First off, HELL YEAH! I finished the Liberty Half Marathon! At first, I wanted to do better than a 2:30. I even lined up with my running friend, Karen, who was pacing the 2:20 group. I thought she was 2:25, but no. She was 2:20, and I lost her group about a quarter till the first mile. Oh well, at least I finished!
Now that I’ve celebrated some, let’s go back just a bit. I made it to Liberty’s pack pick-up in what they consider to be South KC. HA! It was at the Running Well Store which is about a 15-minute drive North to get there for me. South KC. Pah! I kind of wish I had not remembered the packet pick-up because it would have forced Hubby to get to the race earlier on race day. The race started at 8 AM and it is sometimes hard to get a spot close to the end. We showed up at 7:15 AM and got super lucky since the information said to get there at 6:45 AM for a close spot. Last year we got there way earlier and I think I liked that better. You know, less stressful.
I love the color of this shirt this year
Now if you’ve been reading my blog you know that I had an accident right before the Super Bowl. There is a post here and here. Long story short, my ankle got smashed by a door and I had to get six stitches. The doctors said I could run Liberty, but I wouldn’t be very fast. You can tell from my first paragraph how that went. I even told some people we knew from one of our tailgates for the Chiefs game, that they would probably pass me. I thought that would happen around mile six or so, but I think they passed me before I got to mile three.
Thankfully my ankle didn’t bother me much. My hands were what hurt. My right hand got really swollen at one point. I kept moving my fingers. When we got back and I took my gloves off they were kind of purple. I was fine though once we got in the car on our way home.
My hand got just a little purple 
What my ankle looked like after the run
There is not much else to report for Liberty. I’ve run it several times. The course is pretty much the same. It’s funny though Kyle from The Back of the Pack Podcast, mentioned in one of his podcasts that it doesn’t seem to matter how cold it is before the Running With the Cows race, it is always HOT the day of the race. I agree and think the opposite is true for the Liberty Half Marathon. It is always cold.
I was a little disappointed that the frat boys didn’t have beer again. Well, actually I shouldn’t say that. I’ve been told they have beer, but it is usually a warm Bud Light or something like that. They usually will give you one if you ask for it. I’m used to races having little Dixie cups with “shots” of beer out for the runners. You know, for a quick grab and go. Meh, it’s okay though. I still enjoy the frat boys’ enthusiasm at mile 12 when I’m just about beat.
My time was okay. It was 2:50:33.9. That’s actually not far off from last year. I think I did it in 2:48 or something like that last year. Hubby did it in 2:42:44.3. He always likes to brag that he does that with no training when he did something like a 100-mile gravel race the weekend before this race.
I was pretty tired and thankfully not as sore as I thought I would be that day. We didn’t do much the rest of the day. My daughter had rehearsal for her first play with The Culture House. She is really excited. Then the very next weekend, I did Terravox Wine 5K for the first time.
I think this might have been their first 5K to have at Terravox Vineyard. Amy and I drove together. She met me at my house and I drove the rest of the way there. At first, I thought I was going to be hot, but it was actually a bit nippy. They did not have packet pick-up before race day which was fine. We got there, got our stuff, said hello to our friend, Allison, who was helping with the check-in, and went back to the car to put on our bibs and put the extra shirt in our bags. I forgot that I bought socks. They were cute though. I’m glad I did.
I tried to join the team the Kansas City Hashers started for this race, but I couldn’t get the password to work. Hashers are a part of a running club called the Hash House Harriers. Amy is friends with a hasher so I told her we might see some hashers that day. I didn’t see any until later during the race.
After we hung out staying warm in the car, we got out and lined up for the start. They warned us from the get-go that it would not be an exact 5K (3.1 miles). Come to find out it was a zig-zag type course up and down a few aisles of the vineyard and then around it to go back out again. So you did the course twice. They did say if you wanted to only do one loop and end you could. You just had to tell them so they wouldn’t award you any age group awards.
It ended up being a 2.83-mile run. Amy and I hung out together during the whole run. She is still nursing a hurt leg and I have that bad ankle. We finished it in 40:08.8. It was a lot of fun. I did see a hasher I know during the race. Amy and I got our medals, wine “glasses” and a pour of white or blush. I got the blush. It was pretty good. We took a few pictures and then I saw the hasher I knew again. We chit-chatted with him and another hasher I don’t think I had met yet. When they left we went inside the tasting room and hung out with Allison for a bit before we headed back home.
This was a really fun race that I probably wouldn’t mind doing again. Heck, I might grab Hubby and go back sometime for a wine tasting.
Goofy For Twins 