Race Day Part 2

5,4,3,2,1 GO!! The race was underway

Well for the people at the front anyway for us slowcoaches at the back it was a slow shuffle to the start area as we watch  a few 1000 runners sprint (in my eyes anyway) past asda and off into the distance.  A full 6 minutes later I ease into a light jog and I'm off through the start gates.

The noise from the crowd is fantastic as I try and scan for my wife and kids then as I turn towards asda there they are as happy as can be cheering and clapping on their hero, I jog past nonchalantly and give them a wave and a smile and zoom I'm away again. (little did I know the next time I would see them I would be breathing through my arse)

Once past asda the crowds disappear and then we are into the back streets of the harbour area and the race is well and truly underway.  Now unlike any training runs I've done I've never really had to encounter much traffic human or other but in a race with over 4000 runners the space you have to run in and through is quite confined in the early stages so there is a fair bit of concentration required to ensure you don't bump and barge you way through the streets.

With the music on in my ears I feel great, running at a good pace and feeling strong, in fact I'm thinking in my head we've been running for ages now we must be coming up to around 2 km mark and there it is 100 yards ahead in big black writing 1km *sigh* but on I go for another few minutes and then It hits me "too hot" so I stop and walk for a second to get my breath back and then I'm off again this time it is the 2km mark.

My lowest part of the race came between 3-4 km firstly we came round the corner onto the beach front at 3 km and I remember thinking (a few sweary words) that I wasn't even 1/3 of the way round and already I was out of steam and struggling.  A further km on and we get back into the crowds at the beach and the once before smile I had on my face is now a tight grimace and as I pass through the crowds I see my wife and kids again but this time I am burning up in the heat and feeling the pain in my legs but I  carry on long enough to get out of sight then I stop again.  Its about this point if you look left you can see the true athletes coming down the home straight to finish the race and here I am less than half way round and I'm burst.  I think of my mum and the donations that people have made and I keep pushing hard.  Other than the heat it was my right leg in particular that was bothering me, it had gone all numb and I had no feeling from the knee down, the reason for this was my laces were too tight (I've had this before in training) but the good news was the water station was up ahead.

The water station was like something you see on TV loads of outstretched arms offering bottles of cold water to cool everyone down, I grab 2 bottles and proceed to pour the contents of 1 onto my feet and at the same time undo the laces on my right foot.  The other bottle is used as a shower to douse my body from head to toe and cool down my body temperature.  I grab a thrid bottle to quench my thirst and carry it along with me for the next couple of km's.  Now I'm pretty sure it was only water I was drinking but the effects were magical I felt like a new runner so much so that the second half of the race was far more enjoyable than the first

Fast forward now a couple more km and the race takes me through the houses at seaton where there are loads of people just out in the street cheering you on (even after the true athletes have long past finished) for me this was enough to keep me going I remember one guy shouting towards me "come on MS Scotland your doing great, keep it up" I smiled gave him a wave and kept on going.  I am now at 8km race distance and another water stop and another chance to shower and cool down.

The final part of the race comes with the only hill of the race but also in the knowledge that you've less than 800m to go.  This was the one and only time i felt competitive during the whole race why?  Well a big giant bear had been passing me from time to time during the last km but kept stopping to high five the passers by, now I was knackered so I've no idea how the man or woman inside the costume must have felt but what I did know is if that dam bear crosses the line ahead of me I'll never live this down so with some gusto I push on up the hill and leave the bear in my trail.

This last part of the race will stay with me for as long as I'll remember.  I turn the corner at the top of the hill and all I can see ahead is crowds of people on either side of the road cheering and clapping the noise is fantastic.  I know now that on this stretch of the road the MS Scotland cheering squad will be positioned in their bright orange tops so I spotted them straight away and they in turn spotted me in my MS vest they gave me a massive cheer and took some photo's this spurred me on to the last hundred meters.  I can hear and see in the distance my wife and kids with big smiles on their faces this is greeted with an equally big smile and wave followed by a few more strides and that's it "Yo Adrian I did it" 1 hour 14 minutes of hard slog got me through 10km, 10,000m, 6.2 miles or 25 Roger Black's and it was all worth it.  The pain my body has lifted and I feel a huge sense of pride and achievement.  I collect my medal as if it were an Olympic Gold give it a kiss and proceed to wear it for the remainder of the day.  A few minutes later I am joined by my wife and kids with big hugs all round I'm also joined by some of my friends that were running and we exchange stories of our effors, the running theme of which is that we would do it again in a heartbeat.

So there it is my day in the sun that ended up in me getting a medal for running and raising over £1,200 for Multiple Sclerosis Scotland

There are so many people that I want to thank I'm going to write a separate blog for you all

For anyone else still looking to donate please go to

http://www.justgiving.com/Donnie-Robertson

Race Day Part 1

4.35AM 20th May2012 that was the time on the clock when I opened my eyes.

Now thanks to Chelsea winning the champions league on penalties it was after 11pm when I went to bed so to have less than 5 hours sleep was not my ideal preparation. So after checking emails, Facebook and twitter I play a few games on my phone and decide at 6am to get up and shower. Now I can see from the bathroom that it's a nice sunny day so things look promising.  The race isn't till 9.30 so I can't imagine it will be too warm but as long as there ain't no wind I'll be happy.

After the shower I head downstairs to do some dishes from last night #rocknroll it's the least I can do to distract myself from the thought of the run being 100% honest I'm nervous not in a bad way but more like the feeling you have when your about to get married it's the expectation of the event but there are definitely butterflies and squeaky bum syndrome going on today. It's now 7am so I go and wake up the kids but they've beat me too it. They are also excited but in a different way they seem to think that I'll be winning the race!! In no time at all they are tucking into their frosties and arguing with one another so normal service resumed. I too have breakfast a bowl of cereal and a herbal tea but it doesn't take away the feeling I have in my stomach.

The next hour flies by as everyone gets dressed and I get all my gear ready for the race, I have decided to wear shorts my long sleeved adidas top with the MS Scotland vest over the top, I put my timing chip on my trainers and then I'm good to go.

Traffic restrictions around town mean we have to leave the house at 8.30 ahead of the check in at 9.10 by now the nerves are up to maximum this is not aided by lane restrictions as we near the beach and now its 8.55 and we are still far from destination.  Me and one of the other dad's running take the executive decision to bail from the cars and walk the last part to ensure we get there on time safe in the knowledge that the wife and kids can park up and find a spot on in the crowd to watch the start of the race.

 When we get there a huge weight suddenly lifts from my body as for the first time I suddenly see and feel what the whole day is all about, over 4000 runners from the serious to the not so serious (I'm talking teddy bears, big bird and full ice hockey regalia)  I am now at ease with the situation and on the plus side it was a really nice morning for the crowd to watch.  We have one thing left to do and that is get into you estimated time zone for the race you see with so many people its crucial that there are no traffic jams with the slow and fast runners so there are various gates for the different times people think they will achieve.  I was thinking 80 minutes given my last couple of training sessions so off I go near the back of the queue and wait.  When I get there I see someone I know and get chatting about things so this relaxes me even more.

                                                           

So after 4 months of training and eating more healthy there is only one thing left to do and that's run 10,000m so as the countdown on the PA system reaches zero I am at my most relaxed that I have been in the last 24 hours, what happened next turned out to be one of the best experiences I have ever had.

Thanks again for taking the time to read this I get alot of questions asking if its still ok to donate and yes is the answer I'd be more than happy to take donations big or small on behalf of MS Scotland you know the script by now http://www.justgiving.com/Donnie-Robertson

Your time is now

Well here I am the day before the big race and its all starting to sink in now.  I've had 4 months preparation for this race and while I think I could have had a couple of more sessions in the last month I'm pretty happy with the overall preparation.  I look back to where I was at the beginning of this and I couldn't even run 100m yet alone 10,000m so fingers crossed.

I have a whole variety of emotions going on at the moment anxiety at the prospect of actually competing in the race, excitement at the thought of lining up with 4600 other competitors, worry at the thought something might happen that prevents me from completing the race and pride that I'll be doing this for so many good reasons.  1000 good reasons to be exact, because of the generosity of the people who have supported me from the beginning and throughout this process I am delighted to say I now have £1000 sponsorship for MS Scotland an amount I could only have dreamt of back at the start.

So what does the next 20 or so hours have in store for me? Well a nice pasta lunch beckons then I'll be out in the garden cutting the grass then relaxing in front of the football, a nice lazy day by anyones standards.  After a nice tea it will be more football followed by an early bed (god how I wish I could have a couple of beers on a day like this)  Sunday starts at around 7am getting ready for the race (weather looks promising) Gillian and the kids are coming down to give me an extra spur on so we'll have to leave the house around 8.30am for check in at 9.10am then its no turning back race gets underway at 9.30 and around 1 hour 15 minutes later a large out of breath 35 year old man should be on the home straight to complete what feels like a marathon.  How I'll feel when I get to the end who knows but I will certainly be glad to get it out of the way

So here we are the next time I write something down here I'll have completed a 4 month journey that took me over 100 miles of training and a great deal of sweat, was it worth it well I'll have to wait and see but I have enjoyed it and it's MS Scotland that are the real winners here so thanks again and please if you still want to give then do what you can its much appreciated http://www.justgiving.com/Donnie-Robertson

Donnie

The Home Straight

My Mum

Well just 12 days to go now and I can honestly say I am looking forward to getting the race done.  I've been training now since the end of January and i feel in good shape, now I'm not going to be breaking any records here but just to be able to get round 10k will be an achievement in itself.

Since January I have clocked up over 100 miles of training most of which was done in the late evenings at very cold conditions but i never expected that on the 6th of May with 2 weeks to go that this would be the first day that I got totally soaked by rain and hailstones.  Bad times.  What was meant to be a nice Sunday run around Duthie Park turned into a cold and damp event but it prepared me for what could happen come race day so I was glad in a way that i powered through this.

Once the race has been run I look forward to having a couple of well deserved days off to rest and recuperate ( i think I'm looking forward to this the most) I will also no doubt write the final chapter of my blog and bring to an end a fantastic 4 month journey that has seen many changes in my life most of which will continue

As ever I would really like to thanks everyone for their continued support this would be a much harder struggle without all the encouragement. 

I am also overwhelmed with the generosity of everyone, when i first decided to do this for charity i would have been more than happy to collect £200 yet alone £300 so to be sitting on £810 with 12 days to go is beyond comprehension and always leaves me stunned.  This will be the main driver for me as I hit the hard hill towards the end of the race and my body aches with the end of the run beckoning.

So with the possibility of another 3 more training sessions before the big day all my hard work has been done and then it will be race day 4000+ runners, a good 3500 in better shape than me and 10k of race to be run

BRING IT ON

Rain rain go away

Well the last 2 weeks have been a total wash out quite literally rain has stopped play.  

My training regime is such that I can only run in the evenings when my beautiful wife gets home from work, well thanks to the great Scottish weather this last fortnight has been nothing but rain rain and more rain do as a result I've not none any road work. I've still manage to get out for walks at lunchtime but no running. As a result with 3 weeks to go all I can do is just keep ticking over perhaps doing some shorter faster runs to prepare me for the big race.

Anyway as i write this the sun has decided to come out so I'm all set ready to go which is just as well because I'll be out boozing later on.  Now I wont be expecting to break any records today but just to get some fitness back

As always I'd just like to thank everyone for their continued support it really does help,  it's kind of weird that with only 3 weeks to go I do get this feeling that I'm going to miss some part of this? Perhaps not the runs part in February when it was -2 at night but the whole experience has been a real journey for me not only for the race but also in life.

Please please remember this is all in aid of MS Scotland a fantastic charity and a worthy cause so if you can spare anything please visit www.justgiving.com/Donnie-Robertson and give what you can

Many thanks

Donnie

Easter - the resurrection

So its been a couple of weeks since my last blog so i thought I'd better get typing to keep you all up to date with my efforts

During the Easter holidays a couple of things happened that both hampered and helped my training

I treated myself to a week off to spend some time with the kids.  This entailed eating out lots (and lots) and no exercise whatsoever  (felt great).  Not the greatest preparation with around 6 weeks to go but I felt I deserved it or at least convinced myself I deserved it.  As a result i had no doubt put on weight and lost some amount of fitness so I was not looking not looking forward to my next run as I fully expected pain and hurt to be fair was exactly what happened.  I went out on the Tuesday and did my normal 4 minute runs and 2 minute walks times 9 and it was a total disaster I felt really heavy and tired and was so glad to get it out of the way not so glad that my next run was going to be 5 minute runs and 1 minute walks my toughest one yet....................

So here i was back to work back to cold damp nights and the prospect of my biggest run yet, bad times.  I had one ray of light to look forward to and that was catching up with a good friend on the Friday over a few beers, a great way to ease myself into the weekend and my first week back at work.  Anyway as things turned out  the drinks had to be postponed for a couple of weeks so as exciting as my life is on a Friday night I decided to go out for a run instead and free up my weekend.

So I've got on my running gear and set off on what I know is going to be a tough test 5 minutes running with only 1 minute rests and to be honest it felt strangely good?  The running element wasn't as hard as I thought there were times when I got to the end of the 5 minutes and felt really strong the only difference was the rest periods, until now there had always been at least 2 minutes of rest in-between each repetition so having to adjust to 1 minute was a total nightmare, no way long enough to get any kind of recovery so it just feels like you are running all the time

This being the case I got my ass round a good 8.5k and felt really good so I thought hell yeah just keep going and I did until I heard this wonderful sound in my head (via the running app not actual voices in my head) that said "distance 10 kilometres"  not normally something to get excited about but to me the guy who couldn't even run for 30 seconds without struggling a few months ago the 6.2 miles covered was sheer bliss and a real boost 5 weeks before the big race as now I know what it feels like and know that I can do it.  Now I'm not expecting to run 10k all the time now but as long as I keep the fitness ticking over then I should be in good shape come race day

On a final note again thank you to everyone to has encouraged and spurred me on with my training its been a huge lift and makes life all the better knowing I have a good support out there cheering me on so thanks folks.

You all should know by now why a I am doing this so I don't want to be all Bono and harp on too much but MS Scotland is a fantastic cause to get behind and your money will really help everyone involved to please give as little or as much as you can http://www.justgiving.com/Donnie-Robertson