wait a good 10 minutes before actually going over the start with the TON of people who were running.
Mile 1:
Go up a gradual, LONG hill for the entire mile through downtown.
Mile 2:
Come back down a little to get back to the area you originally started at. Start climbing up a even TALLER hill at Liberty Memorial...killer!
Mile 3:
Get to a "flat" spot at Liberty Memorial and think that the worst is over. It is a pretty view as the sun is coming up over KC. Ryan decided to take pictures of Kendra and I at this point!
Mile 4:
Thought those crazy hills were over only to realize there's this short hill, but it pretty much goes STRAIGHT up and the biker that is riding beside you even has to get off his bike and walk it up the hill. Yeah, those first 4 miles are NOT fun!!
Mile 5:
Things FINALLY start leveling off as you go through Westport. I started to get in a groove of running.
Mile 6:
At the half way point we actually get to go DOWN a hill as we enter the Plaza! This feels good!
Mile 7-8:
Nothing too major through these miles, the terrain is pretty flat, which is nice. However, I can tell my energy is getting low. The marathoners also split with us at this point, I am just glad that I was almost done ;) and didn't have 18 more miles to go!
Mile 9:
At mile 9 they have the food aid station up. I tried the banana, which was NOT good on my stomach so threw the rest down. However, I did enjoy the gummy bears they gave us even though they were a bit chewy! Mile 9 is pretty much always my hardest to get through...it's so close to the finish yet the finish is still 4 miles away!
Mile 10:
Our friend Marcia spots us and gives us a hug! It was so nice to have extra encouragement at this spot in the run! Just what I needed to get me through!
Mile 11:
I think it was around this mile that we saw the first full marathoners run through! Yes they were lapping us, and finishing their full marathon before I even got my half done! They are unbelievable to watch.
Mile 12:
My energy is getting really low at this point and have to take several walk breaks, but I still think I feel better than I did during my last half at this mile.
Mile 13-13.1 :):
There were a lot of spectators there to cheer us on. Just want I needed when all my body wanted to do was STOP! I was happy that Kendra, Ryan, and I pulled if off and all crossed the finish line together!!!
All in all, I am very proud of myself and this race. I didn't beat my last half time, but I was only 4 minutes slower than my other race...which I will definitely take! The course of this race was so much more hillier than my last one! I also went into this race telling myself I didn't care about my time and didn't even look at my watch the entire race. I also felt better during this race too and knew I had gotten stronger between the two, which is better than beating some time. I am pretty positive I walked a lot less of this race! It was so much more exciting to see Kendra come through on her first half marathon than anything else!
{I couldn't have done this half marathon without all these people supporting me! Jenn, my gym buddy, did awesome too and blowing it out of the water for her first half marathon!}
{My biggest supporter, who gets me through always! And he always makes sure I come in a few seconds before him at the finish line. Love him!}
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