C Mantz Running

am-4 easy miles 

PM-11.5. 8x1000m @ 3:05, 3:02, 3:00, 3:00, 3:00, 3:00, 3:02(I fell of the group here) and 2:59. with 1 min rest at intermural Field. 2x400 after at 65, and 62. Pretty hard day today. Everything was just hard. My homework was the hardest I’ve ever had it, weights were harder than usual, and I’m pretty tired. 

8 easy miles with Adam and Jake. 

Long run up at deer creek. I woke up late, so I drove up separate and ran on my own. 

AM-4 easy miles with Kramer

PM- mile breakdown. I felt tired, similar to the week of New York. 4:28, 3:16, 2:08, 60. I’m confident and excited for Iowa this weekend. The goal is to run a time that will get me to indoor nationals. 

AM-3 miles

PM-Easy run around Carterville with strides after.  Didn't feel the greatest, but I know that I'll be ready for Friday.  

AM-3 miles

PM-2x400 at 61, 58, 2x200 at 28, 27.  

AM-3 cold miles

PM-3 miles with strides

I’ll write more later. Not the race I wanted. I was hoping to run a qualifying time for nationals, but it just wasn’t my day. 

So, here it goes.  Our race was pretty late, 6:40, so we had a lot of time to wait.  Coach was pretty excited about 5 of us going for national qualifying times, Rory, McMillan, Me, Clayson, and Danny.  I put a lot of pressure on myself going into this race, and I think this pressure was very unnecessary.  We did a shakeout around 12, then went and got lunch.  I warmed up about an hour before my race.  I watched Danny, Rory, and Clayson's race before and they went pretty quick(both Rory and Danny ran 13:41 and broke Jared's school record, so that was super cool to see.  Clayson ran with a lot of grit and kept the pace fast when the pacers slowed down).  I did strides and got to the line. I was right by Mcmillan, and Brayden was near the outside.

Gun went off, and I felt pretty good.  I got out well, just tried to get in a good position.  I wasn't very relaxed, but just felt like racing.  I was in between 7th and 10th I think.  I slowly moved up.  The pacer took us through a little slow, but I just tried to not think about it, because that stress can be detrimental to me(too many races where I stressed about time in high school).  After a while, I moved up and the race had Clayton pacing us.  I went on the outside of Peter Lomong as McMillan moved up on the inside and were in first and second (not counting Clayton who was pacing us so we could get a qualifying time).  Well, things were good here, but the pace just felt like it kept getting faster.  I'm not sure what it was, but I started hurting.  Like, a lot.  I just didn't see a chance for me to qualify, and I lost the mental game.  One by one people started passing me.  I gave a less than perfect effort to stay in it, but I let the pain win over.  With 400m to go, I saw I needed to run 63 to break 14 minutes.  Well, then I passed 300m and I needed to run about 48.  Then I needed to run 31 seconds the last 200m.  I just didn't have it though.  McMillan ran the exact time I was going for and won the heat.  13:48.00.  I'm super pumped for him.  I was pretty down after.  I felt super tired.  When I crossed the line I just let my legs give out and I fell down on my hands and knees.  

After I did a cool down with a few guys I haven't seen since before my mission and a Kenyan runner who was in Clayson's heat.  It was fun talking to the Kenyan.  I love the people of Africa so much.  They are so kind and humble.  It was a tough cool down, like my legs just felt super tired.  Not like post-race tired, but just stiff and slow.  

A lot of takeaways from the race.  I need to work on hydration a bit as well as remember that racing hurts.  One more thing, which is probably the biggest, is to relax in the race.  In my last track 5k, which was 4 years ago, I relaxed for most of the race, and it went super well for the shape I was in.  In this race I was focused on getting position too much.  Good experience, now onto MPSF. 

It was super chilly outside, so we opted for treadmills for the long run. I should've drank more water before, as I was 8 pounds lighter than my usual post-run.  I drank more water after than I may have drank in a single day since returning from Ghana.  5:49 ave. pace.  

AM-no run.  Had to wake up early to play catch up on school work.

PM-12 miles up Eyestone loop and then strides.  Felt super tired again.  This run just felt like a race in pushing to stay with the group.  They were all talking and having a good time though.  I hope I'll be better by tomorrow. 

AM-4 easy miles with Talem.  

PM-8x800m. We started at 5k pace(or atleast the 5k pace for the top guys), then brought it down to 3k pace(again, 3k pace for the top group).  I realized I have the slowest 5k PR of the first group I was with today. It was pretty sweet to think that I'm running with some of the fastest guys in the country.  Not sure why I haven't thought much about that before.  Anyway, it went 2:12, 2:11, 2:15(grass.  Supposed to be 2:10 effort), 2:08, 2:08, 2:16(grass.  Supposed to be 2:10 effort), 2:06, 2:05.  It went pretty good.  Long cool down after.  I felt pretty good today.  I lacked confidence, and so I started out in the back of the front group on all of them, but the workout felt easier than I expected it, so that was good news.  I never got dropped.  Hopefully this continues to build my confidence for next week's race.  

am-4 easy miles 

Pm-10 miles with strides. 

AM-4 easy miles

PM-lake loop tempo. We were told to keep it easier this time around. 4:58 average pace. It was supposed to be 5:00-5:05, but we had the wind at our backs the last mile so it was quicker. We also ran in trainers, which was a bit different than usual.

10 easy miles.  Felt pretty tired overall.  Can't wait until Sunday.  

15 miles in 1:26.  Felt good.  Not very consistent, but I got in a groove at the end of it and felt pretty good.  Ran with Adam for the last 6 miles and just tried to hold a 5:40 pace.  Next long run I'll try to make it longer and maybe faster.  Heard some of the guys that went 18 were going like 5:35 average, which is pretty insane. 

AM- I did part of the mile breakdown.  I ran 1200, 1000, 800, 600, 400.  Times were 3:16, 2:42, 2:09, 1:34, and 60.  It felt good, a lot better than it did a few weeks ago.  I felt smooth.

PM-6 easy miles.  

Ran 20km with Clayson. It was very cold, but a good run. 

2x400, then 2x200m at 61, 59 and 28, 27. I felt good, more controlled than usual. 

AM- 4 easy miles with Clayson. 

PM-2 miles plus 6 strides . I’m super excited for tomorrow, I feel better than usual!

well, at least I’m consistent. Felt a lot better during the race than Iowa, but just didn’t get into it and hurt. Fairly disappointed in myself, but I’m trying to keep my head up high. 3km tomorrow. 

Decidded to run the 3k last minute. Missed a PR by a fraction of a second again. 

AM-4 miles. 

PM-12.4 miles total. 12 easy, then some strides with McMillan. I felt great during the run.  That is until I got tackled in the snow. Then I was a bit cold.  During the strides I felt pretty tight, which was weird, becuase those 12 miles felt pretty easy.  

AM-4 easy miles with Kramer.  Felt pretty stiff.

PM-Mile repeats on the indoor track(too much snow on the outdoor track).  A few of the guys did them earlier, so our front group was a bit small.  We went about 4:31, 4:31, 4:28, 4:24.  On the last one McMillan started pretty quick, and then 800m in I decided to help him keep that fast pace, so I took the lead.  I felt pretty good, it was a bit slower than when we did it outdoors.  

10 miles. Easy, but felt super tired. Strides after.