Training Blues Part 2

This time, "training blues," means struggles of training to get back into shape. Try running with extra 30lbs of weight on your back. That's how exactly it feels right now. My ankles, knees, and feet hurts. A mile on treadmill used to be a breeze. Nowadays, I'm running out of breath. My situation reminds me of Super-Size Me.


A Must-See if you haven't already

As far as six-small meals a day methods go, it doesn't work too well for me. If I don't get full at end of each meal, it's just an temptation for me. I cannot wait for next "small" meal again. So it turns into six-square meals a day. My will power is tested daily by co-workers snacking on heavy buttered popcorn, McDonald's, KFC, Chinese take-out, etc. Is it possible to gain weight from inhaling trans fat?? It certainly feels possible.

Being an Asian man, it is hard to live without rice as staple of our diets. Eliminating them all together will help me cut out significant amount of carb intake. Yes, that's what I'm going to do. I'll keep whole-grain bread to eat sandwiches, but I can live without rice for a while. I do have little bit of gringo in me in that sense. This challenge is turning out to be a lot harder than training for competitive eating event. You know I look Porky. What you don't know is I'm about to do a biggest turn-around in history. Move over Boston Celtics!


From worst to first

Remember: I am on MySpace.I can be found @ http://www.myspace.com/9998659
Drop me a comment, question, or concern.I'll get back to ya asap.
Thanx for being a fan!Peace...

Experience of a lifetime

At the final tally, I ate 37 gyozas. Yes, I sucked, very hard. That places me somewhere around 11th out of 14 gurgitators. So I succeeded in not finishing last. Mission Accomplished! LOL Maybe it was the sun beating down on me where I was stationed, maybe it was pressure of the big crowd, maybe it was the presence of who's who in world of competitive eating. I don't know what it was, but I make no excuses. There are lots of eaters better than me. I might be better eater than half of these guys if it was an hour competition. Unfortunately, all MLE-sanctioned events are speed competitions.

I underestimated the gyoza. I thought of how small they were and thought it's going to be a piece of cake. As I found out during my training days, it'll gross you out with oily grease. I didn't suck because I got full, I sucked because I couldn't handle the grease anymore and didn't want to heave. As matter of fact, I had lunch with friends immediately after the contest. I wanted to eat good lunch, not gyoza stuffed down my throat.

As I watched the world record being set by Joey Chestnut, I couldn't help but be in awe and watch his disgusting chip-munking eating style. It was like if I was just an typical player on the same court watching Michael Jordan doing something special. Yes, Jordan was great, but the way Chestnut steamrolls through these tournaments remind me of what Tiger Woods does to PGA Tour. If he's not taking part, you can put an asterisk next to the winner. If he is participating, you're pretty much eating for second place unless Kobayashi is there.

My month of training made me a fatass. It's time to reverse the damage and be sexy again. I know I can contiunually get better at this, but my vanity is more important to me than this sport. I am a proud member of MLE. "I'm not the greatest, but definitely the proudest. " That's a quote taken from great late Yankees Manager Billy Martin. I can never say never, but this is just another chapter in my closed. I am relieved to tell you the truth. So this blog will be continued as way of tracking my road to chiseled, LL Cool J type of body. So be sure to check back in from time to time. I'm just making my life interesting for Hollywood's next big movie project, New York Times Best Seller, or Broadway Smash Hit.

I'm gonna leave you now with some pics from the competition:

Rich Lefevre, 64 years young

Miki Mia from 40-Year Old Virgin fame

With 2007 Nisei Court



Chestnut is Tiger of MLE

Judgment Day

Today is the day... I have to head out now to take care of registration and stuff. I will blog later to let you know how I did. Pray for me. Once again, thanks for all your support! I will do my best! :)

H2 the O!!

Okay, I've reached the crucial days leading up to the competition. Am I nervous? I would be lying if I said I wasn't, but anxiety hasn't struck me hard as I thought it would. I looked up online for any last minute strategy or motivation I can find. Found out two things: 1) That Gal Sone chick is nothing short of amazing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1Q1Jeh8dxY. 2) Lot of competitie eaters stretch their stomach out by drinking large volumes of water. The latter is somewhat of a welcome news. See, I'm trying to work my gut off soon as competition is done. I've been making my gut look like the one mall santas struts off. Water has no calorie, and it won't make me feel like shit like some of these other foods I've been consuming. Appetite is no longer my focus, it's the hand-eye coordination, chewing, swallowing, speed, etc... Time to drink up!!



Remember: I am on MySpace.I can be found @ http://www.myspace.com/9998659
Drop me a comment, question, or concern.I'll get back to ya asap. Thanx for being a fan!Peace...

On Disabled List

Sorry for the non-activity over the last few days. I'm barely recovering from training fatigue I suffered earlier today. This was a very vital and critical weekend to train for competition. I have totally hit the wall. Lack of fruits & veggies are starting to take a toll on me. I might not resume training till Wednesday. This is all about peaking at the right timing, so hopefully I can be in top shape come this Saturday morning. Retirement is definitely in order after this ordeal. There's so much one's body can take especially if you're not used to eating this much volume of junk. Pray for me that I don't collapse and make it out alive... I'm gonna get some z's right now.

Remember: I am on MySpace.
I can be found @ http://www.myspace.com/9998659
Drop me a comment, question, or concern.
I'll get back to ya asap. Thanx for being a fan!Peace...

Obon Festival

My parents called to inform me that today is start of 3-day Obon Festival, which is a Japanese tradition to honor the spirit of deceased ancestors. R.I.P. Grandma! I know you'll be at competition to make sure I won't choke to death. Now that I got my shout-out to her, it's time to get back to the training table. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've been told that Ohagi is to be eaten and served on ancestors' graves during Obon. Ohagi is a treat made of sweet rice and sweet azuki (red bean) paste made by soaking sweet rice for several hours. Some got sesame seeds and flour on the outside. I'm not a expert on this at all. Forgive me, I haven't lived in Japan for over 20 years. So what does all this have to do with my training? Nothing... I just started the night by eating few of these. This is Ohagi... say Hi....

Doesn't look appetizing, does it? But it's actually not bad.


Well, it's almost time for some shut-eye... But before I go, I wanted to share one more thing.Ya'll must be wondering what I eat for lunch. Answer is it varies from day to day.I had footlong Subway Chicken Breast Sandwich today. I can't help it but notice the girl that works there reminds me of Moai Stone.

These are Moai Stones in Polynesia



But here is what I packed for tomorrow.

Armed N' Ready

27 pieces of gyoza! I can imagine sweating
gyoza juice out of my pores at 24 Hour Fitness.
Just keepin' my eyes on the prize, that's all...
Ladies, if you're working out at the gym
and it starts to smell like Dim Sum, I must be
just around the corner. Come say hi.

Remember: I am on MySpace.
I can be found @ http://www.myspace.com/9998659
Drop me a comment, question, or concern.

I'll get back to ya asap. Thanx for being a fan!

Madden NFL 09

I am taking a day off from training. I am not a fan of food right now. Weighed myself at the gym yesterday and was tipping the scale at 194lbs. No wonder my knees and ankles feel pain while running on the treadmill. This does not make me sexy or feel athletic at all.

Here we are on eve of Madden NFL 09 release. There's lot of hype about how much of a badass game this is. These so-called, "Maddenites," are super-competitive gamers. They literally eat, sleep, & breathe Madden. If you don't believe me, check out "Madden Nation," running on weeknights on ESPN2 from time to time where they square off for $100K grand prize or whatever. Some argue that video gaming has become a sport.


Brett Favre freezing his buttocks off in Madden 09

That brings me to my daydreaming question of the day... If video gaming is considered a sport and the gamers are athletes, wouldn't MLE(Major League Eating) be considered a sport and its eaters are athletes? Competitive eating does offer cash prizes, trophies, & glory just like video game tournaments. Except I believe it's on a grander scale. Yes, MLE has 4th of July Nathan's spectacle on ESPN while Madden has ESPN2 on a off-peak hours as I mentioned earlier. How many video game champs can you name? MLE is quickly becoming a household sport. Besides, what kind of physical pain do gamers endure? Can they match the pain of indigestion, nausea, risk of choking, or any other discomfort these gurgitators suffer even long after the event? I guess my point is competitive eaters are definitely more of athletes and they belong to bigger sport. I have nothing against gamers since I'm also an avid gamer. I'm also not vouching for competitive eating to be included in the olympics either. I do not consider neither to be a legitimate sport. What's next, competitive sleeping? But as long as there are dummies out there considering both of these physique-imparing activities to be sports, then call me Bo Jackson of eating/gaming!


"Bo Knows"

Training Blues

I found out today that Gyoza that will be used in the contest will be O'Tasty's brand. I eat those anyways, so I'm in luck! I already have couple of bags stuffed in my freezer. I've been training for few weeks now without eating Gyoza too much. Don't wanna get sick of those before the competition, you know? My current time is 17 gyozas in first minute. Sustaining that time for the whole duration of 10 minutes will be quite a challenge. Joey Chestnut ate 212 gyozas in 2006. How the hell am I supposed to match that? So not to get discouraged by getting reminded of Chestnut's feat, I turned my attention to Carl's Jr. and Del Taco, which have been staple of my diet of late. Stretching stomach out is more complex than imaginable. Finding out very fast that you can actually get sick of food. Don't wanna eat, but sometimes you got to eat no matter how much you don't wanna. Being in food coma 7 days out of 7 days ain't no fun. I consider myself to be in fairly good physical shape, but training has added unsightly 30 pounds to my frame. Keep telling myself that once this is over, gym will be my daily ritual to bring sexy back. Should still go to the gym everyday to keep my apetite up, but it's hard to find motivation when you're eating like a horse upon leaving the gym. Maybe if I had someone like Mick, he can will me to an improbable upset he always seemed to accomplish with Rocky...

World Gyoza Eating Championships 2008

Hey guys/gals, this is my first post. Let me start off by introducing myself. My name is Mitsu Murayama fighting outta Irvine, CA. This is me


As you can see, I am a pretty damn good looking gentleman. I am currently entered in World Gyoza Eating Championship taking place in Little Tokyo(Downtown Los Angeles) on August 23, 2008 as part of Nisei Week Celebrations. This is an IFOCE(International Federation Of Competitive Eating) sanctioned event. IFOCE oversees MLE(Major League Eating), which many of you are familiar with 4th of July Nathan's Hotdog Eating Contest. I am expecting to go up against the best, which may or may not include Joey Chestnut, Takeru Kobayashi, Sonya Thomas, etc.


From L to R: Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi, Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas

The standards are very low for me and I cannot be counted on to finish anywhere close to these legends. You gotta have more respect than that. So what is my motive for risking death(I do have high blood pressure) to have my ass handed to me? That's a million-dollar question I hope to find an answer to at conclusion of this ridiculous journey. However, purpose of this blog is clear: to chronicle my training and perhaps get a book deal. It might turn into a tragic comedy or a tear-jerker for inspiring others to pursue a dream no matter how stupid the dream is. This life of unknown is intriguing, isn't it?