Caba Running Update

The four week countdown to Twin Cities marathon begins tomorrow. That means a couple more weeks of hard training followed by some recovery. The past few weeks of training have been challenging. Following a week of recovery after the Haulin Aspen marathon, my training picked back up. I was able to put in 91 miles two weeks ago but slipped a little last week putting in 71. We were on vacation in Hawaii however and I didn't want to spend the entire time running and recovering. The positive side is, I was able to run just about every day, most days twice. As a result, I drank fewer mai tai's and a lot less beer than I had anticipated. As the picture shows, I also didn't spend a lot of time sunbathing.
My legs have continued to feel really fatigued ever since the Haulin Aspen marathon, but I'm hopeful things are changing. I was finally able to hit a workout this week while feeling strong. Over the previous two weeks I have struggled with all of my speed work, laboring through each workout. This week I completed a 10 mile treadmill workout averaging a 5:38 pace. Now I just have to figure out how to run close to that pace for 26.2 miles. I'm optimistic my training will push me towards a new marathon PR, but at times I think it's crazy to shoot for a sub 2:30 (5:43 pace). I'm considering readjusting my goal to a sub 2:33:00.

More importantly however is the progress with Katie's foot! She has had miserable plantar fasciitis for months, progressing to the point where she has been unable to run. Over the past 24 hours, she has felt a dramatic improvement giving her new hope. In fact, she just completed a 6 mile run, which is her first in the past two weeks. She has been disciplined about cross training though, so hopefully her fitness will be there when she picks up the miles. If she can get a few more speed workouts and long runs in, I think her confidence will pick back up and we'll see her flying across the finish line sub 2:50.

Next up for Katie is the Xterra 21k national championships here in Bend. She should finish well if her foot behaves. Next up for me is the Bigfoot 10k. I would like to run sub 33:00. Most importantly though is I have to kick Meissner's butt as he has been dishing it out a bit. We'll see what happens.