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We had the opportunity to do the two pound burger challenge at Denny’s Beer Barrel this past week. Normally I would jump at a food eating contest. But knowing I had to walk twenty some miles the next day I wasn’t so sure I wanted to do this one. However Sara and Dan weren’t going to pass up the opportunity to try the challenge and listening to them getting competitive I decided I needed to do it also. We decided whoever could finish first (or just eat the most) would get to use the Jacuzzi where we were staying that night first. It might sound silly but when we get in late at night and are all sore we frequently don’t all get to use such luxuries.

The thing they don’t tell you until your ordering the two pound burger is that it is actually a five and a half pound burger once you add bun and condiments. Not to mention your only aloud to take off one topping. The burger comes with a bun the size of a loaf of bread, ketchup, mustard, mayo, a WHOLE onion, a whole tomato, banana peppers, two pickles and relish. I hate pickles and relish, dislike mayo and onions and took off banana peppers because I wasn’t certain if I’d like them or not. When they delivered this to the table it looked like an impossible feat.

We weren’t aloud to use utensils. Only our hands and mouths. However they did spear the pickles on top with a long skewer. My strategy was to put the burger on its side and skewer it at a low point to keep it together and dive in! At the start Sara and Dan where into it and claiming they where going to win. The truth is we all had to get over laughing at how ridiculous it was to try to fit such a monstrosity into our mouths. We kept an equal pace for the first fifteen minutes or so. By a half an hour in I think I was two thirds of the way through my burger and gleefully mocking Dan and Sara at how far they were behind me. Sara was almost in tears forty minutes in from how much she had eaten and Dan had already stopped eating realizing how awful he’d feel if he continued. I felt like I was going to be able to finish it within the one hour time limit.

With ten minutes left I had only a handful of burger left. Everyone was telling me I could do it but my senses were against me. Each time I put the hand full of congealed mess to my mouth I smelled the relish I detest so much. Each time I looked down at my plate I saw the solidified grease, ketchup, mustard and mayo that had spilled out when I turned it sideways. The bun was heavy and wet from sitting in all of the condiments and each bite became a repulsive mush that made me gag. Time was running out and I couldn’t stomach the small amount I had left. I knew I was already going to be in pain from the amount I ate and I wanted to be able to say I had completed the challenge. But in the moment I truly saw no way I could stomach the last few bites. I quit with only bites left.

It was an awful night. I had won the right to the Jacuzzi, which was no condolence to the way my stomach felt. I got in for about three minutes before I felt like I was going to pass out and had to get out. I laid on the bathroom floor thinking I was going to throw up and ended up falling asleep for a few hours.

The next morning to my surprise I felt normal. However I wished I had finished the burger. Even though I knew I couldn’t have when I was sitting there I felt like I could have the next morning. Although it’s a minuscule regret it reminded me not to give up when you get so close to something that you might regret later.

Although my stomach felt fine the next morning, my right leg had developed shin splints that started sending incredible aching pains up my shin with each step. I wrote about the burger contest because it was fun and silly but also because in some ways it taught me a lesson about the mental battle I fought the next day.

Since Josh hurt his knee I’ve said I can’t imagine how badly I’d have to be hurt before I’d get into a vehicle. It’s easy to think that way until your hurt. The truth is while shin splints develop the pain is dull, throbbing and horrible. However ten miles into a twenty mile day the pain changed from dull every step to sharp and paralyzing once every few times I put my foot down. It would literally cause me to stop walking. I started limping trying to take the weight off of my right leg with no luck.

When every step causes you to wince you start to check how much farther you have to walk almost every minute. A minute passes in what feels like an hour. The thought that you don’t have a scheduled day of rest for 13 more days echos through your head. I wanted to quit, but I didn’t want to have a regret larger than not finishing a burger. I had put almost ten months into this project, quit a job, left my family, pets and girlfriend for a long time. I never thought I would even think of quitting but the idea is forced into your head when you step down and want to cry out in pain. I wondered if we could find a place to stay for two nights so I could rest my leg. I hate to complain and make everyone stop for my injury but I thought if I had to keep walking I would quit and get in the bus very quickly. We had to walk the next day. Twenty three miles.

I made the producers go buy me a cane. It helped a small amount. However putting your full weight into the middle of your palm for eight or nine hours straight over and over again is taxing. That day was really no better than the last. The day felt like it took a month to pass and the entire time was an internal struggle with the constant question of “can I finish the day?”. Some relief came when Tim told me we could find a place to stay for a second night in Brookville, PA.

The following day was a day off, kind of. We still walked six or seven miles to do a few interviews and change places to stay. But all in all it was a great rest for my leg. It’s funny to me even now that I thought of quitting and as silly as it seems I do think the burger challenge helped me see I shouldn’t even consider it. The truth is if I was at home living an every day life and had even a fraction of this pain I would drop everything and stay off my leg for a few days. But you have to be willing to suffer some to make your dreams come true. Especially when they involve a trip across the country on foot.

My shin splints got a little better and today a little worse again as we walked downhill what felt like all day. Luckily the next two days are only sixteen and eleven miles. My spirits are up despite a little pain and I again feel like I will have to have broken legs or be mortally wounded before I’ll quit this journey.

-Blake Wink

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