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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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 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 8 and the beginning of week #2…17 weeks to go!  I am ramping it up this week by increasing the mileage. MILESTONE!  The registration form is in the mail! Anyway, today was an easy 4 with 1.5 warmup / cooldown on the dreadmill since its icy and slushy out.  The next couple of days will be great for outside running though! Sentiment of the day…“Buffalo wings. beer. snow.  What more do you want?”

Thursdays are usually with a gang of runners known as the Thursday AM gang.  We go out from Ed Youngs Plaza in Williamsville starting at 5:15 and cover anywhere from 6 to 8 miles.  The air is fresh and clean.  The roads are relatively traffic free.  The women…I mean the bird are chatty.  But all in all, its great camaraderie with folks who share a common goal…a passion for running. Today, the temperatures are still way too cold for outside running even though I do know a few brave souls who would say otherwise.   The gang headed over to the indoor track at UB.  I headed to the Y for four easy miles on the dreadmill bookmarked by a half mile warmup and cooldown.  Just another quiet morning in the life of Sam Spritzer. Sentiment of the day…“Its only cold if you’re standing still.”   And a post-script from Jim Figler
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