Tag Archives: running in Clermont

Whose Idea Was This?

19 Feb

Me, at the top of a Clermont hill.

That’s mainly what I was asking myself at the top of the hill in this photo.

You see, our training schedule for the Flying Pig Marathon called for a 10-mile long run yesterday on hills, which our group ran in semi-hilly Apopka. But then someone suggested we also run seven or so miles in much more hillier Clermont this morning. I’m not sure whose idea this was, but I know it wasn’t mine and I think it was a horrible idea.

Our Apopka hill run yesterday morning ended up being just under nine miles, which was fine by me. It was a muggy morning and I spent most of it thinking about coffee and breakfast.

Our group has started to name our runs. One of our group leaders, Sue, is particularly talented at this and I think she hit it right on the nail when she dubbed our run The Apopka Run featuring Ganja. This was prompted from an impromptu turn down a new street at the end of our run, which resulted in us catching a whiff of some pot being smoked in the wee hours of the morning. This likely did not help my munchies.

Here are stats from the run:

  • Distance: 8.74 miles
  • Time: 1:51:55
  • Avg Pace: 12:48/mile
  • 5:1 intervals

Fast forward to this morning. I had contemplated skipping the Clermont hill run, mainly because I thought it was ludicrous to run two days of hills in a row. However, after last week’s Fail Hill run, I wanted a second chance at it. So, I begrudgingly dragged myself out of bed this morning, threw on some running clothes and drove out to Clermont. Let’s just say that my disposition this morning was not quite as sunny as yesterday’s.

I have no official stats to share because I forgot my watch. But I can tell you this:

  • Distance: somewhere over 7 miles
  • Time: forever
  • Avg Pace: snail-like
  • 5:1 intervals plus extra walk breaks thrown in for good measure (and survival)

Clermont apparently did not get the memo that Florida does not have hills. And to my dismay, the Clermont hills were brutal. At least it gave us a nice change of scenery and I got to get some fun pics along the way:

Going downhill

BP water break

My view when I turned around going uphill

Had to get a pic of the lake

Because every front yard should have a lion statue

I'm not scurred

I skipped breakfast at Cracker Barrel after our run, opting for a Starbucks breakfast on the rode and a long shower instead. And then I napped, which I rarely do mid-day. It’s been hours and I’m still wiped out.

What’s your favorite (or least favorite) hill run?

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Fail Hill

14 Feb

Since I missed Saturday’s run to make an airport drop, I decided to run a 7.7 mile course in hilly Clermont early Sunday morning.

When I woke  up it was a chilly 36 degrees and it felt like 27 degrees. It took us almost an hour to get to our meeting spot in Clermont and when we got there saw that it was even colder there. Brrr…

Our small group of Marathonfest runners utilized layers to the max. I myself wore running tights, a singlet, my long-sleeved Disney marathon shirt, a pullover, a ski cap and gloves. I was still freezing.

For me, getting out in the cold is the hardest part of a cold run. Once I warm up after a few minutes, it’s usually great from there. I thought this would be one of those mornings.

Unfortunately halfway into our first mile, I started to feel dull cramps. By the end of the mile, my cramps had gotten worse. I realized that if I ran to far and the pain became unbearable (which is often the case for me), I would be stuck walking over three miles in the freezing cold to the car. I finally spoke up.

There were only three of us on the run from our group: me and my two group leaders Sue and Emily, both of whom had run 14 miles the morning before.  When I mentioned my concerns, they quickly agreed to call it a run and go get some warm coffee and breakfast instead. I felt bad, but I knew I was better off playing it safe. Sue captured the great pic above of me and Emily surrendering and heading back to our cars. What group support!

As we drove to breakfast I thought to myself, “So long hills of Clermont, til we meet again!”

I ended up walking back into my house around 9:30 AM, and after breakfast, coffee and Advil my pain had subsided. I felt up to running again but didn’t want to commit to a longer distance since I didn’t know how my body would react.  I decided to see how fast I could run a 5k.

My fastest 5k PR is somewhere just under 31 minutes, but that was a couple of years ago when I was running shorter distances at faster speeds (for me that is). Since then my 5k times have increased to the 34 minute region, so I’ve been working on cutting that down again.

Sunday’s self-imposed 5k time trial brought me in at 31:32.64. I managed to maintain an average of 10:10/mile and it felt good!

With good time spent with friends over breakfast and a encouraging 5k trial time, it looks like Sunday’s run wasn’t such a fail after all. And I very much look forward to returning to Clermont for some serious hill running in the near future!

When was the last time an ailment stopped you mid-run?

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