So today I ran my first 10k. It’s been about 6 months since I did my first training run (which was a 5k park run so dire I took a 2 month break). I had to talk about half of the distance, and probably wouldn’t have finished if I wasn’t accompanied by my champion cousin Helen who supported and encouraged me to the finish line.
This 10k race marks a milestone in my training. It’s the furthest I’ve ever run, I didn’t stop once, and my finishing time of 1 hour 55 seconds is genuinely respectable. Best of all, at the 9 kilometer mark I had a fair amount left in my tanks so I kicked up the pace – even sprinting the last few hundred meters. Seeing as my target was about 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes and to not get injured, I’m delighted. In fact the only injury I’ve picked up is some pretty nifty sunburn on the parts of my head which are folically challenged.
And yet – despite everything I’ve achieved it all feels a bit temporary. If things were different today would have been the end of a journey. And yet, I know that this is only the start. I now need to be running at least 10k once a week in preparation for the London Marathon. In October I’m running the Cardiff Half Marathon for Mind (and I need to raise at least £200 in sponsorship) but even this pales in significance to the realities of cycling across America. I’ll be on the road for three months, travelling about 3500 miles. I hate the fact I’m saying this (who have I become!) but it’s hard to celebrate a 10k run given what’s to come.
Sorry this is all a bit melancholy – but if I’m going to do this huge challenge to raise awareness of mental health then I’m not going to only tell you about the good bits. I’m delighted I did so well today but now I’m looking straight ahead to the next stage of the challenge.
P.S. – like I mentioned above I need to raise £200 for the Cardiff Half Marathon (although Mind are fab so I’m very happy to raise more!) Given everything I’ve said above it feels weird asking for money – especially as I’ll be asking for even more next year. So how about this – if 100 of you head to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/antonyjcbutchermind and donate £2 then we’ll have raised some money for a great charity without you spending more than the price of a cup of coffee.
antonyjcbutcher 