Kansas Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

It was chilly and kinda windy - I'd worn shorts and a long sleeved shirt - perfect. Started off feeling a TON better than I thought I would after the bike ride yesterday. Nice!

First aid station 2 miles in I grabbed something to drink, thinking the clear liquid was water. It was not water. Gross. I spit it out and kept running. No idea what it was but it was nasty. First 2 miles are all uphill. Yay?

Miles 2-6 I felt completely awesome. I kept thinking to myself "I LOVE RUNNING! IloverunningIloverunningIloverunning!!! Did I mention I love running?!" LOL good pace. Killer hills, that's Lawrence for ya. I told myself out loud that I was STRONG! YOU ARE STRONG! UP THAT HILL! STRONG LEGS! STROOOOONG! People were walking up the hills. Not me. Nuh uh. You got it!!!

At every other aid station I'd ask the volunteer "WATER?" three times to verify it was not the nasty stuff they called everything from "sports drink" to "heed" to "hammer" to "poweraid" to "gatorade" - what was it?! Whatever it was I want nothing to do with it ever again.

OK around mile 10 I was getin' tired. Wanted to be done. Started to get cold, I think my sweat was drying too quickly in the wind and making me soooo cold. Wish I'd have worn my glove liners.

Did I mention the course markers were waaaaay off? From the very first mile. The first one was only a little off (Garmin read like 0.94 or something) - I can deal with that. But from there it just got worse. At the 10-mile marker my Garmin read 9.46. Seriously - that's quite a bit off. More than 1/2 mile. Don't get why it's so hard to accurately measure a course. Anyway.

Mile "12" (in quotes) came and went and we started up the longest hill ever. EVER. It did not stop. It was very cruel to end the race like this. It literally went for almost an entire mile. At one point I looked up and 10 of the 11 people in front of me were walking. I was holding out - running, albeit very slowly. In my head even though I was going so slow, it was better to run and give my legs a good workout. I gave in near the end and walked for about 15 seconds. Damn.

Came around to the finish chute and saw Jason (El Flaco!) give me a low five! Nice. Crossed the finish line and looked for food. Tummy was growling. I'd eaten about 3/4 GU around mile "7" (in quotes) and obviously that was not enough. Ate half a bagel I wasn't supposed to and saw Gloria huddled up with Drew (tri-dg) in a blankie! Hahahaaa.



Eat a bigger breakfast. Not nearly enough calories to start the run with.

Ski-dattled out of there cause we were literally shaking we were so cold. Caught a shuttle back to the start line and tried to jog to the car. The hills really killed us. Back to the hotel for a HOT shower and a little nappy nap before packing up and driving back to Wichita.

What a great weekend! I'm really proud of myself.


Riding 56 miles of hills the day before. This was a training run, and nothing more.


First year for the race. It's all right. This is NOT flat. In fact, I think it's the hilliest run in general I've ever done in my life. Prepare yourself. Course was severly marked short; my Garmin read 12.8 miles; that was kind of disappointing.