I DID IT!

Texas-sized baked potato
Dinner salad
Shrimp cocktail
Dinner roll
and
64 ounces of top sirloin

WOOHOO!

Oh wait, the steak challenge at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, Texas is not a 64 ounce steak dinner in one hour. It's a 72 ounce steak dinner in one hour. Oh yeah. Strike two.

T-bonz, her momma (might I add my hot dog contest-winning mother-in-law) and I hit the road Friday. I blinked a bit too long and crossed the center line on a two-way road. Scared that pickup driver pretty good. T-bonz got a speeding ticket in lovely Campo, Colorado. But we finally we got to Amarillo Friday evening during a downpour of Biblical proportions (is it a coincidence that the there was a huge Jehovah Witness convention in Amarillo?).

I felt ready for it. We limoed to the place.
Note to self: Skip that next time.

After trying it in May I said this thing can be done and I still feel that way. The meat's big, no doubt about it.

I started on the meat first. Cutting around the outsides and working my way in toward the middle, I was doing well - a bit over half of it in 15 minutes. And like last time the steak was very good. I started to throw in some bites of the salad, shrimp and roll to get some flavor variety.

All according to my plan going in (which I summed up simply Eat Faster). But when I had not finished the meat in 30 minutes, 40 minutes, 50 minutes, I thought that might suck. But I kept eating. For about the last 8 or 9 minutes my mouth was stuffed pretty full.

More full than I know is smart. Toward the end of time a hostess got up and cut away an ounce or so of fat.

Go. Go. I stuffed in the last of the potato at about 20 seconds remaining. Bummer that my mouth was jam packed then because I could have totally stuffed the last bit of meat in there. 8 ounces. Fuck.

F*ck.

F*ck.

I got a couple of shout out shots.
Badlands kicks ass!

Bite Me!

And also one to the crowd. Dinner and a show. Can't be beat.

Not the ending I wanted to shout out, but it is what it is.

Since starting to eat in mid 2005 that's been my weak point. I can get the food to the mouth. I can get the food in the mouth. I can deal with the food in the stomach. It's that whole part about conveying the food between the mouth and stomach that sucks for me.

A few bites of the monstrous carrot cake that T-bonz and her momma ordered.
Yum.

I was eating from about 6pm to 7pm. I felt OK really until 7:30. Then uncomfortable maybe until 9pm. I snoozed maybe from 9pm to 10pm. Still full, but not uncomfortable. Walked half hour, then went to bed. Metabolism was on fire.

Sunday, I packed my boot and we left.

I now have two of the three free belt buckles that Cavender's Boot City dangles in your face. Two down, one to go.

The full set of photos is here. Including the 29x44 jeans.

8 ounces. Crap.