C Mantz Running

AM-4.1 easy miles with Michael.

PM- 2X(mile, 1200, 800) at intramural field.  The distances we ran changed due to the fact that GPS watches and the measured out course were pretty different.  According to the GPS watches, we went through the miles in 4:33 and 4:30, 1200s were about the same pace, and 800s were a decent amount quicker.  It felt good.  Pretty hard, but it was a great workout.  Jogged 400m in between reps.  We had a strong pack in there, so that was good to see.  

An interesting thing I've been pleasantly surprised with is how usually as the season is winding down, I'm really tired and don't look forward to racing or working out, I usualy can't wait for taper weeks because then I can run easier workouts.  This season is a bit different, as I look forward to workouts and races.  

AM-4.1 easy miles with Talem.  

PM-10 miles with Clayton and Kramer and strides after.

Long run. Went up hobble creek canyon to the top of a mountain and then down another road. Cold, hilly, but a good run. 

AM-4.1 easy miles alone.  

PM-6X800m.  Well, we aren't sure on the exact distance, but it was once around Intramural field, which is about 800m.  2:16, 2:15, then Coach said to slow it down, so we went 2:20, 2:18, then he said to speed it back up, so we went 2:14, 2:07(this one we may have cut a small bit off one of the turns compared to the others, but it was fast).  

AM-6 easy miles. 

PM-10 miles and strides after.  

AM-5 easy miles on a treadmill before weights. 

PM-3x400m. 59, 63, 61.

AM-3 easy miles

PM-5 miles at the course with strides after.

AM-2.8 mileish warm up.  Started as usual, was pulled back by a competitor next to me at the start line, but then pushed from behind by Brandon Garnica.  Just worked on relaxing.  At 1200m I found Zac and it looked like he was about to move to the front, so I told him to relax.  10km is a long race in cross country.  We came across 2km at about 6:02.  I tried to run relaxed and things went well for the most part. Ran with Clayson, McMillan, Jake, and Rory throughout the race and tried to stay in a pack.  With 1km to go, the pack had gotten smaller and I started moving up, but the plan was to run as a pack and come across the line together.  Rory reminded me of this with about 1000m to go, so I slowed a bit and just coasted it in.  Lots of people blew up and we were passing a lot.  With 350m to go, we were in 8th, 9th, and 10th.  I don't know where, but I passed two more people before the finish.  With 100m to go, I looked back and only saw Rory as the closest guy behind me, so I tried to coast, but Peter Lomong was on the other side of me and started sprinting to pass me before the finish.  I threw in a small kick off instinct.  Rory and McMillan were 8th and 9th, so they still ran it in together.  It was a lot of fun this race.  Cool down after

PM-5 easy miles.  

Long run wasn't very long today.  Kept it really chill because Coach said to.  Felt good.

AM-4.1 easy miles

PM-Long carterville with strides after. Felt a bit tired.

AM-5 easy miles on a treadmill trying to study for a midterm.

PM-8x400m alternating between grass and track.  Felt a bit stiff.  The grass ones were tough, averaged around 64. Track 400s were easy.  63 average.  

AM-Just over 9 miles.  Went from my apartment and met Brayden on the trail.  Ran some grass loops as well. 

PM-Just over 3 miles in Chicago. 

AM-8 miles and then strides

PM-short run to get the legs moving.

Pre-meet; easy 6 miles with strides.

good race, led a lot, died with 800 to go. I’ll write more later. 

AM-Woke up fairly relaxed, not really thinking much about the race.  There have been times where I've overthought races and this was not going to be one of them. Ate a big breakfast and treated this race like the other races this season.  Got to the course about an hour and half before the race. Warmed up slower than usual (probably close to 9 minute pace, we usually are just under 8 min. pace) and i was pretty cold, but not too bad.  Stretched, did strides, and were at the start line just like any other race.  Due to my lack of abilities of acceleraing quickly, I started on the back line, just like every other race this season. 

The start was fast!  I was our 7th guy, and there were other teams that seemed to be ahead of almost all of our guys.  There was so much snow being kicked up that it was quite annoying, and getting nice footing was near impossible. We started on the far left side of the course, which was ideal.  At 500m or so, Ashley cheered us on and Clayton yelled "That's my wife!" Then Clayson yelled, "She's pregnat, you're going to be a dad!" As they both said a couple of other short jokes, I decided to move up.  I was hurting. This was fast.  I looked up right before 1km, and saw we were in the high 2:30s, low 2:40s(I was probably at 2:43-45).  I told myself to slow down.  There is no way I could keep that up on this course in perfect conditions.  So, I slowed, but eventually so did everyone else. I didn't like the snow getting kicked up in front of me, so I moved to the outside and eventually got to the front before the first short/steep hill.  I was on the outside, and surprisingly the grip and footing were great.  We came down the hill, and I just relaxed.  We cam across 2km around 5:40, so it was pretty quick.  I was at the front at this time, and just told myself to relax.  I was feeling pretty good here, but 10k is a long race. 

We hit 3km and I could feel a bit of fatigue settle in, and just told myself to be there at 8km and see what happens.  I stayed a consistent pace.  At 4km, there is a hairpin turn, and Tyler Day of NAU and I were next to each other, and I slipped a bit, nothing bad, but it took me out of my rythym.  I continued to relax, but it was still frustrating.  At 5km we were around 14:40.  I still felt good.  People passed me here, but didn't surge, so I just enjoyed some time running behind them.  As we were heading on the big loop, I tried to run close to the line because it was cleared, and it gave me an advantage over those running in the snow in the middle of the course.  I felt like it helped me relax and get into more of a rythym, a lot of people did this behind me, but others around me were running in the middle.  I got back into the lead somewhere around here. Coming around the field just a bit after 6km, I started slipping a lot.  It was frustrating as I felt a lot of energy was wasted. When we hit the gradual hill around 6.5 km, I started hurting a decent amount and had a thought of "this is where I lost ground at pre-nats, so I'll probably get dropped here."  I cut that thought out of my mind quickly. At the last hill (about 7.2km or so), I slipped again and was stuck on the inside and couldn't get any good footing. I slipped a bit going down the hill, and was pretty fatigued here.  I tried to run next to the line where the snow was plowed again, but the spectators were on the patch of grass, on the course, cheering.  I had to go to the middle, and it was slick.  Given, my competitors were there as well, but that was part of my strategy. 

The final 2km I was surprised to still be at the front.  I was trying to hold on to the same pace I had been running before, but no one was getting much ahead of me or challenging me hard for the lead.  Morgan McDonald took it on the final hill, but then let me have it back with ease with 1200m to go(I took the inside of the turn, so I got ahead of him here).  I was just waiting for the pack to pass me, and sure enough, about 30-40 seconds after hitting 9km in first, 7 guys passed me like a wall. I stayed with them until about 400m to go, and then told myself to save my kick for the final 200m.  I was hurting a lot in those last 400m and was ready to be done.  As I was trying to push with 400m to go, I kept slipping and it was the most frustrating part of the race. Joe Klecker and John Dressel both passed me here, and I came across the line in 10th.  I was happy about it, as that had been my season goal (top-10).  I looked back and was scared when I didn't see any teammates.  Then I saw Rory and McMillan. Then a little bit later, Clayson, and a little later, Jake.  I had no idea how we did place-wise, but Colorado had 3 guys in the top-11, so I thought they may have beat us, and NAU seemed to finish well, so I thought we may have bonked again, but nope, we got 2nd.  

Overall, I'm happy about this race, I would've loved to get the win, but I'm not fit enough currently for the individual win and the team would've needed to run our best day to win(it was an average day for us), but to get second is still a great accomplishment for us.  It was a great season, and lots of great memories with this team.  Later I found out the reason I was slipping so much was one of my shoes had nearly (4/6) all the spikes screw out of it over the course of the race. Good learning experience, hope to improve every year.  On to track!

PM-4 easy miles on a beautiful trail as the sun was setting.

AM-5 easy miles with Rory

PM-5 easy miles with Clayton and strides.

AM-aqua jogging with Danny for almost an hour.

PM-8 easy miles with old high school teammate Ethan Field in Smithfield.

10 easy miles on my own.

9 easy miles with a big group of current sky view runners and former sky view runners and JD.

12 miles with Jared.

10.6 easy miles in the morning.  The mountains were beautiful.  

AM-4.2 easy miles with Josh. 

PM-Just over ten with Kramer and then some strides.  

AM-5.8 with Doc, Wardy, and Rory.

PM-12 with Brandon, Kramer, and Talem.

AM-4.2 easy miles.

PM-10 miles and strides after.  

10 easy miles in the afternoon

Between running with some guys on the team, running before weights and after weights, I ran about 10.3 miles.