Waddell and Reed Kansas City Half Marathon Preview!

The day has come!  Well, almost...  Tomorrow will be my last planned race for 2011.  The Waddell and Reed race is my first half marathon and longest running race to date, something that I not long ago thought was impossible.  I set the bar high for myself when I signed up for this race in July, and am now ready to go! And Rach is doing it too!!!

Prior to signing up for the race, my longest run to date was on May 21, 2011, which spanned a MASSIVE 7.93 miles, at a blazing average pace of 9:08/mile.  I remember this run, and thought I had a decent pace.  Now, this is probably around the pace for a recovery run for me.  I am amazed at how quickly I gained the endurance and speed I currently have.  Consistency in training was key, as well as having a good training plan.

Today marks one of my favorite days devoted to each endurance athlete: CARBO LOADING!!! And I do it right!  In fact, I have taken it upon myself to enlist the services of a Carbo-Coach.  Sure, he may be my future brother-in-law, but he know's his stuff.  Today's choice for lunch was Chipotle, and the training plan called for an entire fajita burrito:  DONE.

Mark 1, Burrito 0

Packet Pickup:
Rach and I went to pickup our packets today, and we were both quite blown away.  This is the largest race we have either done, and were excited when we walked through the expo doors.  Clearly, we inadvertently left our self control at the door.  Rach and I both purchased new shorts and a new shirt.  Mine will be making an appearance at the race tomorrow! We got some pretty good deals, and plus, it was payday...

We got there around 2:00pm, so it wasn't too crowded.  We both tried a fitness test for free personal training classes. They were using a TRX suspension training system, which was tough!  I recently made one at home that didn't cost me $200 (future post!), and got a quick lesson on some different lifts using it!  Sweet!

After wondering around for a bit, and Rach and I headed home, to continue the carbo loading! Pasta Dinner tonight!

Bib and shirt (which won't be worn tomorrow), ready to go!
Please note the Beer Ticket.

Race Goals:
My goals for the race are going to be a bit shorter than other races, as I am starting with a pace group.  In fact, my only real goal is to average under an 8:00 mile, bringing my finishing time to 1:44:59.  I'm soooo ready to get this done!  I was really nervous about this pacing goal a month ago, but the Cerner KC15k race gave me tons of confidence.  I know this course is going to have 2 MASSIVE hills to conquer, with one lasting about 1 mile, but hey, this is it.  This will probably be the last race in my first multisport season.  I'm going to "war", and am going to see what MY BEST is on 10/15/2011. And to help with some of the motivation around mile 9, I'm going to remember this is waiting for me when I get home...

Ahhh..... Beer....

I actually think I may see some people I know! I will be keeping my eye out for Ryan aka Man vs Triathlon, Scotty, Reese from BT, Jon, and a few other BTers I am hoping to meet! Hope to see everyone there! If not, thanks for reading, and have a great weekend! Be back with a race report SOONish...