How do you eat an elephant?

As you know my blog has been going for 9 years.  Its purpose is to act as a personal journal for me but at the same time if it inspires anyone to push their limits, then I’m happy.  Blogging helps motivate me so, and hopefully some others, when I’m digging deep or considering skipping a session.  But if I blog it, post it then I do it.
I’ve 193 Days till Lake Tahoe - “the elephant”.  I’m starting to organise the logistics, flights, accommodation, gear (rucksack), support runners etc. But in the meantime I’m focused on my training plan.  Every session has a purpose and I need to deliver against the targets as my coach prepares me for the toughest event of my life - and I’m loving every moment of it.
Once again this week I was juggling my diary with my training schedule.  On Friday I left the house at 5am so I could start running at 5.30 and finish in time for a 7am swim and be at work for 9am.  It was a tough double session but it was just the start of a very hard weekend.
The weather forecast for Saturday was horrendous but it wasn’t really bad till 1pm so the fabulous three headed out at 7am.  It was a hilly run but in 2 hrs 20 mins we were back at the start and one of the group headed off to run a class.  And then there were two but my partner was struggling and a few miles later he headed back - we call all have an off day.  But now I was left on my own and that when I started to think about “eating an elephant”.  It’s not that I was hungry, just I was thinking about Tahoe and the 205 miles with 40,000 ft of climbing and ascending.  It seems a mammoth task but I know if I stick with the plan and complete every training session then I will succeed.  After 3hrs and 36 mins of running I was 3.5km short of a marathon but I’d hit my target and didn’t want to risk getting injured.  My calf was taped up on Friday to ease the pressure on my foot and it had worked so I called it a day.  Back to juggling so shower, food and then jumped into the car and drove up to Aberdeen, 3 hours, for a night out with family - it ended in a nightclub at Midnight! (Not normal behaviour!).
At lunchtime I drove back from Aberdeen and when I got home all I wanted to do was sleep.  But I had a double training session to do!  A 90 minute run at a faster pace than yesterday which wasn’t going to be that fast.  But rather than keep checking my Garmin on the pace I decided to “go for it” otherwise I might not give it my best.  I didn’t look at my watch once and when I finished the run I was very happy with the results.  I’ve said it before but sometimes it’s the session you least want to do that’s the best session.  But I wasn’t finished - I had a gym session to complete.  Being warmed up made it a better session but oh the burn in my quads!
The way to eat an elephant is in little slices.  Each training session is a slice of the elephant and takes me one step closer to my goal - I’ve just got to avoid getting indigestion!