2012 August Newsletter

Ultramax Sports Official Apparel Provider

The Kansas City Sports Commission is proud to announce the Waddell & Reed Kansas City Marathon’s official apparel sponsor.  Ultramax Sports will provide great running and workout apparel at the Marathon Expo as well as the official race apparel. 

Stop by their booth at the Expo to get all your apparel needs…and pick up your Finisher t-shirts as well.  There will be a variety of styles to choose from!

Visit Ultramax Sports’ Kansas City store in the Prairie Village shops. 

Hotel Discounts and Promotions

Don’t wait to make your hotel reservations!  Whether you’re traveling from out of town or just want to stay near the heart of the activity, consider staying the Sheraton of Crown Center or the Westin Crown Center. 

Mention the Waddell & Reed Kansas City Marathon with Ivy Funds and you’ll be part of the group block and receive the special discounts for this event.

Click here for more information or to make your reservations.

Volunteer

The Kansas City Sports Commission values and appreciates all the volunteers who spend countless hours helping to make the Waddell & Reed Kansas City Marathon with Ivy Funds a success!!  It couldn’t happen without you!

Click here to learn more about the volunteer opportunities!  You won’t want to miss out on the excitement of the day!

Fundraising

RELENTLESS from the start, Team In Training (TNT) participants are focused on raising as much money as they can to make a difference in the lives of cancer patients and their families. Only The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training program has trained nearly half a million runners, walkers, triathletes, cyclists and hikers that have raised over $1.4 billion to fund lifesaving cancer research.

By helping to raise funds for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma research and patient services, TNT participants receive the experience of a lifetime. A personalized fitness training by certified coaches for a period of four to five months, a personal Web site for online fundraising, training and fundraising clinics, an alumni mentor and supportive group of teammates, lodging, race entry fee, and airfare to an accredited event in the United States and abroad.

TNT offers two ways to train. Whether you chose The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's traditional local Team In Training program, or TNT Flex, a flexible customized, online training option developed by TNT's renowned coaches, you get all the support you need to cross the finish line at a marathon or half marathon. The training to bike, swim and run at a  triathlon, embark on a century bike ride (100 miles) or set out on a hike adventure. Both offer a choice of world class events, all the travel arrangements to your exciting destination, and a fabulous, activity-filled weekend once you're there!

The events that the Mid-America Chapter is currently recruiting for are The Walt Disney World Marathon and Half Marathon and the Honolulu Full Marathon. To learn more about Team in Training and the events that are being offered visit www.teamintraining.org/mid. There are a variety of information meetings available throughout Kansas City if you want to learn more about The Team That’s Saving Lives!

Beat the Heat: Kids' Marathon Training this Summer

Want to complete your training for the Kids' Marathon but don't know how to deal with the summer heat? Dr. Greg Canty, Medical Director for the Center for Sports Medicine at Children's Mercy, shares some helpful tips on staying active during the hot summer months!

The Waddell & Reed Kids’ Marathon Presented by Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics is on Saturday, Oct. 20 and gives young runners all summer to train for their own mini-marathon! Proceeds from the Kids’ Marathon benefit Children’s Mercy. Learn more or register at www.kcmarathon.org. 

Training Tips

Play it Safe to Make it to the Start Line - It's better to be 10% undertrained than 1% overtrained

Now that you're in the thick of your training with the long runs and weekly mileage getting up there along with any speed, goal pace, and hill workouts you may be doing, it's important to continue to value recovery as much as stress.  To reap the benefits of all the long, hilly, or fast workouts, they must be followed up with recovery since you actually beat up and weaken the body during these workouts. 

Only adequate recovery will allow the body to repair and become stronger.  As a result, make sure to back off as needed on your recovery days, whether that means complete rest, rest from running while you cross train at an appropriate effort, or doing runs at a very relaxed effort - there's no minimum speed - the slower the better to fully embrace the recovery aspects.  If you're doing it correctly, you should feel worse on your recovery days as you recover from the hard workouts but feel better on your long/hilly/speed workout days so you'll be ready to handle them. 

However, if you are still feeling tired on one of your harder workout days, back off as needed to keep the overtraining and injury risk moderately low, whether that means slowing the pace and/or shortening the workout.  Don't understimate the heat as anything above 60 will make a given pace more difficult - adapt by slowing your pace as needed, especially on long runs since the main objective is endurance rather than speed.  Also, make sure you're getting enough sleep, adequate hydration, and nutrition along with not trying to do too much in the other areas of your life (the busier you are in other areas, the more you'll need to back off in training).

If you can make these concessions now, you'll get to reap the benefits of finishing the final weeks of your training feeling strong, especially when the weather gets cooler.  Remember, these weeks are similar to the middle of a marathon or half marathon - to finish strong, you must pace yourself accordingly!