The Ridiculous Mo Farah 10,000 Metre Challenge!

By Jamie Hill

I woke up today with all my body aching. It was as if it knew that I was just about to put it through hell. Bones where I didn't even know I had bones seemed to be aching.

At just past 7.20am this morning I left the house. Marlborough was very quiet and the sun was just peeking its way over the hills giving everything a nice warm glow.

My legs felt like jelly.

As I started running on the cycle track I suddenly had a massive flash of self-realisation.

What the bloody hell was I doing?

My legs were aching. I just wanted to crawl back into bed and my hand, where I had sliced it open doing DIY, hurt like hell.

What kind of prat puts themselves through this? What's actually wrong with just being a couch potato? Why I can't I just accept me for the size that I am?

Having these thoughts actually distracted me for the first kilometre and a half.

At two kilometres, stitch number one kicked in. Knitting needles were being poked into my chest with every step.

At three kilometres I had run through the stitch and my legs no longer felt like jelly. I was starting to enjoy myself.

At exactly five kilometres, the halfway point, where I turn around, my iPod, which was on shuffle, suddenly started playing the theme to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. For some reason this spurred me on. Sweat was pouring off me and I could feel a stitch coming on but I was now determined that I would do it.

At seven kilometres, it suddenly felt like my legs would give way. I had never run this far before and I was feeling it big time.

The next bit was a blur. Stitches three, four, five and six came in quick succession.

By the time it got to 10 kilometres, I could hardly stand. I entered my conservatory having finished and just stood there for 15 minutes, sweat pouring off me, breathing like a telephone pervert, just staring into space.

I had done it. I had done 10 kilometres (which did include the walk to the cycle track and back). I never thought that I would do it but I did.

And I'm now knackered. I know that I'm hardly going to be able to walk later. But that doesn't matter. I did it.

My next challenge is to make sure that I keep up at least three runs a week starting next week. And I'll probably do another 28 Days of Pain in January.

But for now I'm going to do my best impression of a couch potatoe!