C Mantz Running

    I was supposed to go 4-5 miles relatively easy tempo.  Nothing that would take anything out of me for Saturday.  I started, and I felt pretty good, except a little knee pain.  I hit my first mile in 5:02, way too fast.  I slowed my next mile to a 5:42, still pretty fast, then a 5:30, and then a 5:32.  It felt like I was holding back, but I knew my time was fast, and so I decided to not do the full 5 miles of tempo, and save what I have for Saturday.  I then did an easy mile, then a mile with Claire with 4 ups/accelerations. I'm so excited for FootLocker, I know I should do well.

   4 and a little easy with Alex, and for the first part, Kyler, Stockton and Ethan.  I then did 4 strides.  It was freezing.  24 degrees, and it was windy! Not snowing significantly though, we luckily missed the snow in cache valley.

    1 mile warm up inside (why the crap is it not even 10 degrees in Smithfield, yet we have no snow on the ground! It snowed in Logan yesterday, but missed Smithfield.), and then Alex and I ran to the track and ran 2X400m at 1:07(they were supposed to be race pace/effort at 1:09.  We kept starting our first 200s at 31, and 32), and then ran 2X200m at controlled mile race pace(31 was the goal) we were 28, 31(felt way too easy and slow), and then 200m sprint in 27.  It felt good.  1 mile cool down inside.

   3 easy in Nevada with coach and Alex.  We ran to the Arizona border,and a bit. The border was only a mile away.  2 strides afterward.

    2.5 miles, 2 miles were of the course, with Alex, Claire, Coach Wright and Storrs.  I forgot to do my strides until I got back to my hotel though.  I'm nervous, but ready.  

     I didn't get the best sleep the two nights leading up to the race.  This made me more nervous than ever, and I was scared.  The morning of I woke up at 3:50, and couldn't fall back asleep. I ate a little cereal and a banana, read a book for english, and then get my stuff ready.

     Warmed up with Alex about 50 minutes out.  We ran some, then my dad (who surprised me and came to the race:)) brought our spikes and stuff to the start line.  We stretched, and it was freezing! Rainy, and cold. Who thought California would be like this? They announced it different this year than they used to, so I was able to keep stretching, and stay by my dad so I could give him my shirt when we were close to lining up.  We lined up, and Clayson said he forgot his chip. I looked down at his shoe, and then they said runners to your marks, and then the gun went off before I was even ready.  I still was able to get out well.  I was running, and halfway through the first loop I knew I was in the right spot.  It felt easy.  On the second loop, Joe Hardy started talking to me, and I talked back.  I usually don't have any energy to talk in a race, but I was in the position I wanted to be, and I could talk.  interesting.

       We came across the mile around 4:54, and then I made a move to catch the leaders on the first part of the hill.  This was a mistake, because it was done wrong.  I went out too hard at the start of the hill, and quickly was in the front pack.  I then just stayed in the same spot for the rest of the hill, and just kept running in the pack.  On the downhill I held back too much, and just let people in front of me sometimes, and it still didn't feel like a race.  Races hurt like Heck.  This didn't hurt.  On the second hill, I stuck behind someone, and just kept running.  It still wasn't hurting.  This is where I probably should've made a move.

       Second mile was probably really slow, because then everyone sped up, and the pack was huge.  Elijah said something incouraging, and gave me a high five.  We ran up the hill, and Matthew and Johnny made moves to get to the front.  I should've sped up here.  I just kept running the same effort.  It was starting to hurt. We hit the track and I was in fourth.  I passed Elijah, and tried to keep the lead, but with 100m left my hamstring tightened up, and it hurt quite a bit.  I slowed down because it hurt, not because I thought it'd be smart.  Elijah, who was already starting to gain ground on me again, passed me and put a full second on me in the last 50 meters.  I took 4th again, just 1 second slower this time though. 

       Good to qualify again, and still have my muscles feel so good.  Kramer was 7th again, and Rory ran very well, but bearly missed out on qualifying, and took 11th.  My calves and quads feel great, but my hamstrings were tight for the rest of the day, and on Sunday, but now(Monday) they're almost perfect.

     6 miles 1.5 warm up inside, then the workout.  Tyson, Kyler and Stockton did it with me, which was great, and coach Storrs was there to help out too.  There were 2 or 3 inches of snow on the track (not as much as SLC or maybe even St. George), so it was really hard to run fast. We ran an 800m, and that didn't go too well.  It was in 2:23, 5 seconds slow.  It still was 5k race pace. 400m at 70, then we knew this wasn't working, so we ran 4X32 second repeats on the roads, anywhere that didn't have ice.  Then we cooled down inside.  Storrs's beard was white with frost.  It was only 3 degrees outside!

4.1 easy miles with Tyson and Stockton.  It was hard to hold back, I feel like I need to go on a hard run soon. 

    1 mile warm up, then 1 mile tempo (5:00) and then some easy, then 2X200m(I guessed on how far.  It was probably more) then 1.2 cool down.

      3, maybe more, with Elijah, Kramer, Levi, and a few other guys for part of it. We started going, and Aaron and the other West guys were going pretty fast, so we slowed down.  The footlocker experience the first day was great, I would post some pictures, but my camera was having some problems, and I didn't try to take that many pictures. 

     First two miles of the course with 4 strides.  I ran really slow compared to everyone else.  I ended up running with Noah's dad and brother, and had a great conversation with them.  On the bus ride to the course, Meb sat by me again, and he knew my name(!) and we talked the whole time.  He is a huge inspiration, how his life was before coming to America, and how hard he worked the moment he stepped on US soil. 

   Warmed up with Kramer and Elijah(great to be teamates with these guys, they are great athletes who are also great people) for about a mile and a half.  I got my spikes, they were newer than the ones I used last week so my feet weren't going to hurt.  I ran my race plan perfect for about the first 2.25 miles.  I started out slow, in the back, and then slowly passed people.  I came across the 800m slower than wanted, and started to pass people.  I was pushed by some kid from the Northeast a bunch from behind, and I ran into Garrett, which sucked because we both almost went down.  I had some trouble passing people that first mile, but knew it wasn't the end of the race.  I was hurting more than last year.  I came across the mile at 4:54, slower than wanted (goal:4:50, last year: 4:52). 

       I pushed the hill, and then stayed in a good spot.  I was 5 sec. from the lead pack most of the race.  I came down the hill fast, and then started having fun passing a lot of people.  I stayed within striking distance of the front pack, who had started to break away.  I was 7:20s at the 1.5 mile mark.  Right where I wanted to be.  The gap started growing though(Joe Hardy finally took the lead), and so at the two mile mark I had to start pushing it more to catch up.(Two mile:9:54, last year:10:00) I passed Thomas(my roomate, who take 7th at his regional, and took 13th, and became All-American), and then started passing Aaron. 

       Aaron was who I thought would win the race for sure, but he was struggling.  I saw I was in 10th, and Aaron was right next to me, and started to pass me.  I quickly made a move to hold him off, and tried to catch Joe who was falling off the pack.  I passed him, but that wasn't enough.  Joe won't give up.  We came up the hill, and Joe had passed me again(just like Zach Perrin last year.  almost exactly!).  I passed him after the hill, and then cruised the downhill.  I blew past the two northeast guys, and I just was trying to hold Joe off.  With 200 meters left, Joe passed me, and I sprinted with him(like Zach last year), but he outsprinted me and two others, getting my goal of top-5 (Just like Zach Perring last year with top-10, although that wasn't my overall goal.)  I passed Blair in the last 50m, and just tried to hold him off.  Elijah beat me by less than a second, and Joe beat me almost by two. 

     Overall, I'm good with this race, but not 100% satisfied.  It was a good race, and it hurt a lot, but I had a lot of sprinting left at the end and know I could've placed better if I made a move to catch the front pack instead of just Joe.  It was a great experience, and I look forward to it next year.  The west team destroyed the team title.  We had 2(John, who was hit in the last 100 meters by the winner and pushed off balance), 3(Matt Maton), 5(Joe), 6(Elijah, who made a big statement after not making it last year), 7(me), 8(Blair), 12(Trevor), 14(Garrett), 16(Levi, who was sick), and 23(Kramer, who didn't have his best race.  He was beating me at the start of the season, so he probably would have been top-10 if he had his race.)   After I cooled down with John, and then we ran about 3 miles on the beach when we got back to the hotel. 

    Another thought, I just want to say thank-you to everyone whose encouraged me and helped me along the way.  My parents and coaches have done so much, so I just want to thank them also.

    12 easy miles.  I felt good for the first ten, last two kinda hurt.  I was supposed to go easy, but averaged 6:10s I think(The time when I left was 4:33, and I got back at 4:50 about.)  I tried to apply to run some international races(junior) last night, but the deadline was Dec. 14th, the day of nationals.  I didn't have anything with me that had internet the whole trip.  I was told that it was Dec. 17th, but I didn't know how to apply until Thursday(or that you could), so I'm kinda bummed. 

     6.5 easy miles with Tyson and Ethan. 

     5 miles at tempo.  My goal was to ease into the tempo, and I kept switching between tempo and easy for today, but I decided on tempo. It felt good, except I took off my hat a mile into it, and had to hold it, and I also felt like I had something in my throat(like a big thing of flegm).  This was caused by the terrible air quality of Cache Valley. 27:08.  Splits: 4:50(downhill, but too fast anyway), 5:50(uphill.  A little slow), 5:25(not flat, but net gain of 0), 5:16(I think. It was downhill.) 5:45(uphill, throat problems started.)  2 miles cool down. 

   6 easy with Tyson, Ethan, Alex, and Stockton.  My knee hurt a little.  We ran to Stockton's house, picked him up, then ran to SV, then ran up 6th south, and then back to SV.  Lot's of snow everywhere! Cache Valley finally got hit hard!

    6 miles.  It felt like I was pushing it, but not moving.  The cold felt like it was freezing my legs the whole way.

    10 miles.  Under 70 minutes.  I was planning on some tempo, but the roads were bad, and I just was feeling terrible last night.  I wasn't feeling good at the start of the run, but the last 3 miles felt great.

.5 mile warm up, then 5 mile tempo.  I wore a garmin for the first time in a long time it feels like. My calves and lungs hurt, but it was a good workout.  1.5 miles cool down.  Splits:4:57, 5:31, 5:25, 5:16, 5:16.  26:25 overall, 5:17 average.  I mainly just tried to avoid the snow for the run.

   Easy long today.  My legs felt ready to run fast, but still sore.

   6 miles easy alone. It was cold, but I only saw 6 cars driving, so I ran in the middle of the road for a lot of it. My right knee had some pain from when I slipped yesterday.  Other than that it was good. When I got home, my sister was doing her cool down, so I ran a mile with her and my dad.  Also, Merry Christmas!

    8 easy.  I was planning on tempo, but after the first 200m, my knee pain came back.  Dang it! It hurt the rest of the run, but felt better as the run went on.  I might try some tempo tomorrow if the knee feels good.  I have 2 theories for the pain. 1. I slipped on ice quite a bit the other day, and it may have been aggrivated from that. (or) 2. Maybe the shoes I have aren't as good as the ones I had last year and don't last over 1000 miles and still work.  Maybe these work for 500 miles.  One pair is Nike and one is Asics.  Last year I had two Asics 1160s.  This year in August I got one Asics 1170, which is different than the 1160, and a pair of Nike Structures, which are lighter and were very easy to break in(I did a track workout the day after I got them), but I don't think they last as long.

   10 slow, my legs wanted to go fast, but I had some knee pain again.  It only hurt when I went faster than 7 min. miles.  I hate not being able to run tempo.  Tomorrow hopefully, and if not, Monday. 

6 easy. My body feels ready to run fast, but I need to let my knee heal a bit.  It hurt once or twice the whole run, but my hip on the other side started hurting because I fell asleep in a weird position in the car. 

    AM-6 We were in Price visiting our cousins, and without the inversion, it was great. I didn't bring my regular running shoes, but I ran in the ones I've been walking in.  They are more of a shoe to keep you on your toes(I've always used pronation control shoes for training), so they made my calves a bit sore, which was good.  No knee pain, little hip pain. 

    PM-4 easy around the block 4 times.  My legs felt great.

    First hard run in 8 days.  5 miles tempo.  I wasn't feeling very good at the start, which is weird, because I've felt great the last 6 days(overall I mean).  I didn't start my watch for the first two miles, and had to go off of how long the songs on my iPod were.  27:23 for the run.  I then went on a cool down to go get my hat, but I was feeling terrible, so I asked my sister to go with me, and she did.  It ended up being a longer cool down than I thought. 

    Later ran 4 on a trial in Logan Canyon with Steve, Walter, My dad and sister, and some other people who's names escape me right now.  It was pretty fun, and my hip didn't hurt.