Help Me Break Through “The Wall”
Today I’m going to share with you an important term in the marathon runner’s vocabulary: The Wall.
The Wall is something experienced by endurance athletes once they have used up the ready energy stored in their muscles from the big Pasta Party dinner the night before. The body has to shift to burning fat and whatever sugars the athlete can eat on the run. This physiological event is characterized by a sudden wave of fatigue, followed by intense doubt and even existential crisis. It’s gut-check time for the marathon runner. What am I doing here?! Do I have what it takes to finish this race?
You literally feel like a brick wall has popped up in your path with no clear way around it. At that point, all you can do is put one foot forward, then another, and if your heart can talk your mind and your legs out of quitting, you push through The Wall and keep on trucking all the way to the end.
No one who gets over The Wall brags about it too much, because we know that only by a hair’s breadth did our determination to reach our goal overwhelm our fatigue, pain, and acute desire to quit.
Chai Lifeline’s fundraising deadline for the Las Vegas Marathon runners is November 30th, just 12 days away. Thanks to the generous support of 34 sponsors, I have raised $2,269, or 63% of my goal. In marathon terms, I’ve completed 16.5 miles of the total 26.2.
16.5 miles is awesome! But when I ran the Twin Cities Marathon last month, 16.5 miles is exactly where I hit The Wall.
It happened to me on the steep climb up the east bank of the Mississippi, and I pushed through it, with the help of God, as well as a little nudge from Simon Pegg, who portrayed The Wall so hilariously in the movie “Run Fatboy Run“. (Not quite as funny as “Hot Fuzz“, but if you like Simon Pegg, it’s worth a rental.)
I’m climbing the east bank now, folks. I have 12 days to raise $1,331, and I need your help.
I’m going to break a rule of fundraising here and say, “Please don’t send me $1,331.” You don’t have to make a big donation to make a huge difference to me and to the kids Chai Lifeline helps. Nobody leaps over The Wall in a single bound. I know that the only way through The Wall is one step at a time, one foot in front of the other. Whatever donation you can manage, whatever single step you can take with me, you put me closer to the finish line.
If you have been planning to sponsor me but haven’t found the time yet, please consider sponsoring me today. Click the link below and take 5 minutes max to donate online.
http://www.teamlifeline.org/mypage.php?myid=55555
Don’t hold back until I’m in the last mile; the last mile is a breeze compared to The Wall at 16.5. Help me break through The Wall today, for the sake of Chai Lifeline and the families they help every day.
Thanks again for reading, and thanks for your consideration.