Amy's Blog

Most of you have heard that I am preparing to run my very first half marathon.  The race is on Saturday, October 16th, only  ten days away.

I’ve been running off and on since I was in seventh or eighth grade.  I was a “distance” runner in junior high. Oh yeah, 2 miles, baby! I remember how long those eight laps around the red gravel track seemed during practice. I’ve come a long way since then. Over the years I’ve done treadmill running and outdoor running.

I put on a lot of weight in college and purchased a used treadmill and used a mix of diet and exercise to get back to my goal weight. I took  time off from running after I lost the weight and then I got sick and lost a lot of my fitness. I got serious about my running again  last fall starting by running on the treadmill at the gym. I worked my way up to running on the indoor track and then began running outdoors in the Spring.  When summer rolled around, I thought that my allergies were too bad to run out doors in the heat. Then I did Rock the Crossroads 5k run through downtown Kansas City in 95 degree heat at the end of July. It was super hot and I felt like I was going to die…but, then I realized, if I can do that, I can run under any Kansas summer weather conditions.  So, I started running outside again.

Back in March, I decided that I wanted to keep myself accountable and advance my overall fitness and running, so I started signing up for a run every month. I ran the Trolley Run which was a four mile run in April from Waldo to the Plaza. In June, I ran the first annual Jazz in the Woods 5k at Corporate Woods.  July was Rock The Crossroads, August was Head for the Cure, and September was the Royals Charities 5k.

https://amymariekc.wordpress.com/2010/09/04/believe-in-the-run/

Somewhere along the way, I started thinking about the Kansas City Marathon coming up in October. I had a few friends that signed up for the half marathon race.  For weeks I thought that there was no way that I could run 13.1 miles. I would need more and more time to build up my endurance, speed, and work myself up to the long training runs that preparing for a race like this would require. 

That thinking went on for several weeks, and then I started “training” about mid August. Now, here I am, 10 days from race day.  Ideally, I’d like to be a little more prepared, but, If I keep waiting until I feel fully prepared, I may never make it. So, I’ll be going into race day with hopefully an 8 mile run under my belt. At any rate, I’m nervous and excited at the same time.

I attended a race clinic this evening hosted by one of Kansas City’s most well-known running coaches, Eladio Valdez from The Runner’s Edge.  The clinic focused on what to do on race day and during race day leading up to the finish.  He also discussed what to do between now and the race. 

My biggest takeaways from the clinic were:

-Start slow

-Walk breaks are ok

-Drink plenty of water at the aid stations

-don’t worry about setting a time goal since this is my first race

I think the best thing that I can do between now and next Saturday is to keep training and focus on being mentally prepared for the race.  I plan to get plenty of rest next Friday and arrive at the race plenty early on Saturday so that I’m not rushed. After the race, I am getting together with friends to celebrate what I hope turns out to be a good experience.