Hmmm...

Well, not quite 16 miles...

On the basis that I ran Reading in just under 10 minute miles, I figured if I ran for 2 hours 40 minutes, I would have 16 miles under my belt. So I set off from work in Putney with a vague plan to run home, but definitely not as the crow flies, more as the drunk crow flies home after a night on the tiles. It was a bit brrrrfuckbugger when I finished work, so I wasn't entirely confident I would even go running, let alone complete a long run.

I knew my friend Holly would be with a few others in Wimbledon Village, so I stopped by and stared through the window of the bar (nb, not pub) to see if I could spot them. I could see the karaoke machine being set up (the purpose of the evening), but no Holly or the others, so I jogged on.

Next landmark to run past was the Polka theatre, where my friend Danielle had her birthday recently. I knew she wouldn't be there as I've seen her elsewhere since that night, but I still glanced across at the theatre as it whizzed by. In truth, nothing much does actually "whizz by" as I'm running, and indeed I have time to commit almost every detail of any building, landscape or paving stone to memory, and then redraw it like that kid did on Blue Peter.

Then onto Morden, getting closer to home, but still determined to put in the miles. It was just beginning to get dark. My friends Jeff and Rich live in Morden, so I thought I would run past their place. Can I point out at this point that I'm not a stalker, it's just running is as boring as can be, so I like to make it as interesting as I can, and I'm probably protesting too much so I'll stop. Anyway, I took a wrong turn and didn't run past their house, instead going beyond it deeper into darkest Mordor.

Then I had a choice - run straight home and not get my miles in, or run through Sutton and count the chavs. I won't tell you explicitly which option I chose, but the answer is 593...

Then through Carshalton until I ended up home, 2 hours 40 minutes of non-stop running later. I had a good stretch-down and a nice hot bath, but will probably regret sitting down to type this when I get up in a minute.

About two and a half weeks to go until the day. Now is a positive moment, so bring it on!