Friday, May 12, 2006

Two more trial runs til Memorial Day


16 dogs to go
Originally uploaded by steakbellie.
Tomorrow I'm doing the full 12 minute run again. I need to eat 18 or better to be happy. The week after I need 19. Game Day 20.

I'm soooo looking forward for this to be over. It made me realize just how easy chicken wings are on your body.

My buddy only trains every other week because the hotdogs make him so sick.

I think what is most surprising to me, is how mental this game is. Such extraordinary amounts of concentration to keep chewing and swallowing even after the salt and fat have satiated your tongue. Chew, Chew, Swallow. I actually count my chews to give my brain something to center on once I start sweating.

They call it the 'Meat Sweats' and you can actually feel yourself suddenly get hot. It's at this point when you first think of puking. Last week it started at 12, and every dog after that feels like a side of beef. Flavors are multiplied exponentially in your mouth as your body tries to convince you to stop. As much as you chew, you no longer swallow and now have to consiously force it down.

Then you take another bite and stare at the remaining pile of dogs in disbelief.
'fuck...i gotta eat that? maybe i should stop. maybe i should go to the bathroom and puke. maybe i should skip this week and do it next week'

In the end I know that the battle is fought here at the training sessions. Hurting myself here just makes me stronger for gameday...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I couldn't do it without yellow mustard.
Don't think about the pile, concentrate on the number you're on. That's a yoga focus thing. You are going to do it. Keep telling yourself that - "I'm going to eat 20 hotdogs, I'm going to eat 20 hotdogs, I'm going to eat 20 hotdogs..."
Jenne' reminds me al lthe time : You cannot perform in a manner which is inconsistent with the way you see yourself.
You are a 20 hotdog man. You will do it.

Chris the Hippie said...

I bet I check this blog twice a day to see how you're doing. My wife and I talk about it from time to time. "How's Steakbellie doing with his training," she'll ask. We'll look at the pictures. "Oh," she'll say. "That must be his son, BellieBoy." We count the hot dogs in the pictures. We wonder to each other how many people will be at the Philly competition. I surf the 'net to see if it's going to be televised.

We take vicarious glee in your accomplishments for some reason. We're ensnared in your drama. We have come to care how many hot dogs a man we've never met can eat.

You should start a reality show... I'd watch. (Of course it'd only be twelve minutes long. Seventy-two if you count the commercials...)

Dave S. said...

Doin' the deuce! Have you done the whole "one gallon of water in one minute" exercize to stretch out your stomach? I've never done the hot dog thing myself, but I did "invent" a baseball related challenge called the "Nine Inning Challenge." Eat one dog in the first inning, two in the second, three in the third and so on. By the end of the ballgame you'll have eaten 45 dogs. Sounds easy when you consider Koby and Chestnut can eat 50 in 12 minutes, but I have to wonder if spreading out the agony of fullness and meat sweats over two hours in a feat that gets progressively more difficult would actually make it tougher than the 12-minute contest.

I'm going to try this summer at the local minor league park (Harrisburg, Pa.) where dogs are still a buck. I just hope to make it through the sixth (21 dogs).

steakbellie said...

Dave,
I do the water training but I'm not crazy about it.....

Sounds like an awesome stunt! I look forward to reading about it on your blog!!!!