Well after the disappointment of having to miss the Great North 10k last weekend as I was feeling a little under the weather last week, coupled with the ongoing sore toe I’ve decided to kick on and up the training and mile for the Great North Run after having it checked over the weekend.

I’ve had an ongoing issue with my big toe since May when I completed the Ultimate Walk and Talk with my Gateshead College colleagues but I’ve soldered on for longer than I should have. Enough was enough last week so I popped in to see Anthony @ The Chiropody & Podiatry Surgery over the weekend to get my toe looked at. Half an hour later I’ve had over half of my big toe nail removed and I’m on my way. I’ve had the worry of causing more damage by running removed so we are good to go (Uh oh…).

I managed to sneak in 3km last week and 5km over the weekend and whilst it wasn’t fast and wasn’t pretty its in the bank. I’ll up the runs this week and continue for the next 8 weeks until the big day.

Just a reminder of the reason I’m doing this is to fundraise for Mind and anyone who would like to donate can do via my Just Giving page.

Whilst my run on Saturday wasn’t the best performance wise it was enjoyable none the less. I even got to do the last 400m with my two young boys who I let “win” the race back to the car (honest….).

Running aside (and I’ll not even mention the golf…) I’m this week hoping to publish the first story as a follow up from my Mental Health Matters – Share Your Story post where I will be posting real stories from real people as they share their experiences with and around mental health.

If you would like to chat about these stories, or share a story of your own then please get in contact. These can be done with anonymously if required :-).

Forecast for this Monday – 50 percent chance of joy and 50 percent chance of laughter. The forecast that is correct is entirely up to you. Have an amazing Monday, everyone!

Steven