The Runners Edge gave a presentation of marathon tips last night at the Garry Gribble store on Ward Parkway. As Coach Eladio Valdez explained his approach to running a marathon it occurred to me that almost everything he said not to do, or that could go wrong, described my experience at Oklahoma City last April.

Eladio promotes what he calls the “smart pace” strategy, where you start out slow to warm up, and take some strategic walks in first half of the race, particularly at the first aid stations. You also back off on steep hills to avoid over heating. Some say a marathon can be divided into two “halves:” the first 20-miles, and the last 6.2 miles. The smart pace strategy is a conservative approach to the first 20 miles so that you don’t hit the wall in the last 6.2 miles.

The main point of the smart pace is to start out slow and warm up for the first mile or two. The hardest part of that strategy is forcing yourself to actually slow down, especially with all the race day excitement and everyone blazing past you. Trust me, I know. I tried and failed to start out slow at two half marathons and a marathon this year, and two of those races turned out very, very badly.

Eladio emphasized taking extra time at the first few aid stations to hydrate. As he put it, your body will use every ounce of fluid that you drink at the first aid stations, but only a portion of what you drink at the last one. By then it is too late.

Strategic walks allow your body to release built up heat. The length of the walks depends on your time goal. With a time goal of 4:45, I can walk briskly for 45 seconds while passing through the aid stations, or alternatively, I can save that walk for an upcoming steep hill. The time lost walking is made up by a slightly faster pace between aid stations, thus preserving your overall goal pace.

My plan for The Kansas City Marathon is to take it very slow the first mile and a half, up to the crest of the hill at Barney Allis Plaza. I’ll open it up a little bit going downhill between Barney Allis Plaza and Union Station, but still slower than my overall goal pace of 10:53/mile. There, at mile three, are the steepest hills of the race. The biggest of these is on Kessler Street. It’s a half-mile climb from Union Station up to the Liberty Memorial. I will run that conservatively and may even walk 45-seconds in the middle. I’ll also take it slow on Trinity Hill, just past the Liberty Memory. You can see the hills on this elevation chart that I made last summer after riding the route on my bike.

By the time you get over Trinity Hill you are four miles into the race and ready for a nice long descent through Westport and down to Country Club Plaza at mile seven. That stretch only has a few short uphill sections. It will be my first opportunity to run at race pace, or slightly better on the steeper declines.

There is a relatively flat stretch through Country Club Plaza and past UMKC, followed by the second steepest hill on the course, Sunset Drive, leading up to Loose Park. We ran that part of the course on our last 22-mile training run. It didn’t seem that bad at the time, but nevertheless I plan a 45-second walk in the middle of it too, just like at the Liberty Memorial.

Once past Loose Park there is a slow climb from mile 12 ½ - 15 ½, finishing with a short, steep rise at 75^th Street and Summit Road (aptly named).  There is no need for a walk at Summit Road since the climb is short and is followed by a long downhill stretch.

Miles 16 – 21 are an enjoyable descent passing Waldo and Brookside on the way back down to Country Club Plaza and the UMKC campus. This is another chance to pick-up the pace and make up some time.

The biggest challenge of the race will be in miles 21 – 24. Just as people are starting to hit the wall there is a climb from Brush Creek up to the intersection of Linwood and Paseo Blvd. The steepest part of the climb is on Harrison Street between Gillham Road and Armour Road. There is supposed to be an aid station with Gu Energy Gel at mile 21 just before the climb begins. I’ll probably take my time at that aid station rather than walking on Harrison. That’s easy to say now, but who knows how I’ll be feeling at mile 21 on race day.

Once you get to Linwood and Paseo Blvd it is downhill to 18^th Street and Vine and then most of the way to finish line. This is where I hope to be reaping the benefits from running a smart race. I would like to still have enough gas left in the tank as I crest Linwood to open it up again on the descent to 18^th and Vine. The elevation chart is deceiving/wrong. I remember it as pretty flat from 18th and Vine to the finish where there is a slight hill at the end.