I signed up for this half last minute for a marathon training run. It’s KC in September so you never know what weather you’ll get. I got hot and humid. The first half is pretty nice and level but the second half is welcome to hills. The ending hill feels never ending. Not a lot of spectators if you need a crowd. It was a great challenge for me and I enjoyed it even though it was tough.

This was a bucket list item for me this year. This is a sprint triathlon (500m OWS, 10 mile bike, and a 5k) in Smithville Missouri. This is an all women's event and the support is out of this world. Many people told me to do this as my first and I am so glad I did. This is an EXCELLENT first timer/beginner event! I can't tell you enough about all the free events they put on for their participants before hand. They hand out training logs and put on events that include everything you need to know as a first timer. How to handle bike maintenance, fueling, nutrition, transition, shoes, and triathlon coaches hold speaking events. They hand out free goodies at the events you attend and do lots of raffles with great prizes (Garmin watches). Garmin provides great swim caps and holds multiple group bike rides as well. I can't say enough about this race. Looking out over Sailboat Cove on the early morning before the race was breathtaking. The bike wasn't the greatest scenery but I was just thankful to be done with the swim. The run is on the lake's paved trail that goes around it. There was so much support throughout the entire experience. The race director, Lisa, was outstanding! Everyone made you feel welcome and all questions were respected. Just a super, well organized, fun, triathlon or duathlon!

This race was hard because I had lots of foot pain prior to surgery. But, there were many different scenes to this 13.1 that I enjoyed. There were more spectators than I thought there would be but I wouldn't say a ton. The pacer for my group was horrible. The two girls hadn't seen each other in awhile but knew one another and didn't engage the group at all. I had to ask their names. One ventured off to the bathroom and I never saw them again. This is a race I would do again (my PR for 13.1).

The Plaza 10k is well known around here. There are tons of runners and there are fun vendors at the end handing out protein balls, etc. The parking was easy, we arrived early, and grabbed a parking garage spot with no problem. The course is nice but one part of it seemed to go on straight forever and I wondered if we were ever turning back to head to the finish. This was a PR course for me and I would definitely do it again.

I loved this half. This was the first half with my sister and her first half so it was sentimental to me. On another note, I loved the tree lined paved trail that this half was on. It was peaceful and a nice, quiet, flat run. For some, this may be boring as there aren't many spectators because most of the run is on the trail. You do come into town stops where an aid station is and supporters can cheer you on. The one thing I didn't like was when we finished (2:09) they were already giving out awards for the age group winners. I thought this was pretty tacky and have never seen that start so quickly. But, I would love to run this again.