2009 KC Marathon Race Report

Ok, so I am almost 2 years late writing this race report, but better late than never... I hope more of the details come back to me as I write this up, but if not, I guess a spotty recollection now is better than I could do in another two years.  If I remember correctly, I had only registered for, planned on, and trained for the half marathon. Generally I don't train as hard through the summer due to the heat and other recreational opportunities (bbq and beer mostly), but when I went to the packet pickup, they offered a $10 upgrade to go to the full distance.  Being a sucker for a good deal, I upgraded although I hadn't run longer than a 10 mile in 3 months or so. 

Anywho, I remember it was misting and chilly that morning, October 17th, 2009.  There were lots and lots and lots and lots of people there.  5k, half and full all started at the same time, so the first 2 or 3 miles was a clusterfuck, but it was a cool clusterfuck - starting at Crown Plaza in downtown.  Weaving all around big buildings as stuff was pretty neat, especially surrounded by 20,000 people (or however many were there).  We went through Westport, where there were bands playing, and though an expensive looking residential neighborhood with expensive looking cars in the driveways and people cheering us on in their yards.  Very cool.  It remained cool and overcast and the miles were flying by.  I kept my pace under 8:30 for the first 19 miles, when the lack of longer runs in the previous months reared its ugly head.  I started to bonk hard, and crashed hard between 22-25 a very very long and painful 3 miles.  I gut-checked the last 1.2 miles and finished strong, with an overall finish of 3:50:04 (official). 

Strangely enough, this is my PR time...  I did however pay a price for not correctly training for this race.  I was soooooooooo sore that I could barely walk for a week.  Sitting hurt, walking hurt, sleeping hurt.  It was three weeks before I could really run pain free again.  So, the lesson from this race:  A gut check, dig deep, tough it out approach can get the job done can get you through, but it is much smarter to properly train for the race you are running.