It’s officially winter! Though it doesn’t really feel like it; Minneapolis is actually experiencing a bit of a warm-up this week (I love it; who needs a white Christmas??), with temps over 40 degrees! I’m not complaining, the warmer temps made training for the Atlanta marathon a lot better!
There are now 10 weeks until March 1, i.e. 10 weeks until the Atlanta marathon!
As you may know, the Olympic marathon trials are the day before (February 29) in Atlanta, and Des Linden announced this week that she’ll be running! So exciting. I love to watch her race.
(Did I mention I met her? Here’s a pic of my sister Erin and me with Des at the RRCA coaching convention in Detroit in 2017. She’s tiny!)
I’m not training for Atlanta as a “goal race” per se. I know that it’s a hilly course plus I just came off of a tough training block for Indianapolis (which was a great marathon!) so I’m dialing things back a little bit for this one.
Here’s how training went this past week:
Monday: 6 miles on the treadmill before work, 9:10 min/mile average, Discover Strength session after work. My goal is always two strength training sessions a week.
Tuesday: I met up with the Tuesday morning run group. We determined that the Greenway path was quite clear of ice- about 80%- so we headed out and back on that trail. I had a short speed workout as follows: 25 minutes easy, then 30 minutes of work with 8x(1 minute at 8:15, 1 minute at 8:00, and 30 seconds at 7:45, with 90 second jog in between) and then 15 minutes easy to end with 7.3 miles. It felt good to be outside and the paces were generally obtainable.
The Right Fit?
Since the trails were mixed, I still wore my Kahtoola nanospikes (love them!)
With temps in the teens, I wore Oiselle flyout tights, a Oiselle seamless long sleeve, a Oiselle flyte tank, with a reflective jacket on top. The jacket is my oldie-but-goodie Athleta Reflective jacket (read my original review HERE), which is seriously the brightest most reflective jacket ever! I also wore an old Oiselle beanie and Craft running gloves (their gloves are the best!) and a Black Diamond sprint headlamp (buy one here.)
Wednesday: Another 6 miles on the treadmill, this time after work. I’ve started watching “Succession” on HBO; it’s pretty good so far!
Thursday: Another outside speed workout! My coach had actually set it up assuming I’d be on the treadmill, so it was originally a workout focused on some intervals at a 2% incline. But since the weather was milder, she gave me an alternate option. It was 25 minutes easy followed by 6 sets of 3 minutes at 8 min/mile, 2 minutes at 8:30 min/mile, so sustained moderate effort for 30 minutes. The trails we ran on were mixed between clear and snow-packed, so I definitely didn’t hit every set, but it still felt like a solid 30 minutes of effort, followed by 15 minutes easy to cool-down for another 7 miles on the day.
Thursday night, we had tickets to “A Very Die Hard Christmas” at the Bryant Lake Bowl theater; we try to go see this every year and it is always funny. It’s sort of a parody of the Die Hard movie as a Christmas movie, with lots of other Christmas movie cameos thrown in there. However, it doesn’t even start until 10 pm, so we didn’t get home until after midnight. That’s late for me! No early morning run on Friday…
Friday: Slept in before work, Discover Strength over my lunch hour and then 6 easy miles on the treadmill after work watching Succession.
It was ugly sweater day at the office; I even won a small prize for mine!
Saturday: 14 mile long run along the river to the Greenway; sunny and 30 degrees and great company.
It felt amazing! 9 min/mile average.
Saturday night, we met a few friends at the Holidazzle festival in Loring Park. This was a 15 foot tall abominable snowman there, whose movements were controlled by participants at the festival. It was cool!
Sunday: 5.5 miles with Dustin. Lovely spring-like day! I wore a new Brooks holiday running top, perfect for the low-30’s temps:
The top had the same abominable snowman (i.e. Yeti) on it! He was wearing Brooks running shoes, of course!
Summary: 52 miles of running, 2 strength sessions. Not too bad for 10 weeks out!
In other news, I did the “Top 9” app on Instagram, which gives you the top 9 most-liked pictures of the year. Mine are all about running, travel, and dogs!
Speaking of looking back at the year…how about that Harrison Family? Their year looks very similar to ours. Ha!
Minted was great to work with once I discovered the error (my last name is Benson, not Harrison). But even though the original order was cancelled, it somehow still made it to us. I thought about sending a few “Harrison Family” cards just to see if anyone noticed!
I’ve definitely asked Santa for new Smart Wool running socks. Ruth (the younger vizsla) has destroyed quite a few of mine. She is such a naughty pup!
Socks might be a boring gift but I definitely need some replacements!
I’m linking up as usual with Running on the Fly and Confessions of a Mother Runner as part of their Weekly Rundown. Check it out!
That is too funny about the card! I totally thought…does she have a twin sister who has two dogs too?!?! You should have sent them out. That’s hilarious!
Haha, I know! If I get any last minute cards that weren’t on my original list, they might be receiving a card from the Harrisons 🙂
That is too funny about the card mix up! Hope you got yours in time as well. Another stellar week for you. Is March really just 10 weeks away?! Yikes
I’m so glad March is only 10 weeks away 🙂
Gosh, I was looking at the Harrison card and it didn’t dawn on me the name was wrong LOL That would be a big DUH 🙂 I love my SmartWool socks, too! My absolute favorites,year-round. Have a great Christmas, Jessie 🙂
Thank you, Merry Christmas to you too Kim! Smart Wool socks are the best…and apparently Ruth thinks they taste good too ha!
The card made me laugh!
And I love that holiday running top.
Thanks Allison!
I did not realize that the last name was wrong! I just looked at the layout and pictures and actually thought it was a nice card. I am loving the warmer weather too. Yeah, I don’t care for a White Christmas either. How are the flyout pants for cold weather running? I wear the Moto Lesley (my favorite) and the Classic Lesleys for running.
The flyouts are pretty warm, but not sure if they’ll make it for negative temps…Craft makes the warmest tights for temps like that! I have to check out the Lesleys!
Love your holiday running top and a friend from my photo a day group just shared a picture of that yeti, so now I have to wonder if you were there at the same time! A great week’s running as always. Funny about the card, though!
What a small world- your friend and I probably crossed paths!
Bandit is about 11.He’ll still eats socks if someone (who will remain nameless, not me) leaves out socks.
Midnight would be extraordinarily late for me, too. Although I’d probably still wake up early. Later than normal, which is still early.
Sounds like you had a good week, as usual!
Thanks Judy! Ruth just LOVES socks…
I’m impressed you went to an event that started at 10pm! Even starting at 8 is a stretch for me.
I had a coworker whose Husky completely ate a pair of socks (and somehow left his digestive system no worse for the wear). Guess socks are tasty when you’re a puppy!
Haha, I definitely won’t be making it a regular occurrence to go out on 10 pm…especially on a weeknight!
That’s lucky about the Husky, as I’ve heard horror stories about dogs having surgery to remove them!
Oh, that’s funny about your card! LOL! We haven’t done cards for a few years, altho this year, we actually have a few family photos! I loved that Brooks holiday top–I didn’t buy it, but I wanted to! Glad to see the weather is warm enough to show it off! Merry Christmas!
Thank you Wendy, Merry Christmas to you too!
Oh my goodness, Ms. Harrison, that’s funny! We received a card from ‘The Family” and I can’t wait to ask what the details are for why their last name isn’t on it. Did they plan it that way or was it a typo? Did they even notice it? LOL I love your Brooks holiday top. It’s so cute and I love that it’s mainly blue! We went on a Christmas lights run this evening and it was warm enough for me to wear my red ugly sweater design shorts and green Santa run t-shirt, and since my hands are always… Read more »
The Family 🙂 That’s interesting.
Glad you had a fun Christmas lights run!
That is so crazy about the card! Didn’t you put in the info online?? How does a mistake like that happen?? This mild weather is amazing. No white Christmas is necessary if you ask me! Merry Christmas to you and yours Jessie!
Thank you, same to you Marcia!
What a busy but fun week for you!
Despite the different last name, I love the holiday card LOL.
I hope that you have a great Christmas!
Ha, thanks Kim!
No complaints about the 40 degree weather we’re having around here, I’m looking forward to giving the treadmill a rest and getting outside for my runs over Christmas break. Love the Yeti!
Same! 40 is amazing!
I just got caught up with your broken leg saga and am so excited to see you are marathon ready! I only wanted to do one marathon in my life, but I’ve had some time to sit around and consider all my choices, and I may want to do another when all is said and done. It’s a long road, but I need goals to get me through the hard times.
My mom’s friend used to say you were a grownup if you got socks & underwear for christmas. I happily got socks.
Love the new Brooks shirts – so much fun.
LOL re: wrong name on the card. Wondered before I read your explanation if that was just not your “running last name”. I have some couple friens who between professional, social, have different uses. We break everyone because mom has one last name, my brother and I a different one, her new husband a third.
Yikes on it being totally wrong.