I ran the Wadell and Reed Kansas City Half Marathon today. It was a beautiful day with perfect conditions for running. At about 60 degrees and no wind, I wasn't cold nor was hot; perfect weather. At one point, we made a turn slightly uphill and into the sunrise (it was about 8 AM at that point) and I could see dozens of wisps of breath vapor lit up by the sun, it was a beautiful sight.
The course was one of the most scenic jogs I've ever been on. Mile on went by the Sprint Center, mile 2 passed Union Station, mile 3 (after a nasty hill) passed the Liberty Memorial, miles 5-7 went through Westport and the plaza, mile 8 passed the Nelson Atkins, miles 9-11 went through gorgeous old neighborhoods with ponds, bridges and fountains, mile 11 took us right along the KC skyline, mile 12 went through the Jazz district and we ended in the freight house district. It was a great day to visit the beautiful parts of KC and I jogged slow enough to enjoy the sights.
The good news is I hit my goal of 2 hours (2:00:14 to be exact). The bad news was that I couldn't reach my secondary goal which was to hang with Josh Vance, Zach Pogemiller and Aaron Bonham. I gave up hanging with them by about mile 7. I trained really hard but I guess I don't have the speed to hang with those guys, they beat my by about 7 minutes. Of the 285 in our age group (30-34), I came in 171st.
I don't feel that bad but my leg muscles and knees are pretty sore. A half marathon is a great race; long enough to be a challenge but short enough to not make one completely miserable (as the Olathe Marathon did to me). If it wasn't so hard on my knees, I'd love to keep running halfs.
The best part of the race, as usual, was the training. I averaged 20 miles a week, putting me in good enough shape that I lost 10 pounds over the past 2 months while eating like a pig. Now, I need to eat like only a small pig to avoid putting all that back on. But that will have to wait until tomorrow; I spent this afternoon eating almost an entire pizza at the Other Place in Olathe while watching the Hawks beat up on the detestable Badgers.
A few different friends snapped some pictures, but I haven't gotten them yet, maybe I'll post them when I get them.
I'm going to bed early because my body is quite worn out.
The course was one of the most scenic jogs I've ever been on. Mile on went by the Sprint Center, mile 2 passed Union Station, mile 3 (after a nasty hill) passed the Liberty Memorial, miles 5-7 went through Westport and the plaza, mile 8 passed the Nelson Atkins, miles 9-11 went through gorgeous old neighborhoods with ponds, bridges and fountains, mile 11 took us right along the KC skyline, mile 12 went through the Jazz district and we ended in the freight house district. It was a great day to visit the beautiful parts of KC and I jogged slow enough to enjoy the sights.
The good news is I hit my goal of 2 hours (2:00:14 to be exact). The bad news was that I couldn't reach my secondary goal which was to hang with Josh Vance, Zach Pogemiller and Aaron Bonham. I gave up hanging with them by about mile 7. I trained really hard but I guess I don't have the speed to hang with those guys, they beat my by about 7 minutes. Of the 285 in our age group (30-34), I came in 171st.
I don't feel that bad but my leg muscles and knees are pretty sore. A half marathon is a great race; long enough to be a challenge but short enough to not make one completely miserable (as the Olathe Marathon did to me). If it wasn't so hard on my knees, I'd love to keep running halfs.
The best part of the race, as usual, was the training. I averaged 20 miles a week, putting me in good enough shape that I lost 10 pounds over the past 2 months while eating like a pig. Now, I need to eat like only a small pig to avoid putting all that back on. But that will have to wait until tomorrow; I spent this afternoon eating almost an entire pizza at the Other Place in Olathe while watching the Hawks beat up on the detestable Badgers.
A few different friends snapped some pictures, but I haven't gotten them yet, maybe I'll post them when I get them.
I'm going to bed early because my body is quite worn out.
I just posted this picture. It was snapped by a friend of mine whose wife was running as well. He had just taken his spot to watch his wife finish when he saw me. He was just able to squeeze into the crowd and quickly take the shot.
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1 comment:
You did a great job yesterday Donnie, I was impressed considering it had been years since you last ran that far. We'll have to do another one soon.
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