I have been on this running journey for a long time now, and I am particularly interested in distance running. I suppose my genetics and history lend me to this distance, and I enjoy the challenge of longer events, but also am certainly not made for short explosive speed. So in a runners journey we often see the progression from one event to another.

I clearly remember training for my first half marathon thinking that 16km was so hard. Now 16km can be a very normal run for me. Bodies adapt well to the stress we put on them, and over the years I have certainly done that, and done it well having run numerous races over the half marathon to marathon, to ultra distance! I have been thinking about 100km for a long time now. Probably seriously for over 12 months, secretly wishing that I could give it a go.

I guess fear plays a major factor, along with finishing what I start, so I haven’t ever risen to the challenge, but having said that I didn’t feel that I was physically ready yet, and I still had some training to do to get me to a start line like that. Then there was choice. Which 100 should I do? I was originally thinking of the Blackall 100 in October this year, and I even thought about doing Surf Coast Century in September fresh off the back of my UTA50 training, but I didn’t feel ready. If I am going to run 100km I want to be in the fittest shape of my life and I wasn’t. I may only do this once and if I am to do it, I want to do it well. So I chose an event that was far enough away to get ready, but close enough to not burn out. So UTA100 was it. I have also been chosen as an ambassador for their event, so I look forward to sharing my journey with anyone that will listen. I wan’t to inspire other women to get out there too!

Running 100km involves a lot more than just the legs to get you there too. It involves a team of people that are on the same page, a few months ago I started to prepare. I signed up to coaching again with Gary Howard from Run Crew. I wanted to take the pressure out of me having to think about what mileage and sessions to set myself, and I wanted the best chance possible of doing well and preventing an injury. So far, so good and I have seen amazing improvements already, especially in my endurance speed.

I also needed to get the family on the same page. I would never undertake such a race without 100% support from my husband and kids, because running a distance like that takes a lot of sacrifice on their behalf. I am always training! It will get longer and harder and take up so much time. It costs money. I will be tired. But if we are all working together for the goal, it will be that much more achievable. Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who supports my goals with gusto and never complains about my tired aching body and moods, and is always a listening ear. I am so thankful. He is a major player on my crew. Thank you for believing in me X.

I also needed a plan. So the plan is that I needed to first get fitter, so that is underway. A series of races and training runs to get my endurance up to scratch has been on the plan and after UTA50 I have done The Gold Coast Half, Glenbrook trail marathon and most recently Coastal Classic (a 48min pb!) as part of my long training program along with a number of long weekend runs. Next up in two weeks is Carcoar Cup 60k, which was my first Ultra in 2014. I am looking forward to seeing how I go on this course now I know a lot more about ultra running and am faster on my feet.

People ask me what my weekly sessions involve, I like to run for fun so I make sure that a few of my runs are social training runs with friends. I like to go to the national park and run on the trails, and some of my harder sessions I do on the grass oval nearby. I catch up with the RMA social run group local to me on Tuesdays and we go through a session together and long runs are always on a Sunday morning, where I can either go trail or run around beautiful centennial park. It’s all about time on legs.

So far, so good. I have a recurring glute issue that sometimes grounds me, but I need to focus more on my core and glute strength to see that resolve and that is going to have to become a huge focus over the next few months to make sure I don’t break as training increases!

Thanks for following on so far, I hope that you continue to follow my journey, and I likewise can’t wait to follow yours.