A little side project

April 8, 2013 in Renovations

When we bought our house back in 1994, the previous owners left behind a lot of junk one of which was a cupboard.  This huge behemoth of a pile of wood with its stark white infirmary looking medicine chest color was more of an obstruction in the kitchen than the purpose it served.  So, we just stuck it down in the basement where it served as a storage for Steph’s accumulation of junk. The paint that was on it was a very glossy oil based white.  It was so thick that it took a few days soaking of paint stripper.  Because this is being done indoors in the dead of the winter, we had to use a stripper that was rated for indoor use.  Since I am rather old school and don’t believe in anything other than true and tried solvents, I was skeptical about this product, Citristrip.  Let me tell you…the stuff really
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Giving back…

February 22, 2013 in BEA/Hearing Journey, Cochlear Implants

When I first started considering the cochlear implants back in 2006, little did I know there was a dedicated group of supporters whose personal mission was to help others on their journey.  This group wasn’t even an official one…just a bunch of other CIers around the country who decided to do what I do today…giving back.  Shortly after my first implant in 2007, I became a member of this group when I joined what is known today as Hearing Journey. In the course of my journey, I became a mentor with the special distinction of being part of the first class of mentors.  Today, we are in full force and known as the Bionic Ear Association or BEA for short.  Last night, I met with a prospective candidate for the upteenth time.  He just found out that he is officially a candidate. As a mentor, my role is to help
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Week 4

February 19, 2013 in Buffalo marathon, Marathon, Running

Some of you probably have noticed that I am missing days.  Truth is…it can be hard trying to stay on topic without getting boring.  So I decided maybe I should go with weekly rants instead. Week 4 wasn’t too bad but the long run Saturday sucked.  We had dinner the night before at a Thai restaurant so in addition to the rich heavy but awesomely good food, we also had a bottle of wine per person.  There were five of us.  And then we hit up Blu, a bar next door that used to be a pretty decent martini place but now looks like some local joint on its last legs. For the week… Count: 8 Activities Distance: 53.04 mi Time: 7:55:23 h:m:s Elevation Gain: 64 ft Avg Speed: 6.7 mph Avg HR: 135 bpm Avg Run Cadence: 79 spm Avg Bike Cadence: – Calories: 3,873 C Meanwhile, my right
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He Is Not Me

February 12, 2013 in Cochlear Implants

With work, training and all of those other real life stories, I rarely have time for anything more.  My life consists pretty much that plus sleep and eat.  Steph complains I am like an old man…falling asleep at 7:00.  Believe me, I do lead a grueling life. Anyway, for those of you who are interested in cochlear implants here is a story that is well worth reading.  I haven’t read it yet but i will…at least I promised the author in return for an autographed first edition.  Problem is…its only in an electronic version which is known as an e-book. So if you are looking for something interesting to read, please check out “He Is Not Me” by Stuart McNaughton.  I don’t think you will be disappointed!

Day 18, 19, 20….

February 10, 2013 in Buffalo marathon, Marathon, Physical therapy, Running, Y10

Three days of no posts?  Am I slacking???  Nahhhh…..just don’t want to bore you with the mundane.  There were two achievements worth nothing. The first one and the best one is about my feet and ankles.  These have been pretty painful since the Turkey Trot last November…3 months ago.  At one point, I thought I had a stress fracture but a visit to the ortho ruled that out.  It turns out that all of these years of running have pretty much flatten my feet out.  Call them old man feet since not they feel it but I walk it. A visit to the new PT group at the Y, Buffalo Rehab, revealed the muscles around my feet are so weak you could call them spaghetti.  After one day of exercises which consist of nothing more than balancing on each foot, I was totally amazed at how neglected they were yet,
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Day 15, 16, 17…

February 7, 2013 in Buffalo marathon, Marathon, Running

A condensation of three days into one…. Yesterday I finally saw Steve Gonser at Buffalo Rehab.  This is another perk of the new YMCA being close to home.  They are the best PTs in business and having them right down the block is just awesome.  I have been having these nagging feet and ankle problems for a couple of months now.  The ortho’s diagnosis was my flat feet were catching up to me and with the sagging arches, my tendons are getting stretched. Steve found that the muscles in my feet were also loosing their elasticity and just flopping around.  To prove this, he had me balance on one foot.  I couldn’t make it past 5 seconds without losing my balance.  So now, along with new running shoes, I have an exercise regimen that is designed to strengthen my feet and ankles.  One of them kinda resembles the crane kick
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Day 14…

February 5, 2013 in Super Bowl

Day 14…a totally and complete rest day especially after the treadmill gave me the worse case of tendinitis in the foot.  It should be fine after a couple of days so today was spend doing absolutely nothing but drink Flying Bison Brewery Beer, refinish some furniture and watch the Super Bowl. It was a pretty boring game until my friend Evelyn texted me that it was “lights out” for the 49ers and guess what…5 minutes later, the lights went out!  From that point on, the game got a little exciting as the Niners rallied but came up short on the last play.  Some of the best parts of the game were the coaches both of whose names were Harbaugh.  At one point of the game, the Raven’s coach was so animated about the power loss, you could easily read his lips…every other word was an f-bomb. As for those famous commercials, the Budwesier
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Day 13…

February 3, 2013 in Uncategorized

Day 13 and the end of week #2.  Since we were in the midst of a lake effect snow band (see Welcome to Sam Spritzer’s Picture Site), the long run of 12 miles had to be done on the dreadmill.  Let me tell you…it SUCKS!  For 2 hours, I am running on a moving belt to nowhere while watching the Super Bowl this and that on ESPN.  So today, my feet are screaming at me telling me I don’t dare try a long run on the dreadmill ever again!  Thankfully, the Y has a spa with whirlpool jets to help some of the discomfort.  The only positive in all this is it prepares me mentally for the long “under 4 hours” I plan to endure at Buffalo Marathon. So today is totally a rest day.  The only exercise I plan on is pushing a snowblower and applying primer on some
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Day 12….

February 1, 2013 in Buffalo marathon, Marathon, Running

Day 12….another rest day before the long run tomorrow which will consist of 8 at easy pace and then 4 at marathon pace.  Should be fun!  1800 yards in the Y pool this morning was quite refreshing.  The mornings are better than the evenings since the guppies are still sleeping. Anyway, for those of you who are runners and triathletes if you are experiencing any pains and aches please do yourself a favor and see a doctor.  I have been seeing a lot of posts on Facebook about someone’s aliment and while most of the comments are “see a doctor”, some of them can potentially do more damage.  So please…if a couple of days rest doesn’t alleviate the pain, see a doctor. Sentiment of the day….“143 days until summer.”

Day 10 and 11…

January 31, 2013 in Biking, Buffalo marathon, Marathon, Running

Ok….so I am slacking and combining 2 days.  I could just say day 10 was an off day and leave it at that.  Actually, I hit the pool while Steph tried out the treadmill as she recovers from her fractured hip.  Its a long road for her but at least she stuck through it and the worse is over…and I SURVIVED! Now, on day 9 I mentioned I was going to try something different.  It was a Bike Power to Weight Ratio Challenge put on by Coach Jon Metz of TriVault Multisport Coaching and Training.  Basically, this consisted of riding the bike compu-trainer flat out for 30 minutes.  During that entire time, my wattage is monitored.  The wattage refers to the amount of pedal power.  The ratio consists of the average watts over my weight.  Lets just say that I barely managed to power more than I weight…just barely.  My ratio came to
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