And with the Broadway Bridge 10k this morning, the Heartland 30k Series is officially over!  This fall, KC Running Company put on a 30k series, consisting of 3 10k races in 4 weeks around the Kansas City area. The Dot to Dot 10k was first, on August 29 (race recap), followed by the Plaza 10k on September 13 (race recap).

The Broadway Bridge 10k and Half Marathon had an early start time of 7:00am.  I was up way before the sun came up, and found this sweet present from Jasper when I woke up.  Let me explain: I always lay out my race clothes the night before the race, pin my bib on, and set out my shoes, watch, and other accessories.  My shoes were sitting next to each other by the ottoman in my living room, and when I went to get dressed, I found a little orange mousey and a tipped over shoe.  He seemed pretty pleased with himself.

Amy and I arrived at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts around 6:15am, and the sun was just starting to color the sky.

We walked around a little bit, used the bathrooms (a must before any race), and lined up to start.  The National Anthem was played on a trumpet, which was something unique, and as always, gave me goosebumps.  Shortly after, the race began, uphill, of course.  The 10k course was probably the hilliest course I’ve ever ran on (233 feet of elevation difference), including Hospital Hill (199 feet of elevation difference), Rock the Crossroads, and the KC Half Marathon.  It was a hill hell!

I don’t usually take pictures while running races.  I do while running with the Groupies, but haven’t taken one while in a race.  I knew, after the first mile, that this race would not be a PR.  But, with a pretty big PR last week at the Plaza 10k, I was just fine with settling in for a nice hard run, and was able to take in the sights.  This course was a really pretty course, including running over the Broadway Bridge to the Charles Wheeler Downtown Airport. I couldn’t resist taking out my phone to take a photo of a breathtakingly beautiful sunrise.

Miles 1 to 2.5 or so took us from the Kauffman Center to the Broadway Bridge, around a bit of the airport, and then back up the Broadway Bridge, which is at more of an incline than you’d think just by looking at it!  Mile 3 was entirely uphill, or so it felt.  I rounded the corner after the 3 mile water stop, and basically looked straight up.

I walked up that hill.  It was steep.  For those of you familiar with downtown Kansas City, the insane hill I’m speaking of is on 7th St. between Broadway Blvd. and Pennsylvania Ave.  The hill continued to go basically straight up on Pennsylvania Ave. once we turned south.  Insane. Hill.  And what goes up… must come down.  That downhill was also so steep, I don’t know how anyone could possibly get up that hill in the icy wintertime!  It was so steep, my knees and hips hurt while running down, while I was focusing very intensely on not tripping, because I would have rolled and tumbled ALL the way down!

Around mile 4.5 or 5, we crossed over a bridge and headed back north toward the Kauffman Center.  The view of the city was so pretty, that I grabbed my phone for another quick picture of the skyline.  The last mile plus was generally uphill again, all the way to the finish line!

I finished the race with the slowest 10k time of the three in the series.  I got faster time, though, than my previous 10ks before this series (the Groundhog 10k was my previous PR before the Heartland Series).  Overall, I was happy with my time, considering the hills, and that I walked probably about a half mile up up UP one of those hills.

I met up with Amy and Mark after the race, and we were awarded our Broadway Bridge medals and 30k medals, and were able to pose for some photos in front of the backdrop.

I also met a reader who came up and introduced herself, which was really neat.  After some chocolate milk, water, and recapping our races with friends, Amy and I headed back to my apartment.

The first thing I had to do when I got home was put all my 30k series medals on, and have Amy take a picture.  I got’s so much bling I got’s a neck ache!  We rolled out, compared pictures, and I put my bib in my bib book.

Later on, after a short nap, Amy and I pampered our legs and feet with a pedicure, ran some errands, then when I got home, I promptly put my compression sleeves on! Jasper approved, I think.

I’m SO glad I did the 30k series, this was the first race series I’ve ever done.  It was challenging, fun, and very rewarding to accomplish, especially with my KCRC Groupie friends.

Next race, the KC Half Marathon, in 4 weeks!