C Mantz Running

    Pre-meet with strides. I still felt flat.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll be good. Our bus leaves at 5:00 AM tomorrow. I'm not too excited about waking up early.

     We got there pretty early, so Alex, Connor Compton, and I went for a shake out, and then watched some throwing.  I warmed up with Kramer, Matt, Brewer and two other Bingham kids, and I felt good, but not great. I was planning on sticking on someone the first mile and then trying to beat them the last few laps. Well, it didn't go as planned, but it still went well.  We lined up, and I felt pretty good.  The pace went out pretty slow, and I had to go out into lane 4 or 5 to get around everyone.  About 300m into it I took the lead because the pace was much too relaxed.  We came across 400m at 1:08.  That was slower than usuall, because usually my first lap puts me farther ahead of my goal pace.  Next lap I focused on keeping the same pace, but hit 2:15, so a bit fast.  Connor Mcmillan was on my tail the whole way.  Next two laps were 2:16ish, putting us 4:31 at the 1600m. Wow, that was a lot faster than I had thought it would be.  After, we kept hitting 1:08s, and I honestly can't remember what happened during most of this race.  I kept adding 1:10s to the time for every lap I had left, and said I would probably finish there.  Every lap or two, if I slowed down Connor would nick my shoe with his shin, so I knew he was there(yes, his shins were bloody after the race, and I feel bad about it).  With 700m left I surged, because Connor was still there, and I did again at 600m.  With 400m to go I thought I had to run a 1:09 to run 9:04, so I started to really push it for the first 200m of that lap.  My final 200m was slow because I knew I had the 4A record and a few seconds on Connor.  I didn't think I'd be 9:00 though, I thought probably 9:04-05.  I was so surprised and happy.  From state last year, I dropped 10 seconds for in-state time, while the year before I only dropped 8.  After I cooled down with a big group of people from the 3200m, and then did a little bit more later when we got to our hotel room to keep the legs moving.

     A 4 second PR, so I'm really happy about it.  Warmed up with Tyson, who ran a 1:57.11 just a few hours before.  I felt terrible.  I thought about running the first laps and not finishing, or just not showing up on time.  I was really nervous, and tired.  My dad had just told me to get a good start and then take each lap seperately.  This helped me out, even though I didn't want to do it. I jumped off the line the moment the gun went off, but didn't start out fast, and was passed by everyone in the lanes around me but one person.  I slowly caught the lead pack, running in lane 2 to pass. I knew the pace was slow, but I was just trying to keep up. They only had the split up at 800m, and I was about 2:07-08.  Here I started to feel better.  My right pinky toe hurt, and I later found the skin had been rubbed away.  I tried to focus on that pain.  

     About at lap 3 I tried to get around the pack, but everyone was trying to pass, so I was in lane 3 or 4 on the straightaway.  At the start of the final lap I got right behind Brewer and passed him with 300m to go, and tried to sprint to get a PR. With 100m to go I saw I had a PR and just slowed. I shouldn't have done this, but I still have state to try and run faster. Overall, I'm very surprised on how I did, because I have never felt that bad prior to a race and ran a PR, much less a decent time.  Afterward I cooled down with Clayson.  4 miles when I got back home.

     Warm up, then 2X(200m at mile pace, then 600m tempo, then 300m sprint, with no recovery in between the 200m, 600m, and 300m.) with a full recovery in between the two reps.  Ran 29s for the 200s, and 1:47-48 for the 600m, then 43 and 44 for the 300s.  I'm a bit dissapointed in the 300s, but with the races last weekend, I should not complain.  After I ran a cool down with the team.

     6 miles easy later.  I'm racing the 800m at region, for the second time this season. I want a sub-2, but I don't know if I can get it.

    Pre-meet with strides.  Getting ready for the 800m on Thursday!

     Meet got canceled and moved to tomorrow.  So I'll be running the 1600, then the 800, then the 3200m.  I've got to focus on that 800.  I'm okay with it though, because I had an AP test today and I was pretty mentally drained from that.  

    Quick report: All the plans for my races didn't go at all like I wanted, but I still did well.  1st in 1600-4:19(splits: 67, 66, 64, 62) 2nd in 800-1:59(splits per 200 were 31, 29, 29, 30), and 1st in 3200-9:45 I think(Splits per mile were 5:00 and 4:45).  Interesting day. 

    Shakeout, then a break before doing a warm up before the mile.  My plan was to stay on someone until 800 or 1000 meters into it, and then make a move.  Well, we got out and Thomas started to lead it.  I got around him, and the pace felt slow.  I didn't want a repeat of Cache-Box, so when I heard the 200m split(33) I tried to just stay relaxed.  I was 67, and I pushed the effort a little more, and we came across the 800 at about 2:13-2:14.  I made a move here, and Tanner Blaylock just seemed to not be effected.  Here, I was probably making a few mistakes(goal was to conserve energy and go for the win), and pushed into the wind.  I haven't hurt this much in a race, I was very surprised it hurt so much.  I heard 3:17 at the 1200m, and tried to sprint.  I could here Tanner, and thought he was right there the whole way.  With 200 left I looked back and saw I had him, so I kinda cruised in a little with 50m left.  I heard 4:18, but it seems the clock is always a second slower than what I hear. 

      Cool down, 30 min. rest, then warm up for the 800.  There have been 8 guys in our region that had broken 2 minutes before, but only 6 were racing today.  My coach put me in for a 1:59, so I was seeded 4th or 5th with that.  The gun went off, and I had prepared mentally for the race to be fast and hurt the whole way.  Everyone closed in way quick, but I held strong.  Tyson clipped me on accident and said sorry, but I let him get ahead of me.  It felt slow that first 100.  I ran around everyone, and tried to make it faster.  This was not the plan.  I wanted to sit on someone and hopefully they'd bring me to a 1:59 flat or a top-4 finish. (2 of the guys that had broken 2 had run the 400 right before, so I knew I had a very good shot at top-4)  We came across the 200m at a high 30 or 31. After this I just opened up and tried to make sure it hurt.  We were about 60 for the first 400, and I just kept kicking, thinking everyone was right behind me.  With 250 left someone was hitting my spike, so I knew was probably slowing down.  At 200 to go, I saw it was Justin and he apologized(while he passed me).  I also looked back and saw we had 30 meters on everyone else.  This was really surprising(It ended up that the pack had gotten pushed so far together, that some people couldn't get positioned, and it was just a mess, so no one ended up going with us.), but since I had a top-4 spot I just tried to finish, because I did not have enough energy to catch Justin, and I had enough room on everyone else that I didn't need to kill myself the last 200.  So, I got qualified and ran a 1:59.85. 

     2 hours later, the 3200 started.  I saw Kyler get out fast, so I got ahead to pace him to a top-4 finish.  With 3 laps to go the pack started to catch us, so I made a move to break away, and Kyler fell back after this.  I finished in 9:45, about 10 seconds ahead of second place. 

     After a cool down with Ethan.

     Warm up, then 2X300m all out, then 4x200m at mile pace/effort. Alex, Ethan, and I complained about the 300s, but we hit 41 or 42 on the first one, and 41 on the second one, then we hit 30, 29, 29, 30 on the 200s.  Cool down after.

     5 easy later.

    Was planning on 10, but during it I thought it'd be better for state to run 8 today.  It was really rainy all morning, but when I went outside for my run the clouds just bearly moved and I got a run full of sunshine. 

      Short workout. Coach Wright wasn't there today, so we just did a 600m 3200 pace (It was a little fast, but it felt good.  1:39), then 2X200s at mile pace ( Again, too fast. 28 and 29).  On the first 200, Alex said he was trying for a 28, so I needed to be kinda close to hit a 31.  He hit a 26, and I hit a 28, so that was kinda weird.

     6 miles easy later.  I probably shouldn't have done this because state is on Friday, but eh, it's okay, it isn't the end of the world.

 1.25 mile warm up, then a similar workout to last week, 200m start(29), 600m at tempo(way too fast. About 4:32 mile pace), then a 300m all out (slow, but still decent.  44), then a break(1000m jog) before 2X200m at mile pace(Supposed to hit 31s, but hit 28 and 29).  After we cooled down. 

  3 miles easy later.

    Pretty dead before the run.  I took the AP history test before, and for some reason it took a ton out of me(unlike calculus, which only took a little out of me).  I don't feel like I was prepared as I should've been, but that was mostly my fault.  Anyway, on to the run, we did 3 miles with a few "races" to trash cans and stuff as our speed work.  I pretty much sucked it up and only didn't take last a few times.  After I did a few 80m sprints while Alex and Tyson did exchanges for the 4X4 and medley, then I did a mile cool down. 

     Pre-meet with Tyson, Claire, and Alex for a mile, then Alex and Tyson went to do exchanges and Claire went to get her strides in, so I just kept running.  I timed the run at a little over 18 minutes, then went and did and 800 with 3 strides. 

     Will write more later. Great race for me, and it was another PR, so I'm way happy about it.

     Got up early with Alex and Tyson for breakfast, then we headed to the meet.  We did a quick shakeout, then after an hour or something, we did a warm up.  After that, we stretched, and Tyson and I thought they were behind schedule, so we did another quick warm up around the field.  Well, they were all in the bull pen when we finished, so we hurried over and got in there about as close as we could.  I felt pretry fresh. If I wasn't ready to race mentally, I was too prepared physically to not race well I thought.  Alex said he wanted to go out in a 2:04ish, so I was going to stay on his tail until the 800m mark, then push the 3rd and 4th lap.  The guy said "runner's take your marks" and waited for 10-15 seconds, but it felt like an eternity!  He was twitching his finger, so it looked like he was going to fire.  I got my foot up, and a split second before it hit the ground the gun went off.  So I was as close as you can get to a false start.  Alex got out too, and so I stuck right on his tail, but 100m into it, I knew he wasn't going out in 2:04, so I passed him and ran the rest of the race almost solo.  I came across 400m at about 1:00, and just said I needed to push it for my next two laps, and the fourth will take care of itself. I felt pretty good for the 2nd and 3rd lap, and saw I was at about 3:07 with 400 to go.  I knew if I finished in a sub-60 I had the all-classification record.  I pushed it, but tightened up with 250m to go.  I tried sprinting, but didn't have it, I'd spent a little too much early on.  I'm happy with it though, even though I didn't get my goal of a sub-4:10, I knew I pushed it as much as I could, and that means a lot more to me.  Afterward I cooled down. Alex and Tyson both ran PRs of 4:20 and 4:24, so it was a good day for us. 

      Raced well in both races.  I'll try and write more when I have more time.  3200-Ran solo for most of it.  I haven't hurt more in a race before.  During the last 3 laps I wanted to quit the whole time, even at the 100m to go mark.  800-Huge PR that felt like it came out of nowhere.  Unsure how, but I'll take it.

      Warmed up, then got to the bull pen on time.  There was a pretty good group in the race.  My dad told me that Elijah had ran 9:00.78 on Friday, so he wanted to see if I could beat that.  I just wanted to win so I could get points for the team, because we were going to have to fight for a 2nd place finish(top 2 teams get trophies).  We got out there, and I stayed more relaxed at the start so I wouldn't get too close to being DQ'ed again.  With 150m into the race I got into first and tried to keep a good pace.  1:05, a little fast, but I don't want to slow down.  2:10ish, way too fast, but we'll see how things go.  Tomy was at the 200m mark, so that was cool to have him cheer me on  1600m split was 4:25, so that was faster than wanted, but it gave me a cushion to break 9.  At 2000m, I felt terrible.  My last three laps were the most painful I've ever run(maybe other than some repeat 400s a few weeks ago, but it was close). I can't remember much about what happened in the last mile other than it hurt, and I told myself I wasn't going to run the 800 if I broke 9.  I pushed to the finish and got 8:57.99.  After I cooled down with Clayson, Jack Evans, and Josh.  It was pretty fun running after the race, but after that I was out of it, just so tired I coudn't think straight. 

      Well, my head coach wanted me to run the 800 to possibly score some points, and the Coach Wright said if anything else, it'd be good training for any post-season races.  I was really tired, but warmed up anyway.  I begged Coach Wright not to make me, but I said if he thought it would be best, than I would do it.  So I ended up doing it.  I saw the girls 4A 1st heat, and a Sky View girl won that, so that motivated me to do well in my heat.  I got to the start line and a few people had dropped it, so a Salem Hills guy and me were able to start in the second ally with plenty of room.  I felt terrible, but right before the race, I told myself if I was going to line up for this race, I was going to race it all out.  I got out well, and pushed into 2nd place, in a perfect position.  I got pushed back to 3rd, but got back into 2nd with a lap to go.  We came across the 400 in 58, so I said to myself that if I could close in a 60, I could PR.  I stuck on the 1st place guy, and with 100 left, I tried to pass the kid in front of me.  I slowly passed him, but he wasn't letting up.  With 10 meters left I thought I had him, but he kept coming and was .01 seconds from me. A hundreth of a second, I was so surprised! And a huge PR too.  After that, Tyson took 3rd in the fast heat, and broke the school record, running a 1:55.3!  I placed 5th overall, so I scored some points that I didn't think I could score.  After, I cooled down with Hayden Cooper from Maple Mountain, because Tyson had to get ready for th 4X400m. 

     Recovery day. Long and easy.  I talked to coach Wright, and he said I'd be doing some recovery for part of this week before getting into the speed again. 

    A little over ten easy miles.  I ran alone in the canyon, which I think was good for me to just run. 

     1 warm up, then we did some capture the flag.  In the second game, it was pretty long, so Alex and I left to get 4 miles in.  Our last two were too quick for an easy day, but oh well.(4:58, and 5:40ish)  After we saw everyone was still there, so we get them to leave and so we ran 1 more mile back to the school.

    6.5 easy with a pick up half mile in around 2:20, maybe faster. Ran with Alex, Tyson, Glen, and Ethan.  It felt good, Coach said I should just take this whole week easy, so we'll see what happens.

    4.5 later.  It felt good, and it was nice to have sometime to myself to think.

    5 miles with Alex. I felt decent, but not great.  We had to get back early to do some stuff for Passing the Torch tonight. 

    5 miles later. I felt great, tired, but great!

    Long run today.  Averaged about 6:40-50s.  Really tired during and after.  It was a hard week this week with all the miles. I think  this week had the second highest amount of miles I've ever done in a week. 

    7.25 I think, but it could've been more.  I met Alex at the track today, he was doing his annual memorial day challenge(probably one of the craziest things ever.  Every year he does some crazy workout. When he was 15 he did a half iron man, (last year(16) he did a full one) and every year is different) and was going to help me out with my workout before really getting into his(50X400m!)  My workout was 6-8X400m at 58 to 60 per 400 with a limited recovery time.  The first one was way too fast(56), but I felt good.  The second and third were right on(58.9 and 59.0), but then I started to feel really crappy.  I did a 4th in 60, but then I decided on a break before starting again.  Well, it was more needed than I thought. I got a drink, then laid down and my heart rate was flying. After a few minutes, it didn't go down.  I got up and tried to walk, but my throat and stomache hurt.  I walked for a little bit, before throwing up a lot of gross stuff.  After a while of doing that, I took a break and then jumped into help Alex with his workout.  I felt better after 5 400s at about 1:10, so I just decided to finish the first part of his workout with him. I did around 14 400s after my first 4, at about a 1:09 average.  Cool down with my dad when I got home.  Good workout today, even if I didn't finish it all the way, I know I gave it more than I have in a while, so that was good to know, plus the other stuff afterward was good too.

     PM-Later I came to help Alex with another section of his workout.  He had already started, so I just jumped in with him without warming up. Not a good idea, especially because he then ran a 32 for his opening 200.  After we slowed.  We did 11 laps together, usually anywhere from 1:08-1:10. We kept saying we were going to pace a 1:12.  After the 11, we tried to see who was better at pacing without a watch.  I went first, and ran a 1:12.05.  I was way surprised.  Alex ended running a 1:04.  He can't pace himself, but it was better than his opening 2:05 in the mile at BYU.  After I did a cool down.  Alex still has 13 laps to do, poor guy. 

    8 slow miles.  It still hurt to go slow, yesterday took more out of me than I thought it would. 

    Warm up with Alex, but then he started hurting from his 50X400m workout on Monday, so he wasn't able to do the workout with me. But he stayed to support me, which was really good, because I was struggling.  The workout was 3X(3X300m at 45 or faster with 30 sec(100 meters) rest).  I started really slow on the first 100 of the first set, but was able to finish quick enough to hit a 45.  After that I went way too fast on the 100, and ran it in 20 sec, so I was at the line for 10 before starting.  I then hit two 44s.  After this I was really tired.  I got a good recovery, then changed the workout to make it finishable, for how I was feeling at the time, to 2X300m for the next two sets. I hit 42 and 44 for the second, and 44 and 43 for the last one.  Cool down after, then 5 miles when I got home.  Good speed workout, I needed it.

    Well, after a crazy day of just hanging with friends, I decided to go on a long run. I felt great for the first 3 miles, then I had stomache problems and had to walk every half mile to make sure I didn't explode.  Once I got to the top of the canyon I headed into the campground bathrooms.  After I felt really good. With 1.8 miles left, I saw my dad, so I ran with him for about 2.2 miles at a good slow pace.

     Easy today.  I just kept it short because tomorro is going to be hard.  I had 6 planned, but knew that the extra miles could hurt my much needed speed workouts right now.

    Maybe a little more, but I'm unsure on the mileage.  John Coyle, an All-American steeplechaser (who graduated a year or two ago), texted me last week and wondered if I wanted to run today, so of course I said yes. I've raced him a few times and he's always ran it as a tempo run/workout.  Today we were going to do 5 tempo, but John had a crazy workout on Thursday so he wasn't feeling too great. Our splits were 5:15, 5:19, 5:29(yikes!), 5:26, 5:20.  It felt like a good workout.  After we cooled down.  It was fun to do tempo with someone today.