Train insane or remain the same!

As most of you will know by now last year was my first proper year of running and I really enjoyed it. I completed 2 marathons, 4 half marathons and a bunch of shorter races. I usually ran about 6 times a week and it took up most of my spare time.

You'll also know that I decided to take some time out from running at the end of the year to focus on other aspects of my life and create a better balance in my daily routine. I feel as though I've had a chance to reassess and have learnt how to better prioritise my time. 

This year I'm going to step things up a bit. Last year I decided to enter in the Tarawera 60km race in Rotorua, NZ this March. This will be a huge step up from anything I've ever done before. 18km further than I've ever run and a very hilly trail race instead of the flat road races I'm used to. I don't have any expectation of running a good time, I just want to finish, and have fun! 

I've also managed to get an entry in the Kep 75km race from Northam to Mundaring in June. It's a relatively flat/undulating trail race on fire trail. 

This will require a huge commitment and a lot of training. The two races are very different in the sense that for Kep I'll need to run as much as possible because the course is all 'runnable' as opposed to Tarawera where I will be walking/power hiking a lot of the hills and running on the flat and downhill sections. Both races will require a lot of specific training.

If everything goes well with those two races I'd like to enter in a 100km race towards the end of the year. Although, at the moment I can't even comprehend what it will be like to train for and complete a 100km race, so let's just get through the first two races and then see where I'm at. 

So, in order to achieve these goals I've decided to seek the help of a professional. And no, I don't mean a shrink. Although the fact that I'm even contemplating these races might be an indication that I need to see one! But in this case I'm referring to a running coach. I don't think the random programs I've previously tried following online are going to cut it this time. 

I've got precisely 6 weeks to train for Tarawera. I'm sure when I approached my coach and said that I've had 2 months off and want to run 60km in 6 weeks time, and that I'd like to only run 5 days a week so that I can still do gym work and bootcamp, he would've thought I was mad! But you know me, I love a challenge. 

I'll receive my first week's program this Friday, 31 Jan to start my training on 1 Feb!

So, wish me luck, I'm going to need it! I'll keep you posted with how my training is going over the next 6 weeks - I hope my coach isn't too hard on me!