Hi FLRunners! This past weekend my team and I took a trip to Clermont to run on the famous 10-mile clay trail
and I really couldn’t have asked for a better training run on a day off of racing.
Besides the fact of getting up at 5 a.m. to head west to Clermont to try and get our run in before the temperature starts rising, it was a perfect morning. The temperature was in the low 60s, clear skies, plus lots of great hills, and clay terrain which is not very common in Altamonte Springs! It is also great to see other teams like Lake Mary, Lyman, Winter Springs, and Dr. Phillips out there utilizing the clay trail as well. Although my team doesn’t get out to Clermont as much as we would like, we definitely take advantage of it when we can. I hope one day they can make a high school race out there.
Aside from the Clermont trail, over the years my team has designed trails of our own around our school on our recovery days in between tough track workouts. My personal favorite is our “Sabal” run because it’s mostly shady and there is actually a shoulder on the road where we can run without having to bob and weave between elementary kids walking home from school. We also have two routes which we have named Small Square and Big Square. The name basically speaks for itself. Small Square is a 4-mile run which includes only left hand turns so you never have to stop at a crosswalk! Big Square is for long days and this route is 8 miles with some very fun hills (by fun, I mean “leg-aching” fun). These trails definitely prove to be my safe haven during the week when it comes to practice.
Something about running with the team and making jokes on a recovery 5-mile run makes me realize just how much I love this sport.
