Week 4 Training

After last weeks step back week I started to up the mileage again. The planned long run this week was 11 miles.

Because of a family trip to Lancaster County, PA this weekend I had to squeeze my runs into the work week so I missed out on cross training on Monday and missed my rest day on Friday. I rested over the weekend (if you can call a family vacation a rest).

The runs were pretty easy. I had a decent faster pace run early in the week on the 3 miler. The run/walk ratio of 4:00/0:40 (a 6:1 ratio) seems to be working well for me. The temperatures were pretty cool early in the week but it was getting progressively warmer as the week went on. Getting up a little earlier these days means that I have to get the headlamp out again. It was time to change the batteries as the lamp didn’t do much for me early in the week.

Friday was to be my long run but I had to get it in before I left for work. Three of the weather forecasts I checked called for lightning storms (or a 50/50 chance of them). I got up at 4am Friday and checked the weather radar maps and it looked like I could get my run in. With a fresh set of batteries in my headlamp and a new battery in the RoadID Firefly lamp I was out the door and seeing clearly. It was already 70+ degrees before 5am but the weather held steady. Apart from being very humid it was a nice easy long run.

I also use these early long training runs to experiment on some gear. This week I again tried the Pro Compression socks vs my usual Zensah sleeves for the long run. Although my legs felt fine with the compression, the sock itself is rather thin for me and about 9 miles in my toes were feeling the inside of my shoes more than I would like. I think I will stick with my medium thickness socks and the leg sleeves going forward. No damage done as I wasn’t going too far.

I also bought a sample pack of GU in a new flavor (Salted Caramel) to try. I’ve used GU in the past but find the consistency a little thick for my liking but like to try new flavors from time to time. I still have plenty of samples of other products but these will get into the rotation soon.

New flavor to try

A nice highlight of our trip to Lancaster County was that we took the boys to Dutch Wonderland. I was very surprised to find a ‘Dole Whip‘ stand. For those of you who don’t know what this is (and I confess I didn’t) this was something I heard was something only served at Walt Disney World in the Magic Kingdom near the Magic Tiki Room in Adventureland. It was really refreshing on such a hot day. It was my first taste of this frozen treat and I had a second taste (!) before we left later in the day. Now I have another excuse to go to Disney to make sure it tasted exactly right 🙂

My first Dole Whip

Have a great week.