Water training - lots of competitive eaters do it. Increasing capacity by downing tons of fresh liquid, purchased at the store or poured straight from our taps. Even those of us who don't water train can be found filling cup after cup after cup of fresh water to prepare our tables for a 10 minute bout of furiously dunking and downing hot dogs. In fact, I can't name a single competitor who doesn't use the stuff to hone their skills.

Even if you're not a competitive eater, your life is made better by a fact we all take for granted -- immediate and unlimited access to clean water. Hell, even the water in our toilets is clean!

But many people around the world don’t have that luxury. In fact, millions of people have to make daily treks, walking long distances for DIRTY water. The average distance a woman in Africa and Asia walks to collect water is 3.75 miles. Keep in mind that the trip back is made much more difficult by lugging a 40 lb water can with them.

I can't even imagine what that's like. But I feel like I should. Maybe you feel that way too. So here's my proposition...

This ROAD TO CONEY (the competitive eating training season leading to the 4th of July Hot Dog Contest at Coney Island), I invite you to join me in an act of solidarity with the millions of people in the world affected by the global water crisis.

Pick out a store that's a mile or two from your house. Once a day, or once per training, or once a week, walk to that store and buy a gallon of water to take home with you. You'll get a work out, and a better sense of what it's like to be born without our luck.

And at the end of all this, if you feel so inclined, tell people about your journey. How far did you walk? Was it ever too inconvenient to do that day? How do you feel? Maybe you'll even get the urge to donate so that more people in the world can have clean water and the option to "not feel like doing it that day."

As always, I'm doing this for selfish reasons, too. I'm training for Coney, and need some extrinsic motivation. Each time we raise $100, I'll film a training run AND a walk to the store (fast forwarded, of course), to hold myself accountable for my progress and to thank you for your amazing generosity.

And just like every year, 100% of the money raised through this campaign will be used to build clean water projects. When they’re complete, charity: water will send us photos and GPS coordinates so we can see the exact community we helped.

Thank you all so much for your selfless kindness!

(campaign photo: Competitive Eater and Ironman Triathlete Yasir Salem drinks what I can only assume is dirty pond water. Photo by Ruaridh Connellan/Barcroft USA)