the oz half. pictures and the breakdown.

Okay, not a literal breakdown, more like the breakdown of my race, splits, so on. I am fully recovered from the Oz half, inside and out. I actually wasn't hurting much at all after the race. My quads were a bit sore but I think that was more from shivering for an hour straight rather than running. I've decided to view Oz as a training run and am looking forward to my next half next Sunday.

Basically I wanted to post pictures, tell stories and offer my mileage splits (all for me to remember later on). Other than the fact that the weather was awful, this was a nice, quiet, tame race. If you're into tons of spectators and a flashy course, this isn't a race for you. I love both flashy and low key races, and enjoy going back and forth between the two. I can enjoy aspects of both. There were a few cool spots on the course, but it was mostly running through open streets, including around a Hospital and a Mall. So the scenery wasn't anything outstanding.

*kodi and i pre-race, chilly! she was running marathon no. 4. and then there was some random chick doing karate kicks...*

The draw and beauty of this race is that it is the Oz Marathon, in the land of Oz! The logos are adorable, the medals fantastic and the shirts were cute. Being born and raised in the land of Oz, I couldn't help but get schmoopy over doing this race. So while I wasn't that impressed with the course, I am really happy I did it.

The highlight of the race for me was starting out (with the best intentions) with the 1:50 pacer, my second favorite part was getting adjusted by a Chiro after the race. Wow, it was amazing getting adjusted, it felt incredible! As for being with a pace group, I got to talk to and meet new people the first three miles before I left the group to make a pit stop.

*the race start, i'm right next to the pacer, can't see us very well but we are toward the front of the pic*

This is where I had one of my most... interesting race experiences ever. I mistakenly ran into an empty porta potty that some dude with a broom was holding the door open to. Just for me obviously. Then I stepped inside and immediately realized why he had been holding the door open. With a broom in his hand. Two words people. Explosive. Diarrhea. I have never seen anything like this, and instead of being sanitary, hopping out and moving to the next porta potty? I sucked it up as to not lose another second of time.

This is where my mad skills come in. Because there was explosive poo EVERYWHERE. I am happy to announce I didn't touch one bit of it. SKILL. It was on the door handle, on the seat, on the SIDES of the wall... I moved on from being disgusted to downright impressed. Because how on earth this person managed that impressive display of feces flinging is beyond me. So while yes disgusting, all I could do was laugh, shake my head, do my bidness and get the heck out of that sucker!

It. Was. Awesome. In that sick, twisted, runner, poo story kind of way. The only other thing I can say about this race is in regard to my belly issues. I mentioned I never have belly issues, but this race I sure did. Thinking back I'm blaming it on cheap hotel coffee that my body is not accustomed too (yes, judge me all you want, i am a gigantic coffee snob. but hey at least my belly isn't upset every morning). Around mile 5 my stomach started sloshing, which in turn made my gag reflexes kick in every time I even thought about taking a drink or Cliff Shot. I didn't know what to do.

So I managed the best I could, I knew I needed the Cliff Shots and Gatorade. I would just take it slowly. It took me a good mile to eat each of my two Cliff Shots and I didn't even go through my entire bottle of Gatorade (which is very rare for me). The good news is, I'm taking this race and turning into yet another learning experience and as a very difficult training run for the Wichita Half. Because in the end, a PR is still a PR. And a PR I did secure.

  

And now, TO THE SPLITS! And more pictures.

The Split Breakdown:
Mile 1 - 9:00
Mile 2 - 8:40
Mile 3 - 8:26
Mile 4 - 7:54 (where i tried to catch up to the 1:50 pacer while running into a headwind)
Mile 5 - 8:16

*this is right around mile 5 where i started having belly issues and started taking my first cliff shot. i nursed that sucker for a good mile. this pic gives you an idea what the wind was like, that's my fluff ball at its finest. and i love the dude in front of me, he went totally savage!*

Mile 6 - 8:18

Mile 7 - 8:16

Mile 8 - 8:38

Mile 9 - 8:36 (this is clearly where I started to fall apart and decided to think of it as a really hard training run.)

*this was around mile 12, one of the prettiest spots on the course. *

Mile 10 - 8:47

Mile 11 - 8:33

Mile 12 - 8:19

Mile 13 (and.1) - 8:48 (the last mile of this race was brutal)

*the finish line!*

 *i may have felt miserable but darn it i was going to smile for that post-race photo op*