At the time of writing, I have been in lockdown for 116 days.

While it feels like things are starting to get back to normal, it's been an incredibly hard 3 months for everyone regardless of your living or working situation. It's been miserable, it's been lonely, and a lot of people have been cut off from the social and professional connections that they depend on.

With the cancellation of this year's Great North Run, I've slowly found my own mental health sliding. The event's an important part of the year for me, as having something to train for often keeps me motivated and active when I'd otherwise slide into bad habits and low moods. Even if, yes, running is horrible and makes my knees creak a sad and hollow tune.

So to try and kill two miserable birds with one sweaty stone, I'm going to be doing the equivalent of *3* Great North Runs in the next 6 weeks. Firstly, the 50km Great Run Solo challenge over the next 28 days, followed by a full half-marathon the following week in August. I'm not anticipating that I'll enjoy a single minute of it, which is why I'm going to raise money for Mind while I'm going.

Mind are a fantastic charity, enacting real change in the way we perceive, approach, and treat mental health problems here in the UK. They aim to ensure that nobody has to face a mental health problem alone, which, after 116+ days of lockdown, is about as important a cause as I could possibly support.

Thank you for reading, look after yourself, and please give generously if you're able to.