Endorphins and Endorsin'

Jumping forward to the present day now. It's practically mid-February. I've been training since mid-August; that's six months so far, and the marathon is roughly two months away. I am still going from strength to strength. I feel fitter than I have done in years, and for the most part, I enjoy my training. All the cardiovascular exercise is strengthening my heart, presumably pushing all the cholesterol and fatty stuff into my brain instead. My lungs feel better and I've been coughing far less these days. Running itself simply makes me feel good. It's therapeutic. It's cathartic. I'd list some more synonyms if only my vocabulary weren't so limited. (EDIT: It's also salubrious and analeptic; thank you, thesaurus)

Running undoubtedly makes me feel positive in a psychological sense because endorphins are released by the pituitary gland, and these give a huge sense of well-being, apparently comparable to experiencing orgasm or taking morphine. A bit of a shame that my pituitary gland couldn't have released a few more growth hormones in my younger years as a few extra inches of height would have been useful, but at least it's working on the endorphin-releasing front. So even after finishing a twenty-mile run, and I'm in intense physical pain, and am stiff in all the wrong places, the "runner's high" from the endorphins mean that emotionally and psychologically I feel great.

Part of what's motivating me on these long runs and giving me a reason to feel good is knowing that I'm doing all this for charity, and knowing that I have the support of my family and friends. So far, of my target of £2000, I have managed to raise £523.01 (believe me, that extra penny makes all the difference). This means that I am a quarter of the way to achieving that target. Ideally, I would like to raise as much as possible, so if we can go beyond £2000, that would be amazing, marvellous, stupendous, colossal, tremendous, astounding, unbelievable, spectacular, phenomenal (and good, too).

If you have already sponsored me, then I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generous donation, whatever the amount. Knowing that you are behind me is what's keeping me going. If you haven't already sponsored me, there is still plenty of time before the marathon itself (and there is even a period after the marathon in which you can choose to sponsor me, for those who doubt I have the will or fitness to go the distance).

You can visit my fundraising page here: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/martinpampel

By the way, all this money is going to charity, and I don't get a single penny of it, so even if you believe I am the most annoying, immature, pretentious, bigoted, selfish, inconsiderate idiot ever to enter your life and are thinking "why should I give that moron my money?" don't let that prevent you from sponsoring me, because it's the charity that benefits from the money, and not me. You would be doing this for charity, not to increase my bank balance or make me look like some sort of latter-day saint.