Finish Time — 6:31:24
Average Pace — 14:56 per mile
Steps Taken — 54,740
Mantra of the Day — “Keep calm and jog on”
If someone tells you Brathay 10-in-10 is hard, don’t believe them. It’s harder. Much harder.
Today was my first reality check here at Brathay. Every hill felt steeper than yesterday, every mile felt longer.
Physically I am doing fine — so far so good, no real niggles or discomfort. But for some reason as early as mile 4 I started to feel depleted, empty. It was different somehow from the energy crash or “wall” that you might expect at mile 18 or 20 if you are under-fuelled. More like a general fatigue, maybe lack of sleep over the weeks leading up to this event.
Long story short, I slogged it out mile after mile and finally got round in just over six and a half hours. For anyone who might be wondering, yes that’s quite a long time to be out on the road.
I’d like to take the opportunity to thank Aly and Mac (from Brathay Trust) for their dedicated support out on the road and for knowing how to say the right thing at the right time. They are just amazing.
My chosen mantra for the day proved to be perfect. I did start to panic a little bit at one point, then I remembered “yes, I can do this!” — if only I stay calm, believe in my preparation, and keep moving, even slowly. Thank you to Class 4 for including this one in their amazing card which now has pride of place on the motivational wall of our athletes’ HQ!
I have to say that even in the hard moments, I keep in mind that the kids for whom I am raising funds don’t have the luxury of walking away from their challenges and tough situations. So when I finish this ordeal next Sunday, I will be thinking of the children and young adults who will have to continue enduring damaging and abusive environments that we find it hard to imagine. Please help me accomplish my goal of raising £5,000 to support the work of Brathay Trust, and visit my fund-raising page at www.justgiving.com/robruns10in10. Thank you for your support!
Rob, hope ur day 3 is better, u have the right mental attitude … I also struggled with nutrition the first day or two but Ali and Mac being the fandabby dosey guys they are went and got me anything else I fancied to “snack” on…returning to the stuff I trained with 😉
Hang in there! You are an inspiration to many!
Stay strong, Rob. Just awesome.