C Mantz Run

Did the pyramids with Amber, Landon, and Ruby. It was a ton of fun, beautiful views, and lots of speed walking up the steep parts. 10/10 worth it.

Super busy day, but had a short block in the afternoon to run with Ruby. Up Birch. Ruby almost drowned crossing the river on the way back, but I hopped in to catch her before she went down the drop-off/waterfall. 8:48 ap. Little bit of core.

After a long day, did an easy-ish 8 miles in the heat. Started up Smithfield 3 miles. The next 3 to sv were 7:13, 7:11, and 7:35. Then finished 2 (super slow) miles home up the hill. I was dead after and took a 3 hour nap. I miss running in the heat, though. Fun run!

Hot afternoon run to the sv track 2 miles. Stretched, then attempted a mile sub-6. It was brutally hot. 6:30, given that I slowed down the last 200m. Mostly wanted to do it outta curiosity. Felt good. 2 slow miles home.

After watching Conner race, did 6 miles with Amber. Golf course backwards. The hills didn’t even feel like hills because we couldn’t see the top. Super fun conversations, so late, but a good run!

5 miles up Birch with Ruby without technology, super chill and fun! Took the side trail back. Good time.

4 miles in the hot afternoon with Amber. It was warm, so we went up Smithfield thinking there’d be shade, but there wasn’t as much as I remember. Nice and slow. Side-note: my feet are super blistered up, so in the morning I drained them.

6 miles up Birch with Amber. I was super tired, but it was so much fun! We found a dead snake on the road which scared me so bad, lol.

6 in the evening with Landon up Dry. It was really fun, the uphill wrecked me, but as soon as we turned around for the downhill, it was nothing. Got up to the wilderness part/trailhead which is always fun. Good time. On the last mile and a half, there was some crazy wind, but that was fun as well. My body has not been this tired in a really long time.

6 miles with Amber up Smithfield. We started at the campgrounds and it was beautiful! It was a bit chilly, but good for running. My watch was on low battery at 2 miles, but made it to 3 so we were able to get in the full 6. Great run, exhausted, but happy to finally hit a 50 miler week for the first time in probably 2.5 years!

2 miles at 2am before leaving for the airport. It was on the treadmill, and I should have gone further, but it was also really loud. Due to flight changes, we could have left our house around 8, but you know, 4am works as well. While we were at a gas station, Conner and I did some calf workouts and stretches.

Flew all day... if only airports had gyms.

Ran around by where we stayed. Up the road one way until we got to a roundabout. Then, we went the other way. Ran on a back road which was fun. I hadn’t realized how much culture I had forgotten about until we walked outside onto the streets. Also, humidity is great, dehydration is not.

With Conner and Garrett near where we stayed. We ran up the road about a mile to another road, and turned there. It was about 1.5 miles until we were on the beach, only for a mile. So much trash, but such a fun time. Got to a rocky spot that continued to be rocky, so we turned around. Continued on another beach which was much nicer and cleaner. Got onto a grassy trail that made me feel like were in a world like Jumangi. It was fun. Garrett noticed some signs that looked like a gun range, so grateful he was there, or Conner and I would have ran through. Headed back to our place (7) to drop Garrett off before doing 1 more, painful mile, but we looked for some breakfast which made it easier... a few more stops along the way. Tried some really good street food for breakfast. It was a fun day; I got fried at the beach!

Slept in a bit, ran with Conner. It was a bit rainy, so extra humidity. Ran to the beach (the nicer one with less trash). Once we got there, Conner asked me how I felt about doing some fartleks. I determined we should do them now rather than later. 10 min, 5 min, 3, 2, 1. The breaks varied on the time, as well. It felt really good on the beach. The mile within the 10 min was a 7:05. The 2 and 1 were just above 6 minute pace. I went really slow on the breaks. While we were doing our fartleks, I almost stepped on a baby turtle who had gotten washed up. He was scooting back to the water, until I yelled “turtle,” and then he stopped. A couple more times of running back and forth, and before we knew it, he had scooted back into the ocean. About a 2 mile cool down. My body was wrecked, but it was a very exciting day!

With Conner and Garrett. Ran to the ocean, back and forth on the beach until we had hit enough to get Garrett to 6. There were a lot of people training, which was fun. Running back was so much fun, I am loving running on the streets here, the people are so awesome! Conner sprinted ahead to use the bathroom, so when we got to 6, Garrett and I jogged a slow 1/2 mile while we waited. Then, Conner brought out an ice cold water bottle which I downed really fast. The sun had just come out and it got warm fast. Then, we ran 3.5 pretty slow miles. Conner told me to get a sub 8 last mile, it was a 7:28. Good time. Fun run. There are blisters on my toes, haven’t lost a toenail from running, yet.

Last day at the Pelican Place in Accra. Conner, Garrett, and I ran to the beach, then ran up and down. Our pace was pretty slow, so I made an effort to speed it up to an 8:30. While we were on the beach, a man called for us, but we all thought he was crazy and kept running. Then, Conner ran back to see if he was legit. Then, Conner chased after us to tell us to turn around and see, so we ran back. A sea turtle had just laid her eggs and was going back to the ocean. It was moving pretty slow, but we watched it get all the way to the water. Then, we ran up and down the beach a few more times. Somebody wrote “God is great” underneath the turtle tracks with a stick. It was pretty cool. Then, we ran back to our place getting to just under 7 miles. Then, Conner and I ran one last mile on the streets.

We were at a place called the Stumble Inn, just for one night, in Cape Coast. Conner and I attempted to run on the beach, but it was really steep and the water was unpredictable... my feet got a bit wet, haha. Then, we ran back to where Conner chose for us to run. It was a bumpy road to drive on, but more of a trail to run on. We ran 2 miles to a spot where we did 4 strides. Took me a minute to figure those out again. Then, 3 miles tempo. Not my best. 7:00, 7:14, 7:40. It was so hot, and humid. My body is not used to sweating that much. It was fun running through the village, and since Conner knows twi, the people are quite surprised when he speaks to them. Cooled down for just a mile to the place, got some water, finished 2 more miles along a street where people were cutting coconuts from trees. After that, all I wanted was a coconut, which I got a couple hours later, so it was a great day!

From our new hotel, Conner and I ran up a village road. Easy day, my whole body was pretty exhausted, so I made us go pretty slow, but it was good. After 2 miles, we did 5-6 strides. We then continued around the villains with little or few people, just like a trail run. After 4 miles, we turned around. The busier the village, the more people would yell at us, but it was a good run. So many blisters, my middle toe has a blood blister under the toenails, still yet to lose a toenail from running.

Really tired from yesterday, we woke up at 5, and the gate was open. I love how early the sun rises here. So refreshing. So, we did a mile warm up, 2 strides, and 6 miles at 7:50 before a mile cool down. We went on a street that was busier, through one of Conner’s areas where he served. It was fun dodging taxis and chasing chickens. I felt really good during the workout, and pacing a 7:50 was not hard at all. We turned onto a long street with lots of hills. It started to rain, then pouring, but oh so fun. I really enjoyed the rain because it cooled down so much. Then, by the last mile, it was already sunny again. While on the last mile, a taxi pulled over and opened it’s car door between me and Conner and drove alongside me, not letting me pass. Scared I’d get pulled in, I hopped across the gutter and sprinted ahead. Conner wasn’t too happy with them. Probably my scariest moment in Africa, but honestly, nothing bad happened. Grateful for the gutter and the adrenaline already present from the workoit. The cool down was so slow, but good. Then, a full day of painting and playing with children... I love it here.

Good run. Super easy 8 miler. Through the village streets. Talked about missions. We got lost towards the end. I really enjoyed it, but my body is so exhausted. Great day, got super sunburned while painting some tires.

Long run with Conner, and my second time running 10 miles straight since being home from the mission. Super slow, my watch wasn’t locking on, so we just ran to where we did 8 miles with an extra 9 minutes from the turn around (then we turned around). Good time chatting with Conner. I love it here, but am so ready to get home. Love these people in Ghana.

My watch still wasn’t working, so we just based it off time. Ran through the village, again. Great time. It rained last night, so there was many puddles to jump over, along with lots of mud. Good time, tried to push it and kept it at a 8:40ish average pace. Fun time running with Conner who is so patient to run my slow, slow pace, lol. Great time being in Ghana, but excited to get home.

4 in the morning with Ruby. Being that we arrived home at 2am, running wasn’t an option and I slept in... but it was a good late-morning run. Ruby slowed way down (walking) the last 400 meters, she was tired. But, the run felt good, only felt the humidity 400 m in and it wasn’t nearly as bad as 2 months ago. Because Ruby slowed down, ap wasn’t what I wanted, but 8:40 ap. Timed it with my phone because Slstopwatch is missing and gps watch doesn’t work. Body is pretty wrecked.

Due to procrastination and distraction, my run was limited, so 1 quick mile wu before 3 miles tempo, in the heat of the day.  Overall, I felt very good! 6:43, 7:09, 7:15

Long run up Smithfield. Got back and did 3 more with my dad and Ruby