Running the Kilomathon for SAMH

Why hello there!

I've you have been following me on Twitter, you will have seen how much I have been going on about this. Last Autumn, I decided to do something which I have never ever done before. I signed up to run a 13k at the Kilomathon!

The year before my Dad did it and I was incredibly proud of him, so it inspired me to sign up too. Now at the time I was incredibly excited but a couple of days after I was full of dread. What had I got myself into?! I'm quite frankly, a sloth. I'm a girl who likes to laze around with pizza and Netflix. So why on earth would I decided to do a run like that?

When it comes down to it, I wanted a challenge. I'm not much of risk taker in life and at the time felt a little stuck in a rut. I needed something that I could be proud of. Another big reason for doing this run was that I wanted to raise money for SAMH.

 As a lot of you will already know, raising mental health awareness is something that means a lot to me. I suffer from an Anxiety disorder and I have also went through horrible spells of depression. It's not been easy over the last few years but there is some amazing help out there. Charities like SAMH do such an amazing job in raising awareness, helping others and fighting the stigma that surrounds mental health. I could go on and on about this subject and I probably will in a later blog post. I want do more this year with helping to fight the stigma that sadly still surrounds mental health. You only have to look at the headlines recently in some of the papers to know that we still have a long way to go. 

I was so happy to be accepted to run for SAMH and after speaking to the lovely Seonaid, who is the support care fundraiser, I was ready to start training!

Honesty time everyone, my training didn't go, let's say, as well as it could have went. I had a couple of health issues crop up and running during the winter months was no easy task. In hindsight, I could have done more but in the month before the run I upped my game. 

When the day of the run finally arrived, it was safe to say that I was incredibly nervous. It was a mixture of the crowds and the fact that I wasn't as fit as I wanted to be. I knew I just had to give it all I had and try my best. Now if you don't know, the run starts at Ocean Terminal and ends in Murrayfield Stadium. It's actually a very scenic run and luckily the weather behaved itself. I know, shocking for Scotland eh?

During the run, I went through a mixture of emotions. I started off the run in a bad way honestly. I was too full of nerves and completely psyched myself out.  After a bit of a sob which was helped by a really lovely girl, I picked up my pace. Sadly I didn't manage to run the whole thing, my knee decided it was the perfect time to play up so at times I had to slow down into a fast walk. I never stopped though, I wanted to complete it so bad. At the point I didn't care if it took me all day!

After a few tears, a few laughs, a few decent songs, I finally mad it to Murrayfield Stadium. The end was in sight, or so I thought. You see once you get up to the stadium, you actually have to do a little circuit around in. Did I possibly swear when I realised that? Yes, I bloody did! Why did they have to tease me like that? So I huffed and puffed, did my little circuit, picked up my pace and run into the stadium. After 1 hour and 48 minutes, I had finally completed the Kilomathon.

Now, I wasn't too happy with my time. I could have done better but you know what, I am proud that I even managed to complete it. Seeing my family waving and hearing them cheering made me feel so much better. Both my parents ran the Kilomathon too and they did an amazing job.

As I said, I wasn't feeling too great about my time but I have, so far, managed to raise £305 for SAMH. I am actually so blown away by how supportive my friends and family have been. Knowing that I have raised that much money for a charity that means a lot to me is just a great feeling. It also shows me that others feel just as strongly as I do about mental health care. So I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who was able to donate!

For the rest of this month, I will be keeping my giving page open. As I said £305 is an amazing figure but if I could raise that even higher, I will be so happy. If you would like to donate something, no matter how big or small, please pop on over to www.virginmoneygiving.com/franklymsshankly

Next year I am planning to do the Kilomathon again. Even if it was pretty hard at times, I want to up my training and beat my time. I know I can do it, I just need to tear myself away from my laptop (sometimes). Maybe you could join me?

Again, I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has supported me and donated towards an amazing charity like SAMH. 

Till the next time

X