After having confirmation that I do indeed have a second inguinal hernia, I have not been running in case it gets trapped and strangled, or something. This in turn has meant that I have put on a bit of a belly, and due to exam and assignment stress, my diet has not been great. Takeaways, meals out, pizzas and chips were just some of the foods I have indulged in in the last couple of weeks.

I’m waiting on when, and where, I can get surgery as I am leaving Newcastle on Friday to go home for 2 weeks whilst I search for a house in London. It’s likely that I will have to take some time off my new job, which will be awkward, but that’s life. How I managed to get a second hernia I don’t know.

I think I will go for some gentle jogs once I return home, and see how I go. Plus it will be nice to be able to run through the countryside again. There should be no reason why I shouldn’t have this sorted and be fit for the big run in September.

- Jonny

Went out on Thursday evening. Same route, came in at 19:05. Just off my PB.

Must. Try. Harder.

Aiming to get out tomorrow but really need to plan a new and extended route.

That is all.

- Jonny

I made it to the library this morning, but not quite for 9 o’clock. I had a good sized bowl of porridge for breakfast, and a large coffee when I got there to try and set me up for the day. Unfortunately, when I came to leaving at about 5, I wasn’t feeling too great. The vending machines were empty all day and I’d only had a couple of Alpen bars and one jelly sweet whilst I was there. It may have been my dinner from the night before, but I got home and really did not feel like I could manage a run. Nevertheless, I made a bolognese to eat on my return, threw on my gear and an extra top because it was very cool outside, and left the house not expecting too much of myself.

Inevitably, I decided not to try and bump up the distance, but to see if I could get round my route when not feeling 100%. Immediately I felt my legs were very heavy whilst trying to get up the slow incline. I struggled to the top and managed to continue but at what seemed a noticeably slower pace. Running into the wind may have had something to do with it also. About 3/4 of the way through I had to slow almost to a walking pace as I didn’t feel I had it in me. However, I glanced at my watch on the final corner and sprinted to the end to find I’d come in at 19:19. This averaged between my last two runs so I’m taking it on the chest and am fairly happy considering how bad I felt. Maybe should have rested an extra day.

I had quite a large bowl of bolognese with pasta and some garlic bread for dinner followed by a yogurt and crisps. I’ve had far greater portions so I’m feeling OK with myself. Getting some sleep now though as I need to be up for 7 in the morning. Bad times.

- Jonny

So it’s Sunday evening, I’m sitting on the sofa after having eating a rather unhealthy dinner, the day after I decided I was going to cut down my portion sizes. The meal consisted of one piece of chicken breast (they were tiny and I forced myself to only have the one the night before), ten onion rings from the freezer, chips from the chippy and a microwaveable bag of veg. It more than filled the plate and I probably felt full half way through eating it but was too engrossed to notice. My excuse was that Newcastle lost (again) to Liverpool earlier today, and relegation beckons. But I know if I’m really going to get fit enough to run these 13.1 miles I need to cut out the crap food, cut down my meal sizes and go running more often than I have been. That said, I’ve been out 3 times this week, which is more than I’ve ever done since being at Uni. And I’m glad I did as well.

My first venture out was, I think, on Monday. I recently bought a heart rate monitor and watch, which I’m still trying to figure out how to use after accidentally throwing out the instructions. I strapped the watch on, and decided on a rough route. It’s fairly short compared to the distance I’ll have to run in September, but it’s a starting point. I deliberately decided to begin the route running up a slow incline, adjacent to St James’ Park, in order to help improve my leg muscles. Not that I really know what I’m doing, but it seemed like a good idea.

I’m not sure of the distance, might be able to look it up on Google Maps, but my first recorded time was 20 minutes 40 seconds. I wasn’t really sure if this was good or bad, but I was quietly impressed when I ran the route two days later and recorded 19:30. Shaving a minute and 10 seconds off seemed fairly impressive for such a short route.

Unfortunately, I have not been good to my body this week, and after seeing Al Murray live at the Metro Radio Arena on Friday night, I returned home with a pizza. This was devoured in record time. The next day I felt like crap for it, but forced myself to go out in the evening. The sun was out and it was still fairly warm. I envisaged not even finishing the route, let alone recording a best time, but low and behold I knocked another 52 seconds off and came in at 18:38 (I hope my maths is right!). So I was a happy chappy and treated myself to a bath with bubbles, and a cold beer. Yes, at the the same time.

Uni work has since piled up, and with deadlines looming I need to hit the library tomorrow for a good many hours tomorrow. I’m hoping to be there for 9, and as long as I don’t eat too many sweets and drink too much coffee, I will probably want to run off the stress sometime in the early evening. So I will record the time again, but I’m thinking I should probably start to increase the distance. I’ve only ever manage a 12 mile run once before, last summer in fact, and that was when I was in a lot better physical condition and minus beer belly.

So I will monitor my food intake, improve the quality of my meals and reduce portion sizes, and decide on a sightly longer route. I’ve also began to monitor my weight, but I won’t be revealing that here.

If you do read this, please leave a comment, be it tips or just words of encouragement.

- Jonny