It feels almost inevitable that I will do this run. I've even been toying with the idea of getting sponsorship. I don't know. But then if I am definitely going to run, why not try and fleece my friends and colleagues as well? (As in, why should I be the only one to suffer?)

There is a bit of me which wished I had gone with my first instinct which was to keep this whole thing a secret from everyone and just turn up at work the following day and announce I'd done it. But it's too late for that now.

I have discovered that the secret of making a training run painful and tiring and generally unpleasant is to go out for a drink or 2 the night before. So no drinking in the week before the event (but I kind of knew that anyway...)

So nothing more to report about today's early morning run - it was routine (if harder work than normal cos of the booze...) and I'm beginning to see the same people running round the downs each time I go out there. It's quite nice - I expect they're all in training for this thing as well. And they all look like they're better than me. But that's OK as I have resigned myself to the possibility I might not win.