Hurt Despanan by Donating to Charity!

[HumanePain]

I hope some of the money is going towards drilling wells: Africa has a vast resource of fresh water below ground in the aquifers. Drill a village well and all the walking becomes unnecessary.

"Blue Gold" map:

http://www.whymap.org

[Despanan]

Hey guys,

I'm running this Sunday. Last chance to donate!

[Raptor]

Donated. Good luck, Des.

Originally Posted by *Twitch

Sorry man, I don't believe in credit cards, so unless there's another way I can donate I can't help. Fuckin A to you though man, what you're doing is awesome, and I hope you don't die after running that marathon.

Debit and credit cards are both options on the website, I didn't see Paypal though.

[Renatus]

Gah, today's the day and I wont be able to make it unfortunately. I wish you luck though

[Despanan]

So, on Sunday, I ran the Chicago Marathon.

It was awesome, at least at first. I didn't quite realize how big this thing was when I signed up. There were 45000 runners registered. I got up at about 5am, grappled with Chicago's crappy transit system (I'll never bitch about NYC's MTA again) and made it to the race, hopped in the corral with the rest of the people who could supposedly run 10-minute miles (earlier, I'd clocked my pace at a comfortable 6mph).

The first 7-9 miles were awesome. I was passing people left and right, my energy was thru the roof, and I was feeling amazing. With everyone cheering, I felt like a professional athlete, and it was looking like I would finish in about 4.5-5hrs MAX.

Around mile 9, the heat came up, but I didn't notice (I was drinking enough water and gatoraid to the point where I didn't feel hot) then the cramps set in. The backs of my calves wadded up like 2 baseballs. I stopped briefly and stretched after attempting to run through them didn't work, stretching didn't help either.

I stopped at the next aid station and informed the doctor on staff that I was dealing with cramps, the doctor told me they couldn't do anything for me unless I wanted to drop out. I hadn't driven 13 hours to just give up, so I kept running, through the pain.

Despite the cramps, I managed to run at about 4 mph from here, right around the midpoint I remember thinking: "Fuck you legs, I've been over Katahdin, this ain't shit, you can hurt all you want, I'm not stopping"

That's when the spasms set in. My leg muscles began to flex and release uncontrollably. I noticed that the Marathon's warning level had gone from green, to yellow, to red (apparently this was the second hottest Chicago Marathon ever). I kept running.

After passing the halfway point, my right leg locked up just as I entered an aid tent. I was in agony. Ever had one of those SUPER painful cramps in the arch of your foot? The kind that almost paralyzes you? YEAH, imagine that down your entire leg. Luckily, this tent had a massage therapist, and she gave my legs a rubdown and got them (somewhat) working again. I asked her what was causing them (I had never had cramps during my training), she said she didn't know.

For the next few miles I alternated running and walking. I'd run until my legs started to spasm, then slow to a fast walk, then run again. I stopped at another aid tent because the cramps were now running up my legs. The therapist there told me that It was because of the heat, which was effecting everyone but the Kenyans, who had finished before the sun came up. Earlier that day, a few of the elite runners had dropped out because of it, and they were currently considering canceling the race. I had sweated out most of the salt in my body, and my muscles could no longer unclench (which explained why my arms had also begun to spasm, even though I wasn't using them). I asked what I could do about it and she said "eat something". I had nothing to eat, and she had nothing to give me, so I kept going.

Around mile 18, there were a bunch of people giving out Accel Gel. (a sort of liquid power bar for runners). I had tried one at the beginning of the race and immediately thrown up, as they were so disgusting. I ate four and kept them down. Later a woman gave me a salt tablet, and a little girl ran up to me with packets of restaurant salt. I tore them open and poured them into my mouth, then washed them down with gatoriad and water from an aid station.

Around mile 20, a woman in her late twenties ran out of the crowd and slapped me on the ass as I ran by.

At mile 24, I could no longer run, it had become physically impossible. I was alternating walking and hobbling when I saw my girlfriend on the sidelines. She ran up and hugged me, I kept limping. I spoke briefly with another runner who was walking, but in better shape than I was, he told me he was running to get over his wife's miscarriage. We talked for a while and then he ran ahead.

I managed to sort of stumble/run the final .2 miles just before I crossed the finish line, a man who looked to be about 80 years old scooted past me. It took everything I had to throw myself across that line. I was given a medal, bananas, and a beer.

My official finish time was 6:34:33 and I placed 35,194th out of 36,159 finishers. Well below my projected 4:30:00 goal time.

Still, I finished, I had a blast, and I raised $530 for Charity. I'm probably going to try for another marathon soon (somewhere cooler).

Right now I need to focus on walking properly again. Every part of my legs, back, and shoulders are sore.

Pics soon to come.

[Corpsey]

Woah, just damn. You've earned yourself a beer or ten.

[Despanan]

Originally Posted by Corpsey

Woah, just damn. You've earned yourself a beer or ten.

Actually, can't drink this week. Built up so much lactic acid that if I don't stay hydrated I can do serious liver damage!

YAAAAAY!!!

[Sinjob]

I love you so much.

You remind me of Dave Eggers.

[Renatus]

Congratulations, but dont let this discourage you from returning, this has simply been an unusually warm fall ,usually it is much cooler, usually requiring jackets.

Though I do think its rather odd that they gave you a bannana and a beer, especially the beer considering what you said about not being able to drink beer, what are they trying to kill you?

[Corpsey]

Originally Posted by Despanan

Actually, can't drink this week. Built up so much lactic acid that if I don't stay hydrated I can do serious liver damage!

YAAAAAY!!!

Every cloud has a silver lining but whatever cloud you're riding on blows.

[Despanan]

Originally Posted by Sinjob

I love you so much.

You remind me of Dave Eggers.

I looked him up. Awesome.

Anyway, Photos are in, they're expensive as hell, so I'm only going to buy 1 or two. Here's the link so you guys can see the samples. It won't let me hotlink the gallery, so if you want to see them enter:

"Chicago Marathon 2010", "Lengel" (my last name), and "43916" for my bib number.

[KontanKarite]

Pussy......