
Only one week until the Atlanta marathon (and cheering for the Olympic Trials the day before!) So excited! The weather looks pretty good too; it is going to be a fun weekend, all about running!
Before I dive into my recap of training, I want to point you towards my review of the SQUID GO ice/compression device. I shared my experience in THIS POST. Check it out and let me know what you think!
Monday: I had the day off of work for President’s Day.
What a treat to meet a few friends around 9 am for a run in daylight! I had 9 miles easy, so I ran from home to meet them, ran 7 with them and then ran home.

The topic of the run was the cancellation of the Tokyo Marathon. Several of our friends were headed there to complete their 6th World Major and will now defer that accomplishment until next year. I understand why they cancelled it; coronavirus is a real threat. I’m a little concerned about our trip in May to Bhutan to run a marathon there. We fly through South Korea and Thailand to get to Bhutan; I guess it’s not worth stressing about at this point, since there’s nothing I can do about it. I do hope the pandemic ends soon!
Speaking of the World Majors, I finished my 6th one in New York City in 2017 and received that massive medal! It was a proud moment.

Anyways, later on Monday, I took a Discover Strength session at the Northeast Minneapolis location. This was my last strength training day (two weeks out) before the marathon. Discover Strength recommends stopping two weeks out from a marathon. Makes sense to me!
Tuesday: 6 miles on the treadmill after work.
Wednesday: Another very frigid day in Minneapolis, so another treadmill run. 3 miles easy to warm-up, then 5x(6 minutes with progressively faster paces every 2 minutes), 2 minutes in between each set, and then cool down to 9 miles.
Right after I hopped off the treadmill, I discovered that Ruth had destroyed one of my Duckfeet boots! These were some of my favorites- comfortable, water/weather-proof…Not only had Ruth destroyed the boot, but it appeared that she had ingested most of the leather that she chewed. We called the emergency vet, and they recommended we bring her in. They gave her a shot that made her throw up almost instantaneously, after which she was just fine. They did find lots of leather in her belly so we made the right choice to bring her in.

They gave her the shot a second time to make sure everything was out, and then we had to wait for a bit to make sure she was okay. We didn’t get home until about 10:30 pm. I had run 9 miles and not eaten dinner either…ugh. Definitely an unexpected change to the course of the evening! But, I love that little rascal Ruth and am glad she is okay.
Thursday: After a later night the night before, it was hard to get up early, but I had a commitment after work, so if I wanted to run, it had to be before work. 6 easy treadmill miles. Barely awake!
The industry event for my day job (i.e. with my side hustle being coaching runners of course!) was at the new-ish Tasting Room in Uptown.
Friday: Another 5 miles on the treadmill. Uneventful.
Saturday: Yay! An outside run! Being just a week out from the marathon, my long run was only 10 miles. My coach put ‘26.2 minutes’ at marathon pace in the middle, where I was supposed to visualize each minute as each mile of the marathon. 🙂 Unfortunately, with a lot of melt/refreeze, I was a bit more focused on avoiding the ice than visualizing the marathon, but the idea was good! 10 miles at an 8:50 min/mile average.
(We stopped for water at the Trailhead at Theodore Wirth.)

Since I didn’t have an exceptionally long run, I was able to join some of the run club girls for brunch. We went to Lagos Tacos in Uptown, where it was apparently National Margarita Day!

Sunday: I met up with my friend Vicki at 9:30 for a run; it was gorgeous, sunny, and 30 degrees! But we were so bummed to discover that the lake trails were VERY icy. There was so much melt, but with temperatures below freezing, it was incredibly slick. We tip-toed our way around two lakes for 7 miles with lots of walking over the icy spots.
Summary: About 53 miles of running, 1 strength training session.
With Atlanta not being a goal marathon, I haven’t tapered quite that much, as I’ll sort of “train through” it to Bhutan, which is 12 weeks later. I also have a few shorter distance races on my radar, mostly through our USATF racing circuit, where I hope to maybe shoot for some new PR’s. Already looking ahead to the next one before this one is even done!
Here’s your weekly Ruth pic- ruthless Ruth! She’s a wild one, but I love her!

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!
So sorry about the boot and vet trip. I had almost the same with one of our new kitties- the small one, Willa, ate two fingers off one of my cotton running gloves three weeks ago. I rushed her to the emergency vet and she was given the vomit injection and brought up the largest piece, another injection and nothing so home observation and a day later out came the other finger the other end. Then the next weekend after a weird problem with our water quality, she vomited and went lethargic and we rushed her in again for an… Read more »
Oh my! Poor little Willa! I’m glad she is okay. What stress from both kitties!
Oh no on the boots! Really excited for you next weekend. Sounds like you are ready to go. Can’t wait to hear all about it.Have an amazing time and thanks for linking up today
Thanks Deborah! I’m so excited to watch the Trials!
When she was a pup, Cocoa chewed up a favorite pair of boots of mine! It’s a good thing they’re so cute.
Your trails sound like they are in the same condition as mine. Spring can’t come soon enough!
Good luck in Atlanta! Looking forward to hearing all about it.
Thank you Wendy!
Oh, poor Ruth!! Glad she’s alright, but what a scare. Thankfully, most (emphasis on MOST) of the ice isn’t an issue, but all the sand and mud makes for a messy Max. I love the 40F’s, but am not a big fan of all the melting and subsequent clean-up.
Totally agree! Let’s just move on to spring already 🙂
Isn’t the Tokyo Marathon cancellation too bad? My friend ran it last year. I can’t even imagine having all the flights, hotels, tours, etc. booked only to have it canceled. What a disappointment!
Too bad about your boots, but glad your puppy is fine. Dogs!!!
I know…almost as bad as when I broke my leg and had to cancel my Antarctica trip! That was quite a hassle, but that was just one (or two including Dustin) people. This is 30,000 plus people trying to reschedule travel plans. What a bummer.
Good luck next week Jessie! I know this isn’t a goal race for you but it sounds like your training has gone really well under brutal training conditions, and my spidey sense is telling that you’re going to have a great race! I can’t wait to hear about it.
Thank you Becket! I appreciate your support!
I can’t wait to read all about your race next weekend in Atlanta (and how fun that you get to watch the Olympic trials the day before)!
Ugh about the boot and emergency trip to the vet. Thank goodness Ruth is okay!
So excited to cheer at the trials!!! I have a feeling it will be so inspirational!
Just one more week to go – how exciting!
Oh man – Ruth is lucky she is so cute because those boots looks really nice, lol. But seriously, glad that she is okay and it sounds like you absolutely made the right call taking her to the vet
I was pretty bummed about the boot! They were so comfortable…But yes, so glad she’s okay! What a rascal.
Cheers to race week! I was going to go and spectate/visit my college daughter at GATech, but now she has a sorority event in April I’m going to attend instead. Great to hear the weather is supposed to be ideal.
I’m bummed for everyone who had to defer Tokyo but I do think it was the wise choice. I’ve been eyeing that Bhutan marathon. Maybe one of these years!
Sorry about your boot! Glad Ruth is ok!
Well, Bhutan might not happen either! Delta cancelled all flights to Korea through May 1…ours is supposed to leave May 15. TBD.
Oh sh!t. Fingers crossed for you!
Bhutan! Wow. That’s going to be amazing
Your poor boot, but glad Ruth is OK.
…well, see above comment! It might not happen this year, thanks to coronavirus 🙁
Oh no. And is the only way to Bhutan via Korea? Fingers, toes crossed this is settled by then. It’s a scary world. ENjoy this weekend & good luck!
Poor Ruth but I am glad she is OK. We love our pets and will do anything for them. Kudos for waking up early the next day to run after being up late the night before. I would have skipped the run. 🙂
Totally! We love them…even when they’re naughty!
Oh my gosh on that boot! I’m glad Ruth is ok, but … We had to do the same type of vet visit when Tiger Lilly got in the trash and ate corn cobs and melon rinds. That’s a lot of miles two weeks out from a marathon, even if it’s not a goal race. Are you cutting back more this week? You’re going to have such a good time!
oh dear, corn cobs and melon rinds!!!
I don’t know how you ran after that night with naughty Ruth! I’m glad she’s ok. Chester once ate rat poison at my parents. Lola has gotten into chocolate kindly left for her by Mr. Judy in his backpack on more than one occasion. I’m actually an expert on making dogs throw up. 🙁 We did have to take Chester to the vet the next day, but he ended up being ok. My SIL is traveling in Asia right now, and my MIL is not happy about it — I don’t blame her. 🙁 I hope things calm down by… Read more »
Rat poison, oh no!!
The whole making pets throw up thing is so hard! Even though it was expensive, the shot they gave her was a lot less painful!
I feel so bad for all the runners affected by the cancellation. It’s not a cheap or short trip… One of my friend was running the great wall of china marathon and that obviously was canceled too but at least she hadn’t made travel plans yet. Meanwhile, now that it’s reached Italy I’m started to worry about the spread in Europe 🙁
Oh, how disappointing for your friends! I really hope they get this under control soon….
Oh, sweet. Ruth. I’m glad she’s ok!
You are so ready for Atlanta! I cannot wait to hear about it!
I hope everything goes smoothly for your trip to Bhutan. There’s just so much unknown at this point, and I hope they get a handle on the coronavirus soon.
So much unknown…Delta cancelled trips to Korea at this point, so not sure what that will mean for us yet.
What an exciting week – I’m so jealous that you get to see the elites run, and then get to run the marathon as well. Good call playing it safe with the ice.
My brother’s family had a vizla, and i remember it eating a lot of socks and pantyhose – that was an unpleasant tug of war…
Watching the trials is going to be a blast!
Haha, okay, well maybe its a vizsla thing! Matilda was not a chewer though, so we are not used to this!
Good luck on your marathon.
Bad dog!!!
My cats are pretty good. But they do destroy furniture, rugs, etc.
Bhutan? Wow! can’t wait to read about this one.
My cats when we had them got into some trouble too 🙂 One ate a ribbon once that got twisted in his tummy, poor thing. That was expensive too!
Pets can be scoundrels, but we sure do love them! Glad yours is ok!
Bhutan…wow! How cool! Hopefully your trip goes smoothly! I was oddly obsessed with Bhutan when I was a kid…not sure why but I used to pretend I could speak Bhutanese (or whatever the language is lol). It was a totally made up language of course, but my parents, God bless them, went along with it. ;-P
That’s so interesting! I honestly only recently started learning about Bhutan, I read “Beyond the Earth and Sky” about a girl teaching there. I’m excited and hope the trip works out!
Bummer about your boot – glad Ruth was ok! Our cats went through a phase of chewing on electronics, including the cords – luckily they were never ruthless enough to chew through to a live wire. (My Kindle still has bite marks though.)
oh dear! That sounds dangerous! Glad they weren’t injured!
Oh Ruth!! pets never cease to amaze me actually!! I’m sorry about your boot but glad she’s ok. Hope she learned her lesson (my new kitten Charlie ate some tiny feathers from a pillow… we weren’t sure what to do and he kept having little feathers poking out of his behind! it was hilarious and sad at the same time. he managed to rid himself of all feathers the natural way)
I hope you are going to have an amazing marathon! really looking forward to hearing about it, even if it’s not a PR goal race for you.
oh poor little Charlie! Feathers in the behind…too funny!
Great article. Thanks for sharing with us.