Like being in a snow storm without a shovel

I'd already eaten a big breakfast the day I entered

the Coney Island hot dog eating contest.

The house we were staying in had a good

bakery down the road and sometimes you wake up

really wanting muffins.

I was the only contestant ever just to eat one hot dog

and the only person to ever get a book out of their bag

I got through a couple of chapters,

took a serviette from the pile

wished my training partners Eric and Antonia good luck

and wandered back to the house.

'That look like you really enjoyed that hot dog'

Antonia said to me that night

when she came round to show me her winner's medal.

I asked if she'd like to meet for breakfast in the morning

at the nice bakery down the road

as we watched her winning moment,

that had already been uploaded to the Coney Island website.

She said she'd have to let me know how she felt