The Day After

After a big meal, it can be hard to face the next morning. This heavy feeling throughout your midsection makes it difficult to just get up and seize the new day. A friend in professional competitive eating told me it's like going through a hangover. A food hangover.

You don't really feel like eating, or doing much of anything, but life is rolling on. There's not much choice but to get up and live life.... even if life feels temporarily heavy and sluggish.

So what do you do? How do you get back on track after consuming 8 senseless lbs of grub? First, you just eat a lot less for the next couple of days. You eat with strict focus: lean, light, low-calorie foods, to keep your digestive system going. You must stay well-nourished regardless of how you feel. I like protein shakes, coffee, milk, raw vegetables, and cottage cheese. I also drink generous amounts of water to keep myself hydrated. And finally, I exercise (as I always do) at a high level of intensity for the next few days to make use of the excess calories that I've consumed.

It's usually about a day or less before I feel right again. I've found that my recovery times have shortened in the past year.... which I believe is a good development for any "athlete" in this sport. It's wonderful to feel full, but even better to feel right.  

2010: Nathan's in Las Vegas was Energetic!

The 10-minute hot dog speed contest held this last week, May 6, right outside the NY-NY Hotel and Casino was simply exhilarating. There was excitement on-stage: how many hot dogs would the professional newcomer Ben Monson consume? Would the other guys push him to his limits? I had little doubts about Ben's win, but I was wondering how many dogs and buns I would put down.

In my mind, I was pushing to hit 15-20 hot dogs and buns. Given my track record, I knew it was ambitious. Hot dogs are a difficult food to eat quickly, since the two components really need to be eaten separately. The strategy element can be difficult to pull off when you're under the gun and the seconds are ticking by!

I managed to finish 12 hot dogs and 11 buns in the 10-minute contest. That was good enough for 4th place out of 12 total competitors, which I thought was a decent result. The three men who finished ahead of me were all signed pros at one time or another, so their ability is hard to question. I just need to kick it up a notch if I want to hang with them at speed consumption!

In all honesty, I didn't like the particular hot dogs used. Maybe it was just the cooking.... I don't know. They had a thick skin on them, were hard to rip apart and chew, and felt very greasy. I needed a lot of water to get that stuff down. I was so thirsty afterwards (think: salt overload) that I probably drank a full gallon of water. My stomach wasn't entirely full, but I was glad the contest was over.



You can't see me in the video, because I was standing at the extreme left end of the stage.

All in all, I had a great time out there - and you know I'd do it again! Let's just hope I can do it better next time out. And once again, my thanks to the crowd. It wouldn't have been the same without them.

The View from the Stage is Incredible

There's nothing like viewing the world from the contest stage.

 
Shakespeare once wrote that all the world's a stage, and the people on it are merely players. That may be. During a speed eating contest, there is a very real stage... and a fortunate dozen souls get to occupy it, fighting for a small piece of glory.

The rush of performing in front of an enthusiastic, cheering crowd almost escapes description. There's a tremendous rush of adrenaline. You feel this urge to give the people what they want, pull out all the stops, and put on a display worthy of their time and attention.

 I can only imagine what it feels like to achieve victory in these conditions.... to have people celebrating your name in a public gathering. I've been thrilled to pull off challenge victories in small restaurants, with maybe a dozen individuals singing your praises.

As an afterthought.... is it just me, or is there something odd about people treating a speed eating contest as if it were some kind of sporting spectacle?

The number of people who came out to watch the 2009 Nathan's Famous qualifiers in Las Vegas, NV and Tempe, AZ was simply astounding. No more than high hundreds probably, but they made the contest a true thrill. I felt less like a messy eater and more like an entertainer. The crowd is in my gratitude for that.

Will I ever be victorious on the contest stage? Can I pull out all the stops, and blow past my formidable rivals? I don't know right now. But I'll certainly put forth my damned best, with so many people watching!

Hot Dog Speed Run

I've been practicing for the upcoming Nathan's 2010 Hot Dog Eating Contest Qualifiying Circuit.....



This was the first time I actually recorded myself attempting to "speed eat," though other people have recorded me participating in eating contests.

Looking at my video, I realize that I spent way too much time on the buns. I'm going to have to get better about that during my next practice session.

I managed to eat two hot dogs and buns in 1:20, which would be extrapolated to 15 hdbs (the semi-official abbrieviation for hot dogs and buns in the eating world) in the ten minute contest run. This assumes I can maintain a constant speed for the duration of the contest. Some people actually speed up as a contest goes on. I gotta hope for that!

I figured it made sense to practice with a small number of hdbs, since otherwise I'd be ingesting huge amounts of calories for no real benefit.

My goal on the contest stage is to put away 15-20 hdbs. I'm hoping I can get there!

Let's Drink to That!

This may be a blog about eating challenges, but I can't resist mentioning my favorite drink: coffee.

I could drink it by the carafe, and on a couple occasions I have! Those were mostly slow days at work, when someone made too much coffee in the morning and I really didn't have much to do but sit down and drink it.

As for drinking contests, I haven't really heard of any. The IFOCE doesn't arrange them. I certainly don't condone them,  since there have been incidents of people dying while consuming too much fluid. There's that nasty business of messing up your body's electrolyte balance with too much water - which can be lethal.

It's not uncommon for a couple of guys to set up a spontaneous drinking contest, but I don't care for those either. I love the taste of coffee. I don't see any point in tossing it down the gullet, especially when it's hot. My personal record for coffee consumption is about 15 cups in one day. That occurred during a very stressful time in my life. Obviously I don't have any issue with handling caffeine. I've never known what the "jitters" are all about. These days, for health reasons, I've cut back to my typical 2-3 cups.

Favorites of mine are dark roast, and those flavored coffees with cinnamon or chocolate flavors. I never use creamer or milk.. Those interfere with the pure coffee experience.

My favorite moment to drink coffee is in the morning. I love it when it's barely cool enough to sip, but still scalding hot. It reminds me of the old medieval punishment of drinking boiling lead, and I can only imagine how hellish that must have felt. I'm not pushing it - I've burned my tongue on coffee before, and I hated that sensation. I can't imagine what it's like to feel your esophagus melting.

Besides, I'll need my esophagus in good working order to continue taking on eating challenges.