After the Tower of Terror race, my shins, the right one in particular, was hurting somethin fierce! Fortunately, it was time for a visit to my foot doctor, Dr. Brady. He gave me some lifts to help protect and reduce the pain coming from my left heel bone spur. This worked and a majority of the pain from my heel has subsided. While looking at my shoes, as I chose to wear my new pair the day of the exam, he noticed the inserts I had and said, these aren’t doing much. So, this gets me thinking, what if I doubled the thickness of the pads or, took the other pads out of my work shoes and put them in my running shoes?

I decided for the run today, to increase the padding of the shoes. I have one of the thick blue pads for my left foot and had to use two of the thinner Dr. Scholls pads in my right shoe as it appears as though I have lost one of my pads. The run Thursday was a test of this configuration and it didn’t seem to make a difference, except, after the run, there was no pain in my shins! I have always felt that if I could eliminate the pain in my legs while running, I could probably make some progress. It would appear as though I was correct!

The results of this mornings run:

This is almost the exact time I ran the Tower of Terror 10 mile race in!

This run was completely pain-free and I still have plenty “left in the tank”!

I am guessing the cooler temperatures may have also helped. I can guarantee, they didn’t hurt the effort!

The rest of the day will be spent relaxing and waiting for any pain to show up. Hopefully, it doesn’t.

Either next Monday or possibly tomorrow, I will have a post about the latest hardware and running aids I am using. The Fuelbelt four-bottle belt is going to get shipped back to Zappos as it just doesn’t do the job. There will be a few other tweaks detailed in the next post.

Until then…

Everyone have a great weekend!!

Training for this years event started in January and for the most part, went according to schedule following the Jeff Galloway training method. Then, on my birthday no less, August 4th, I broke a bone spur in my left foot. This meant no training for a month. Fortunately, I am a fast healer and got the OK to resume training after a month in a walking boot. Unfortunately, this was only two weeks prior to the race.  I did manage to get enough training in to finish the race, relatively unscathed.

It has been a week and I finally feel good enough to start running again.

Saturday 10/6/2012– Ran 3.12 miles in 36:10 which is a 11:34 pace. That is the fastest pace for that distance to date! The slowest lap, 1/2 mile, was 6:01. I am trying to get down to a 10 minute mile pace by the time the Wine and Dine race rolls around, for the smaller,3-4 mile, runs. I suspect that will translate to a 12:00 or less pace for that race, which is my goal. To attain that goal, certain things are going to have to change.

Since I broke my foot, for the Tower of Terror race, I had to insert a pad where the arch is in my shoe, to help protect that area of my foot. Fortunately, this little bit of padding was just enough as there was no pain in that area. While at Disney the Friday before the race, I wore my New Balance shoes, which as it turns out, was a mistake.  These shoes, All Terrain Trail shoes, had limited padding. I had purchased these Dr. Scholls air pillow inserts. Walking around Disney was tolerable in these shoes with the inserts, however, compared to my Saucanys, they were like walking in sandals!

It would appear that the only shoe I can run or walk in is the Saucany Pro Grid 5s. There is still a small problem with shin splints on my right leg, so, that needs to be addressed. I bought a set of the CVS Pharmacy Double Air Foam inserts and trimmed them to fit in my running shoes and put them under the actual Saucany insert. This seems to be better as it provides more cushioning.  It would appear that 52 year-old bones do not like running very much! We shall see during tomorrows run.

There is of course another issue that had to be addressed at the ToT race. The bone spur in the back of my foot. I used some sports wrap tape and taped the back of my ankle. This has to be done for every run!

I don’t know how long I will have to use the makeshift insert on my arch and the tape on my heel, but, if it takes away the pain, fine!

There were also a few problems discovered during the ToT race. One of which was the Fuel Belt hydration belt.  The two front water bottles fell out twice during the race. Also, the amount of liquid that is held in the bottles wasn’t sufficient enough for the 10 mile race, so I doubt it will suffice for the 13 mile race!

After looking around, I have decided to double, actually a little more than double, my liquid carrying capacity by using this: Camelback Delaney DC. This hydration belt has two smaller bottles for that goo type supplement, which I won’t be using as the reviews from almost everyone who has tasted this stuff, were less than positive to downright vulgar! I’ll fill one large and small bottle with Gatorade and the rest with water to avoid some slowing while trying to get near a water station. This should increase my speed by a few minutes.

This belt also has a larger carrying pack as opposed to the Fuelbelt, which incidently, the zipper broke a week after I got it. This should allow me to stock up on the Jelly Beans and other items that may be needed for nutritional purposes. The drawback to this belt is weight. I don’t think it will be a problem as it should all be balanced out in the small of my back. It will arrive Wednesday and Thursday will be the first run with it. If it works out, it will be used for Saturdays 12.5 mile run.

Pain management. Normally, I take four Advil gel capsules about an hour prior to running. After I broke my foot, a little more medication was required. One Vicodin was all I needed. Also, to prevent bloating, I took two gas pills made by Publix, I’ll have to look up exactly what they are, but that worked and prevented almost any gas from forming. Normally, during training runs, I have to burp pretty much through the entire run. I wasn’t quite sure how the Disney types would view this, but fortunately, this was never an issue. I must have gotten the food/liquid mixture perfect as I had no bloating or any burping at all!

Thursdays run will be for either a half an hour or 3 miles, whichever comes first! Saturday will be a big test for all of the newest modifications. I will also, more than likely, have to get a new phone. For some unknown reason, the Atrix2 phone, when used with headphones, starts to dial the last number I called…..and doesn’t stop! Placing the phone in the “airplane” mode solved this, however, screwed up the GPS and, everything had to be turned back on or it wouldn’t save half the data. I thought it was the socket where the headphones go in so I got a set of bluetooth headphones, which stopped the issue for a while. The issue has reappeared and the big problem is that it shuts off the voice prompts, so I have no idea what my pace is!

I deactivated the double-tap home button and so far, this has solved the problem.

Tuesday should be fun!!

Inside Your Home

1. Do you live in an apartment/condo, townhouse or house?  House.

2. What is your home’s coolest feature? The back patio and pool. If I could, I’d live there!

3.  Do you enjoy DIY projects?  If so, what are you working on now?  I have spent 15 years remodeling/repairing this home. No projects are currently planned!

4. When using the dishwasher do you use powder detergent or liquid?  I use the finish powerball blocks that automatically dissolve! They are the best!

5. Do you have a TV in your bedroom? Yes, and every other room except Marshalls.

6.  Is your range gas or electric?  Electric.

7.  How often do you sweep/mop/vacuum?  Once a week and the Roomba takes care of the daily vacuuming!

8.  What is your favorite place to shop for home furniture and accents?  Everywhere. You see, men don’t shop for “accents”. We get things we need!

9.  Do you decorate for holidays?  Yes…reluctantly! Although the house looks nicer, especially around Christmas, it is a lot of work!

10.  If you could have HGTV come in and redo one room in your home which room would you choose? None. They are all already done. They could give the yard a makeover though!

One other thing, as a word processor/text editor program, WordPress Sucks!!!!!!

After hearing a “clunking” sound coming from the Durango after making a tight turn, I decided to take a peek to see what might be causing this. Being a former mechanic, I suspected that the ball joints were failing. And, I was right!

Drivers side

Passenger side

I have done several ball-joint replacements in my mechanic days, but, figured it would be easier to pay someone to do this. After getting several estimates, all in the $500.00-$600.00 range, I decided to do a little investigating as to why this was so expensive.

Back in my mechanic days, a good friend and shop owner, Ben Tannenbaum, said once, actually many times, while working on a Chrysler product, “Chrysler strikes again”! I remember one incident in particular when this occurred. It was the three-hour alignment on the Dodge Magnum I owned.

Seems Chrysler likes to make things as difficult as possible! The Durango is another example.

The reason that the estimates were so much, was that Chrysler, in their infinite wisdom, incorporated the ball-joints into the upper control arm and the replacement ball-joints come with a new control arm! Standard ball joint cost:$10.00. Cost of new control arm: $120.00! I looked around and found two upper control arms, as there is only one that fits both sides, for $90.00 from Rock Auto. Already saved $150.00! These were made by Moog and are pretty stout pieces. The originals were aluminum and these are iron.

Now, on to the task.

First, I loosened up all of the lug nuts on all of the wheels as it is time to rotate the tires. Next, I jacked up the front end and placed two jack stands under the front k-member.

Next, time to remove the old upper control arms (uca). According to several sources, removal of the brake line bracket is necessary on the driver’s side. It isn’t. I first marked the flat side of the uca bolts, then removed the nuts. Next, I loosened the ball-joint nut and then, using a ball joint removal fork, separated the ball joint, partially, from the rotor assembly. Then, after placing a jack under the lower control arm, hit the old ball joint a few times with a hammer and the ball joint “popped” out of the bracket on the rotor. I removed the front uca bolt and then, pivoting the rear portion of the uca, pulled out the bolt.

I just reversed the procedure to install the new uca. I made sure to line up the nut and bolt, fairly close to the original position.

I then put the wheels on and the driver’s side was done.

On to the passenger side.

I thought this side would be easier as the brake hose bracket isn’t on this side. Unfortunately, this is the side where I had to use my left hand to do everything, which made things a little difficult. Having not had to do this type of work since the brake rotor swap last year, I forgot how hard it is! I repeated the procedure on the passenger side:

Marking the bolts.

Removing the old uca.

New uca installed.

All done!

This was a lot easier than I thought it would be, which is rare! Total time, roughly two hours using hand tools. Cost, $90.00 for two ucas, $60.00 for a new set of metric wrenches from Sears.

I have an appointment for an alignment tomorrow morning, which is free as I got the “lifetime” alignment when I purchased the new tires at the beginning of the year. I also changed the serpentine belt as well as the air filter.

All in all, a productive morning!

Copy and paste these questions to your blog, then add your own answers.

Have You Ever?

1. Jumped out of an airplane?  No. Nor do I plan to until I turn 80…then who cares!

2. Lived alone?  Yes, one of the best times of my life.

3. Met a celebrity? Yes, a few.

4. Said something to someone that you immediately regret saying? Yes…………

5. Had a manicure/pedicure? A few….

6.  Gotten a hickey?  Yes…..when I was much younger!

7. Owned a pet that was not a dog or a cat?  Yes!

8. Been outside of your home country?  Not yet.

9. Kissed your best friend? Yes……but no tongue!

10. Eaten food that fell on the floor? Yes,  10 second rule!

11. Met someone online? Yes.

12. Been on TV? Once..

13. Had braces?  Yes, one of the most painful things I have ever had done.

14. Gone skinny dipping?  Yes……………………..

15. Been to the opera? Yes.

16. Been caught making out by a policeman?  Yes!!  :)

17. Sung in public?Yes…til they banned it!

18. Handed out candy on Halloween? Yes, and we always dress up.

19. Been snowed in?What is snow?

20. Fallen in front of other people? More times than I care to admit!

21. Cheated on a test? Once or twice.

22. Regretted saying “I love you” to someone? Yes………………………………….

23. Finished a meal in a restaurant and realized that you didn’t have your wallet? Yes.

24. Shot a gun? Yep, but only target practice and several unfortunate trees.

25. Heard a song that was written for (or about) you? Yes.

First the good…………..

Our son has a cyst in an area of his brain. It was discovered during an MRI for a dermoid cyst that was above his right eye when he was 9 months old. We have had to get an MRI done every year and last year, the cyst doubled in size. We just got the results of the latest MRI and the cyst is the size it was back in 2009. Hopefully, it continues to shrink and all will be well. We will see next year.

The next bit of good news is that my annual golf tournament went off without a problem! Four days and three nights at beautiful Spring Lake Golf!

And now, on to the bad news.

Saturday, August 4, aside from being my birthday, was also the day to run 8 miles. I started the run in the morning and everything felt fine. Breathing was good and there was no pain in either leg. The average pace for the first five miles was in the 12:30 minute mile range, which is right where I want to be. Near the end of mile six, I felt and heard a “snap” from my left foot. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but it did hurt. This actually happened during one of the “walk” intervals and not running. I continued to run as it felt better.
Every-time I walked, it hurt worse. I managed to eek out 7 3/4 miles before I decided that I should get home.

Here is are the run tracks:

Being someone who hates going to the doctor, quoting my mom, “They always find things wrong”, I decided to do a little research and determined that it was plantar fasciitis. A little rest, stretching and ice, and I should be fine. After a week, nothing got better. At the behest of my wife, I contacted a foot doctor, Dr. Brady. I told him what happened and he said, “I think it is something else”! Great!

X-rays were taken and it turns out, he was right. I have two bone spurs in my foot. One at the back near the Achilles heel and the other one, under the bottom of my foot, under the plantar fascia tendon. Although not totally visible in the x-ray, this bone spur runs the width of my foot. The “snap” I felt was this spur breaking. It was also discovered that sometime in my youth, I broke my big toe! Ahhhh.. Tequila is a wonderful thing! Seems it happened in my 20s after a friend reminded me of a late night incident involving said foot and a certain Barracuda! Maybe I should have gone to the doctor for that one.

This has put a damper on my training to say the least! Although I did manage to play 70 holes of golf over the weekend, now, I am in a walking boot for four weeks!

What is even worse, is that I have to wear another shoe with an insert on my right foot or my left knee hurts! The doctor said I could ride a bike and swim, so I will start doing that next week. I will ride the bike three times as far as the running and I think that should keep the endurance up. Tuesdays and Thursdays will be nine miles and Saturday will be 27….or so.

The remainder of this week will be spent resting..and contrary to popular belief, lying around the house is one thing I really hate to do!

The next post will be next week after Tuesdays bike ride.

Tuesday: Distance: 2.21 miles Time: 25:21 Pace:11:32

Thursday: Disaster!!!

I ordered new shoes, some K-Swiss 100 running shoes which, are not for me! I made it about 200 feet and my right calf and shin cramped up to the point I could barely walk! I came home and swapped out those shoes for my Saucanys. Still cramped up and the run was aborted. Came home and took a “Soma” and rested. The next morning, the pain went away. Whew!!! This was a serious scare!

On to Saturday. The wife looked at her shoes last week and they were pretty well-worn, which is why I ordered the K-Swiss shoes for me. They came with her order of new Asics. After the disaster Thursday, I decided to look at my shoes and compare them to the new set I have sitting here in the box. Here is the picture:

As you can see, these shoes are completely worn out!! The good news is that they are worn out all around the outside edges and go towards the middle of the shoe. From what I have read, this means that I have the right shoe as this is a pattern of a neutral runner.

On to Saturdays run, which was a light run of three miles.

Distance: 3.03 miles   Time: 33:55    Pace:11:12   Miracle mile: 10:58!!!!!! That was mile 2. Mile 1 and 3 were, 11:05 and 11:16 respectfully. The best part of this run was no pain at all!!! No shin or calf pain which after Thursday, was a big surprise. I will have a post next week about the importance of the proper shoes!!

This morning was my first round back playing golf and the score reflects that. I won’t post it, but at least the back was better than the front nine!

I have four inspections scheduled for next week already and am going to take Wednesday off to work out some kinks in my golf game. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday will be a return to the gym starting with a mile run on the treadmill each day followed by chest,arm, back and shoulder workouts. Tuesday and Thursday will be three-mile running days and next Saturday is the next big hurdle, 8 miles!!

Today will be spent resting and swimming in the pool!

Everyone else, have a great rest of the weekend!

My plan was to run around 4:30, when hopefully, it got a little cooler. Unfortunately, it was actually hotter. The temperature was 91 degrees and the heat index said it was 96 degrees! No problem as being a native Floridian, I am used to the heat!

For a meal, left-over roast beef should have been enough. I planned to eat around 1:30 to give myself some time to digest the meal. Unfortunately, we had guests over and I didn’t get to eat until 3:00. I took Advil which seems to eliminate the pain in my knees and right shin at 3:30. By 4:30, I felt a little full, but forged on anyway.

My first mile was my typical first mile and looking at the records, seems to be my fastest, more particularly, the second half a mile. Half way through the second mile, I began to have problems breathing and entering mile three, threw up! It would appear that the roast beef didn’t have time to fully digest! I managed to plod on and as you can see by the numbers, got progressively slower. I was dizzy, tired, overheated, and decided, it would be wise to call it a run after 4 miles and live to run another day. That day came about an hour and a half later!

After the wife finished her six miles, good job honey!!, I decided to give it another try. I ran for 3.8 miles giving me a total of 7.8 for the day. The average pace was 11:40 and combined with the first run, as bad as it was, still netted a total pace of 12:16 minute mile.

Sunday morning, there is pain in my left heel as well as my right shin, but, it is nothing serous.

Tuesday and Thursday next week will be afternoon runs and starting next week, all of our big Saturday runs will be done at night, simulating the race conditions (cooler)! The goals for Tuesday and Thursday are to break the 10 minute barrier and finish 3 miles in a half an hour or less. The Saturday runs will have to be better paced and speaking of pacing, I set the Run/Walk Interval for 2 1/2 minutes running and 1 minute walking for the first run Saturday. That was a mistake! I have reset it to 1 1/2 minutes running and 1 minute walking and will just run a few extra “walk” intervals when I feel like it.

Today will be spent resting and on a good note, as far as weight loss goes, I haven’t gained my normal five pounds over the weekend! Perhaps I can turn the corner and actually start losing this excess 20 pounds I need to get rid of!

Everyone have a great Sunday!!

This was by far, my best run to date! I ran in the afternoon after doing an inspection. I also ate a few strips of left over London Broil about two hours before I ran and took 4 Advil about an hour before I ran. I have also changed the running/walking intervals. I ran most of the first mile and only walked three times. The 4:43 pace for the second half of the first mile was all running. That translates to an under 10 minute mile pace! I don’t know how long I would be able to do that, but, I am willing to try!

The reason I decided to try to run more and walk less, is that when I walk, my calves start to tighten up, I feel the pain in my shins, and a host of other pains are present. This run was pain-free, for the most part. After the run, later in the evening, my right shin hurt but by Friday morning, all was well. My speed is up also.  I am trying to get to six miles per hour which is a 10 minute mile pace, for the shorter runs.

The goal for today’s run is to do 7 miles, maybe more if I feel frisky, and to do it at a 12 minute mile pace or less. I am gearing up for a 10K race sometime next month that will qualify me for the Tower of Terror corral placement. Then that race will qualify me for the Wine and Dine race. The pre-race meal will be some left over roast. I am going to try to run around 5:00 and hopefully, it will start to cool off around the half-way point. There are no effects of any gluten as last nights meal was 100% gluten-free. It took nearly a week to recover from last Fridays gluten incident!

On to the weight loss! I have managed to lose a little excess weight and am lurking around 228 pounds. I am now trying to lose 20 pounds prior to the Tower of Terror race. I will be working out with lighter weights and more repetitions at the gym, Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays, and then, running Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays.

Looking at the calorie counter, it appears as though I am not eating enough! That is an easy fix!

There will be an update later on tonight with the results of the run today so stay tuned for that!!

Last Friday instead of going to the “chicken nugget restaurant”, we ordered in from our favorite Italian restaurant. Everything was as usual, tremendous and I decided to sneak a taste of the wifes chicken, broccoli, and pasta. Forgetting that the chicken was breaded!  Sure enough, the gluten fairy visited and the bloat began almost immediately. As a result, Saturdays run, fortunately a short one, was cut short as I couldn’t breath.

The numbers: Distance: 2.20 miles. Pace: 12:00 min/mile. Time:26:25.

The numbers were pretty good except, that for the first time, I just couldn’t make three miles. I am right now on the 12 minute mile pace that I want to run at the races and I am expecting that by the time the races arrive, I should be able to improve.

Sunday was a day spent on yard work, both ours and the neighbors as his tree and associated attached vines were now attacking our screen enclosure. It was finally time to take a dip in the pool where I remarked that I needed to get back into the gym as I seem to be losing strength and both shoulders hurt, for no apparent reason. The wife said, yes, that might help.

So….back to the gym on Monday!!

Here is a light workout:

Looking at the last workout and this one, considerable strength has been lost! This was a light workout and today, I am just a little sore. Next week returns to the full workouts!

And now, finally, the run today!

I put off running today as long as I felt I could. I woke up with pain in my left knee as well as my right shin..and I haven’t done anything! I decided to run and see what happens. The run started off full of pain and for the first time, my legs felt like they were made of stone. I never did get any rhythm going until the very end and the pain in my right shin was so severe, that I came home and had to resort to taking a Vicodin to quell the pain. My quadriceps were tight and very sore. During the run, the lingering effects of the gluten could be felt as I had difficulty breathing. I just said F–it and ran anyway.

Here are the numbers:

Considering everything that went wrong, still a good run.

Thursday will be another 3 miles and then Saturday is a 7 mile run.

As I sit here typing, all of the pain is gone so whatever I did to my shin, must not have been too bad. I am just slightly sore from the weight workout so tomorrow will be shoulder and back day at the gym.

That is all………………………for now!!

The goal is to finish this 10 mile race in under 2 hours. As this is my first running event, in my life, I wanted to set realistic goals.

Below are this weeks numbers:

Tuesday May 22, 2012

Goal: Run for 1/2 hour

Results:

Time: 28 minutes

Distance: 2.3 miles

Pace: 12:25

This run was plagued by a lot of spitting as the day before, I inspected a home and evidently, caught some sort of death disease! My legs felt fine, it was I just couldn’t breathe. I ran around 1:00 pm.. which probably wasn’t the best move on my part.

Thursday May 24, 2012

Goal: Run for 1/2 hour

Results:

Time: 31 minutes

Distance: 2.2 miles

Pace: 14:05

I had to do an inspection in the morning, type the report and attend to some business matters. This resulted in a 4:30 in the afternoon run. Completely out of energy, I managed to make it for slightly over 1/2 hour, but at a slower pace. The good news was that the splits showed my second mile was faster than my first. Still feeling the effects of the death disease!

Saturday May 26, 2012

Goal: Run 3 miles

Results:

Time: 39 minutes

Distance: 3 miles

Pace: 12:56

The actual distance was 3.3 miles, but, first, the gps was screwed up on the phone and kept shutting off the run and I also decided to try a little experiment. I purchased a set of Sauconys in size 11 in order to add the inserts I got to help cushion the run. The inserts caused more stress on my calves as well as my shins. I took those shoes off and put my trusty 10.5 Sauconys on and then made the run. The actual pace is 12:35 but once again, I am hampered by this death disease. Still can’t breathe!

It is the first week, and I am actually starting the training program a week early because in August, I have a golf outing that will take an entire week out of my training. I am happy with most of the results and know I have “more in the tank” and should be able to get under the 2 hour mark for the race.

A few notes about shoes…they do make a big difference! My Sauconys have a step down in them towards the front of the foot which seems to take all of the pressure off of my calves.  They are starting to break in and I can now tighten up the laces a little. I also sent back the size 11 shoes and ordered a spare pair of 10.5 shoes. Only 2 pairs left! These are the only shoes Saucony makes in size EEE so next year, I may be in trouble!

I also have settled on a set of everyday shoes. The Sketchers are soooooo comfortable it is like slipping your foot  into a cloud! Of course, this is the only shoe that Sketchers makes in size EEE so I guess I’ll have to get a back up pair of these as well! I did run for 5 minutes on the treadmill on Friday in these shoes and I didn’t experience any pain, so, they may be an alternative. I am also taking 2 Advil a day for the constant ache in my knees. This combined with an ice-down after each run is keeping me pain free…so far.

The weight training program is going along quite well. Separating the days has really helped and I am making some minor strength gains and also get a good “pump” going during each workout. The schedule is Monday, Chest and Arms heavy, Wednesday, Back and Shoulders  heavy, Friday, an overall workout for all body parts, including legs of one set each, two exercises for each muscle worked during the week. Friday is the most important workout of all as it takes out all of the soreness from the previous workouts and by Saturday morning, no pain is present.

The rest of today will be spent cleaning the home and mowing the lawn, cleaning the pool, etc….aka “Erics chores”!

Tomorrow being a holiday, I’ll still go to the gym and get the chest and arm workout in, then, a day of relaxation!

Everyone have a safe and happy holiday!

In any event, today is an off day, at least as far as workouts go. I shall resume the workouts tomorrow.

The weight gain from Cinco de Mayo, was only 3 pounds which has been removed. One of this blogs followers made a comment on the chicken nacho post about how it would ruin the diet. I personally believe that on occasion, you need to say, I want that…then go eat it! I am pretty sure that both days, the calorie count was over 3,000.

Here is Mondays food diary:

May 7, 2012

Doing two inspections, their associated reports as well as research for other inspections, tends to take up a bunch of time and as a result, I forgot to eat breakfast and lunch yesterday! Today, I am back on schedule.

Tomorrow and Thursday will be running three miles each day and then, a light workout.

In the meantime, I received the proper sized slats for the anchor door on the Mako. Somehow, either by a vandal or large rodent, three of the four slats got broken. The anchor door itself, cannot be replaced as it is no longer made, and, any replacement size door is either too tall or not wide enough which will require some sort of modification to the bulkhead, which sounds painful and expensive!

I decided to see if the slats could be replaced. They are fit into grooves on each side of the door as well as a center support post. I looked around on the internet and found a place, Tap Plastics, and they sent me, eventually, the correct size slats. All that was required was some light sanding with 80 grit to round off the edges and then, a few passes with 220 grit to smooth everything out.

After that, I just put them in the center support, and then snapped them into place. The center support gets screwed into the frame and two of the slats. This project actually came out perfect, except for the color. I think I will leave them like this as I like the contrast. I also have four more as well as the original order, which instead of being 1/4 of an inch thick, were 1 inch thick. I almost have enough material to do the cuddy cabin door slats…if I wanted to!

Here are the new slats prior to sanding and one of the old slats:

Here are the slats after sanding:

Here is the front side of the anchor door with the slats installed:

And, here is the back side view:

Total time, 1/2 and hour and $20.00 total cost!

And now, off to work!!

Start out with a couple of large chicken breasts. Season them with either salt and pepper or in yesterdays case, McCormicks Fresh Pinch Steak Seasoning. Then, grill them until they are almost done. Do not over cook the chicken!!!

Meanwhile, grease or use “Pam” to lubricate your pans. You can use a glass dish or a lasagna pan. We got these handy-dandy plastic/aluminum insert pans a long time ago. You can also get all of the ingredients ready. The ingredients are as follows:

1. Chicken breasts
2. Tostinos restaurant  style chips (1 bag)
3. Mild salsa, preferably fresh but the one a Publix in the produce department works well (1 container)
4. Refried beans (1 can)
5. Cheese spread which is usually found near the chips (1 jar)
6. Shredded cheese, the “Mexican” blend works well (1 16 oz bag)
7. Sliced jalapeno peppers ( 1 small jar, use as many as you like)

The chicken is almost ready!

Cut up the chicken. Do not worry if it is a little underdone..you will not die from this! It will finish cooking in the oven.

Begin the assembly. This is very similar to lasagna. Start with a layer of chips. Then add the shredded cheese. Next the meat. Then the salsa, strained through a fork. You do not want a bunch of liquid or everything will get soggy. Add the liquid cheese just dribbling it on. Then, add the jalapeno peppers.

Repeat. If you like your nachos spicy, add a second row of jalapeno peppers. Here, I did not.

Add a third layer of just chips, then cheese.

After everything is assembled, bake in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Check the nachos and if they look like the picture below, reduce the heat to 325 degrees and cook for 10 minutes more. Let cool for 10 minutes and serve with either an ice-cold beer or margaritas, or, the beverage of your choice and a dollop of sour cream.

Young  Marshall enjoyed his!

The pictures above, with the exception of the last one, are actually from 2010. I guess I was going to post this recipe, but forgot!

Enjoy!!

May 4, 2012

I am simulating the night before a race. Chicken wings for dinner! Usually, that is all I can safely eat as most other food items will contain gluten or, have too many carbs. I might be a little light on the beer though!

I awoke at 6:00 am and was still sore from crawling attics all week. My left ankle is bothering me the worst. I am hoping to get through the year before something has to be done with it. I want to avoid surgery, but, I don’t see any way around it. There is a bone spur present and it may be increasing in size or causing inflammation. I am hoping the Dr. Scholls inserts help!

I decided to try the inserts next Monday as I didn’t want to stop if they didn’t work out. So much for the best laid plans!

I got to the gym, did my normal stretching and then, set the machine for 5 miles at a 5 mph pace. I started to run, and the two days off seemed to have helped. During Wednesdays run, my legs felt “heavy”. Today, they felt great and getting through the first mile was easy! Then, the power went out…literally! The gym lost power!! Three minutes later, the machine had re-booted and was back on pace. I continued to run using this method: run 5 minutes at 5 mph. Rest for 30 seconds, resume running for 5 minutes, rest for 30 seconds. This pace was continued until the last mile. I upped the pace to 5.5 mph and ran until there was two tenths of a mile to go, then, cranked the machine up to 8 mph and sprinted the last tenth of a mile.

Way back in my youngest days, I was always taught, it isn’t how you start, it is how you finish. I have always finished strong! I sprinted for the last tenth of a mile with no problems, sort of! My right shoe made contact with the buckle on my knee brace on my left leg and unsnapped the whole thing! Fortunately, I just kept running and spread my legs a little to make sure I didn’t crash!

Below are the numbers for the run:

And, for the week:

Good grief…I have become a runner!

Almost 12 miles this week!

And now, the aftermath! After the run, I went to Penn Dutch as we are out of meat in the house. While there, waiting in line, I began to feel drained as I hadn’t eaten anything. Also, I was completely out of fuel. I came home,made a big Isopure shake and iced down my knees and hips. I’ll take a hot bath later and then a liberal dosage of IcyHot and I should be ready for Sunday morning golf.

The weight was at 227 pounds which is a total of 13 pounds lost. Now that I am below the 230 pound mark and summer is approaching, getting down to 210 pounds or lower will be no problem.

The rest of today, since it is the 5th of May, will be spent poolside with some chicken nachos and margaritas! This probably will not help in the weight loss numbers, but, now that I know I can run 5 miles, the daily average will be bumped up to 3 miles per run, and I may run a mile or so at night.

The food diary will be posted tomorrow along with hopefully, an improved score for Sunday morning golf!

Everyone have a great weekend!!

May 1, 2012

I thought something was amiss and it was! I forgot to eat breakfast! That may explain the light-handedness I felt this morning! Speaking of which, the treadmill workout:

Today was an easy run, which unfortunately was interrupted by a vicious bowel movement, the 5th of the morning! At the half mile mark, there was a rumbling in my stomach and a quick trip to the restroom, and  back to finish the other 2 miles. The effect of yesterdays leg workout was felt during this run as well. By the end of it, I was exhausted! Tomorrow will be an off day!!

You will also notice the smaller condensed version of the data sheet. I made a new excel worksheet where I can track the entire week and then the weekly totals all on one sheet.

Now, on to the back and shoulders workout:

This was sort of a light workout as I only did three exercises. That is because, I was completely out of fuel. I felt the running on empty syndrome after the first set of lat pull downs. That brings us back to last nights dinner.

Last nights dinner was chicken stir-fry, pictured below.

This is one of my wifes favorite dishes and it is very simple to make. I’ll make it with pork or shrimp, this time it was chicken.

Unfortunately, this combined with the late night snack, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, although not harmful calorie-wise, appears to have been harmful from a fiber standpoint. I would submit that some of the numbers for the meals yesterday are off, by a substantial amount. I’ll have to do a little research to see what the actual numbers are for the bread and taco salad, but the fiber combined with the ruffage of the salad and the higher than normal sugar intake, has had an adverse effect on my digestive system. Five trips to the bathroom before noon isn’t normal! Even with all of the elimination, I still managed to gain three pounds in one day! I am not overly concerned with that as I have to work today and I am sure I will be back to 229 pounds, or less at the end of the day. I may try a quick jog later for maybe a mile to get acclimated to running in the real world.

Last year this time, actually a few months earlier as I was injured by this time, I was running roughly a 6 minute mile pace… which is probably what led to my injury. Too much too fast! Now I feel confident that my injuries are behind me, there is a little swelling in my knees, but, I am going to the Dr. Scholls booth to get some insoles to see if that helps cushion the blow. I’ll probably try those in my Asics shoes first, then in the Sauconys. And by the way, although these shoes are perfect, would it be too much to ask of a major shoe manufacturing company, to make more than one model of shoe in 4E?

Tha tis all for today unless I do a light run tonight, then I can post those results, provided my cardio trainer app works as advertised!

I will post the food diary later on and catch up the blog tonight/tomorrow.

I am still typing up a  report for a five-hour inspection I did yesterday/last night!

Hopefully, I can finish both inspection reports for the inspections today, and get back on track with the workouts.

As the wife and Marshall are still sick, I also have to take care of them!

Some good news….The Durango is back to her old self and the magic number, 230 pounds has been reached! They don’t have a cardiovascular category for “climbing through attics”, but they should!

April 16, 2012

The workout:

The numbers in red, are the maximum weight on the machine. I may have to start doing squats, which I hate, and they are not very good for ones back, especially mine!

While I am on the subject of weight, I lost another pound and am back on the path of weight loss.

The iron supplement seems to be helping, although, it also is contributing to the constipation issue. Fortunately, we just happened to have some Fiber Choice – Plus Antioxidant tablets in the cabinet, so instead of taking two, which is the recommended dosage, I took one so as to not use up all of my carbs on one thing. It also says on the package, “may cause bloating”..UUGGGGGGGG!!! Fortunately, the bloating was minimal!

Speaking of supplements, the Isopure shake is doing what it is supposed to. It provides plenty of protein with no carbs or gluten! The trick is to mix it properly, which is accomplished with one of our trusty shaker bottles that have a screen inside that breaks everything up, and the mixture itself. As is often the case, I read the directions and then, promptly, discard them. Instead of using 10 ounces of water, I use 8 and four ice cubes. After shaking vigorously for 15 seconds, it is in a semi-shake condition and tastes fine.

The food diary will be up later on tonight.

In the meantime, a little update on two issues.

First, the Ducane 4400.

After discovering this:

I contacted Weber, who now owns Ducane and inquired as to the warranty on the fire-box. The response, was less than satisfactory, and here it is:

Thank you for your reply. Thank you for the photos Eric. From what I can see, there is not an issue that warranty a replacement of your firebox. The warranty covers rust through or burn through. Your warranty is also still active until September of 2014 so if it gets worse let us know.

If you need further assistance, please let me know.

For those that know me, our grills are a big part of our lives and need to be dependable.

My response was as follows:

If I remove that rust, I am sure there will be holes there. Is that what needs to be done? I don’t want to make it worse than it is.

Apparently, the folks at Weber do not understand what the sight of large clumps of rust indicate. I am eagerly awaiting their reply!

Issue number two, my beloved Saucony  ProGrid Guide 5 shoes.  I made a simple, at least to me, inquiry to determine two things, but first, Saucony, in their infinite wisdom, decided that the only shoe in their entire line that comes in a 4E width, is the previously mentioned PGG5.

My inquiry was twofold.

1. Do you plan on offering larger sizes for any of your other shoes besides the PGG5?
2. Do you plan on offering the PGG5 in any other color in the 4E size?

Two simple enough questions…or so I thought! Below is the reply.

Dear Eric,

 

Thank you for your inquiry. The ProGrid Guide 5 comes the color white/silver/royal in wide and extra wide. The extra wide width is the larges width we manufacture. I am unaware of any plans for the shoe to be made in wider widths than what we currently manufacture. I apologize for any inconvenience.

 

Kind Regards,

Bruce

Ecommerce Customer Service

It looks like I am stuck with these shoes, I  guess I will have to order a couple of sets right before the race in October. They have a real snazzy pair of black and yellow shoes which would look cool at night!

As my knee was a little sore and it was raining, no lawn mowing!

First, the fine folks at Weber have contacted me and hopefully, will be able to send me replacement parts for the mighty Ducane 4400, which, unbeknownst to me, has developed a rust issue, pictured below!

Next, I see that Zappos has sent my shoes and they will be arriving via UPS later on today! I also see that Mass Nutrition has sent my new no carb, gluten-free shake mix, which will also be arriving today!

And finally, the morning workout. I’ll start with the weight portion as today  is a “light” day.

An easy workout that was preceded by the cardio workout below:

The bike was actually done after the treadmill, but I am posting it this way for a reason!

The reason that the treadmill results are posted last, is because this was a “milestone” day!

I was concerned that after yesterdays leg workout, I would have to take it easy today on the cardio portion of the workout. Learning from the mistake I made Wednesday, of starting to run without warming up properly, I decided today to warm up for 10 minutes. I also added 2% for the incline during the warm-up. After ten minutes, I increased the speed and returned the incline back to zero. There was no pain present in either calf! My Quads were a little sore, but that will pass.

The numbers that are bolded above are very important. First on the bike. I like to “sprint” to the finish so the last two minutes of the workout, I increase the work level, to 12 in this case, and go as fast as I can for one minute. That is the max revolutions of 130 rpm and the heart rate of 174 bpm. That number was down to 116 bpm by the end of the cool down.

On the treadmill, I was just happy to 1. do the entire workout without having to stop to stretch or anything else, and 2. to maintain a 12 minute mile pace for the last 10 minutes.

Overall, I am quite pleased with the progression of my running. I am pretty much pain-free and I have plenty “left in the tank”!

Tonight as a reward, chicken wings. I am going to try to make them so that the calorie count is down from other versions. I also have a good bunch of calories left to burn today.

One other note, as you can see by the tables above, the weight has stagnated at 234 pounds for the entire week. To some, that may because for alarm. To me, I know the cause of the stagnation, and it is simply the addition of a few pounds of muscle. I know this because my waist is smaller, my shirts fit tighter and I also had to adjust the brace for my leg.

The food diary will be posted tonight and I hope everyone has a Fantastic Friday as well!

And, here is the food diary:

March 23, 2012

The Isopure shake arrived and all in all, it isn’t too bad. I chose the vanilla flavor, but next time, I’ll get the cookies and cream! I’ll have a review of that product in a week or two.

On the shoe front, one of the three pairs of shoes I ordered fit properly, so I now have a pair of walking around shoes. I am waiting for Zappos to carry other colors of my running shoes for night-time use!

Tomorrow will be an off day with the exception of mowing the lawn and Sunday is Sunday morning golf.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

I finally found a place on the web, All Parts Grills,  that had the stainless steel versions of the stock porcelain flame tamers or “flavorizer bars” as Weber calls them. I knew these wouldn’t last since the first day I fired up the grill! While I was at it, I decided to clean out the inner box of the grill with a scraper and then just hose everything out. Now that that is done, time for the new parts.

If you look closely, you can see the rust under the far right flame tamer. Now that the rusty ones are gone, hopefully I can get a few more years out of the box. It is under warranty for five years, so, I have some time.

Meanwhile, the tried and true Weber Q, also needed a little service. The drip pan was all pitted when I got it and some pin holes developed in it. I decided, for 15 bucks, I might as well replace it and get some new tin liners.

Here is the new drip pan and liners.

I always like it where there are new shiny parts around! Now the grills should be good for another 2-3 years before I have to do anything major.

March 18, 2012

And Monday mornings weigh in, 236 pounds. This is to be expected as usually, for whatever reason, I seem to hold onto weight over the weekend.

You will also notice that I had a beer last night. We had a little “incident” yesterday.

As I was adding sauce to the ribs on the grill, I look down and see a shiny object. I just pass it off as something that found its way onto our patio, usually, via one of the cats. A little later, I go to take the ribs off and I see the object and try to move it with my foot. It seemed pretty heavy for such a little piece of metal! Turns out, it was a 9mm bullet that had been shot! So now, I have to call the police and ask, what should we do with this thing? The officers show up, yes, I said two different units, and I showed them where I found the bullet. We look up, and there is a small tear in the screen, so it looks like it came from above. Of course, these officers are familiar with some of the incidents involving our neighbors and one of the officers asked, “Do you have any problems with the neighbor”, and of course, he motioned to the neighbors that we have had problems with. It appears we aren’t the only ones that have problems with these neighbors.

At this time we do not know for sure who fired the gun that launched the bullet, but the officer went over to my neighbor’s house and had a “chat” with him. Last week, their kids were lighting off fireworks and perhaps, ole dad decided to join the action. Who knows what goes through the minds of some people.

For those that think this is a trivial matter, we had an acquaintance, Audley Ebanks, who was killed during New Years Eve, a few years back, by a falling bullet from one of the revelers.

Perhaps, some will think twice before performing this celebration.

Speaking of guns, Saturday afternoon, after the 5K run, we were headed over to the park for Sydneys birthday party and had to stop for gas. We stopped at a station at the corner of Wiles road and 441. As I am pumping the gas, there is a racket at the front of the  store and apparently, one individual threw a soda bottle at another individuals car, actually, a silver caravan. Now the individual gets out of his van an starts pushing the other guy, then the other guy pushes back, and then the van owner pulls out a gun and is waving it around and pointing it at the other individual. As we are about to call 911, the van owner  gets in his vehicle and speeds out of there.

This is why I prefer to stay at home, to avoid these types of situations. Either that, or I will have to get a firearm, and trust me, that is something I do not want to do. A close friend who is also a police officer told me, “Do not ever pull out  a gun unless you plan on using it”. If I ever had to pull out a gun, there wold be no hesitation and someone would be getting shot.

Now, onto the better portions of the weekend!

Sunday morning, I awoke to, surprise, surprise, no pain whatsoever! I was truly stunned as I had no pain in my legs or even my back or shoulders from carrying Marshall half of the 5K! I headed off to Sunday morning golf and played fairly decently shooting a 91, which isn’t bad considering I haven’t played in 3 months. Nothing got broken and I played with the same ball through the whole round! It is good to be back playing on Sundays as it is something for me to do to get out of the house and somewhat, relax.

I will be heading to the gym shortly for the morning workout and will have an update after that.

After I return, as new parts are arriving today for the Ducane as well as the Weber Q, I will be doing a cleaning on both to get ready for “grilling season”!

Some may ask, “Why try to smoke something on the portable grill when you have a perfectly good smoker?”

There are several reasons:

1. Smoking something on any grill will add quite a bit of flavor to the grill itself, which will in-turn, impart some flavor to whatever you are cooking.
2. Why not?
3. I wanted to see if it could be done and what it would take to do it.

Let’s jump right in, shall we?

The first thing that had to be done was to make accommodations for the charcoal and wood. I was sure that an hour and a half at Lowes would provide me with something that I could get to work. I almost bought a Weber grate that I would have had to cut up to get to fit, but decided against it.

When I got home, I looked around and as usual, there is a reason I keep many things that others would throw out. Some day you may want to use such and such part and wish you had it. This would have been the case if I had thrown out the old MasterForge grill! Since I didn’t, the partially rusted out flame-tamer fit right in the base of the Q!

The next task would be how to separate the coals/wood from the butt. I remember on the BBQSource message board making a drawing for someone using bricks in the middle of a Weber Kettle grill to section it off. I know I have at least one brick around this house! There was also the dilemma as to what grate I would use. The cast iron grate that goes with this grill would probably stay too hot. The stainless grate from the MasterForge doesn’t quite fit. I decided to use the two grates from our toaster oven!

Some may ask why use a grate over the coals and wood? The answer is, that to control the heat, you will most likely have to put something on top of the coals/wood to act as a damper. Which brings us to the following…..A long time ago, my Father gave me this pan that was aluminum and at one time, Teflon coated.  He put it in his grill and cooked all the Teflon off. This particular pan was used to fry fish with on a grill, specifically, grouper, cubed, with tempera batter. This pan would be perfect to hold water to A) Add moisture to the cooking process, and B) To help regulate the heat. Here is the pan:

And, here it is installed, ready for use:

As you can see, some aluminum foil had to be added in order to keep the smoke from escaping from one side of the grill. The same thing had to be done when I cooked the ribs. You will also notice that areas on either side of the tray holding the charcoal are filled in with foil as well. This was to keep any coals from wandering under the tray and into the catch tray.

After about an hour of figuring out how to do this, I was ready for the meat! One Boston Butt that has been in the refrigerator overnight with McKormicks “pork rub” liberally applied to it.

I also had the wood soaking overnight and although some say soaking the wood isn’t necessary, I prefer it!

And, at long last, the butt on the grill!

I closed the lid and let the smoking begin. As you can see, the smoke is exiting out of the right side  of the grill. When Weber designed this grill, there is a gap on either side where the side tables fold into. This worked out perfectly as if needed, I could add some aluminum foil to keep heat in to control the temperature. As it turned out, I didn’t need to control the heat with the exception of making sure there was water in the pan inside the grill.

The temperature stayed right around 250-275 degrees throughout both cooking cycles.

Meanwhile, it was time for lunch! All this cooking and I still hadn’t eaten anything. The Ducane was called in to cook a few burgers for the wife, Marshall, and myself.

Now, after four hours, it was time to restock everything. Having the Ducane nearby was a lucky break. I transferred all of the bricks, grates, and meat, right onto the Ducanes grates and closed the lid. Everything stayed warm while I reloaded the Weber Q! Back to round two!

After another four hours, the Butt was done. The internal temperature was 160 degrees. I let it rest for 15 minutes before slicing into it.

The meat was, as you can see, very tender and juicy and full of flavor.

All in all, a very successful experiment.

I probably won’t do this again as it was time-consuming, but then again, I now have some other materials that will make it much easier and for just the family, one butt is plenty. Speaking of which, the remainder of the butt is currently residing in the crock-pot and tonight, we will have pulled pork!

Now that it is the next day, someone has to clean the grill! The charcoal dust is everywhere inside the grill, but, a simple wash-down with the hose, and all is as it was prior to this event. The grill now has a distinct odor to it, that of smoked wood, which was exactly what I was hoping would happen.

I can’t wait to cook something else on this grill to see how much flavor was imparted to it!

Now that this task is complete, I will be writing my official review of the Q as well as an updated review of the Ducane shortly.

In a few words, the Weber Q can do almost anything any other grill can do and being a Weber, it will last. I would highly recommend this grill to anyone looking for either a portable grill or, just something for 2-4 people.

The first thing you need is a decent sized roast. This one was a couple of pounds.

You next, take a knife and stab the roast just to the thickest part of the blade. Use a paring knife or a smaller knife. What you are trying to do is to get the garlic in as many places of the roast you can, without destroying the roast!

Peel and cut as much garlic as you like. Cut the garlic into roughly, 1/8 of an inch pieces. It doesn’t have to be exact!

Place the garlic in the slits you have made, then, close up the slits.

Now, you can add salt, pepper, and olive oil and let the roast sit for a while, or just put it on the rotisserie, season it, and cook it.

Fire up the rotisserie burner, if you have one, and place the control on “low”. You are trying to get a temperature of around 350 degrees. If you do not have a rotisserie burner, fear not, there is a solution!

North-South burner configuration: When looking at your grill, the burners run from the bottom of the grill to the top of the grill.

East-West burner configuration: When looking at your grill, the burners are left to right.

Rotisserie instructions for “North-South” burners.

Place the roast on the spit rod all the way over to one side. Turn the burners on high under the roast. Let the roast spin for 15 minutes, checking it every five minutes. If the outside of the roast is getting charred, turn down the heat. Once there is a “crust on the fat”, now you can shut off the burners and turn on the other side burners. Turn on as many as you need to get the temperature to 350 degrees. Cook for approximately one hour and then check the internal temperature. Once it gets in the 120 degree range, check the temperature every 10 minutes until it is 145 degrees. It is now ready to remove from the grill.

Rotisserie instructions for “East-West” burners.

Place the roast in the center of the spit rod. Turn on the burner that is furthest away from the center or in some instances, the rear burner. Set the control to low and cook for approximately one hour trying to keep the temperature at or near 350 degrees. In order to get the temperature to 350 degrees you may have to turn on another burner. If so, set it to low as well. Do not turn any burners on high. You will burn the roast. There is more control when using two burners on low than one burner on high.

If you want a slower cook, temperatures around 250 degrees, you may be able to use one burner with a drip pan on top of it filled with water to control the heat. This is a similar method used when smoking meat to control the temperature. Most rear rotisserie burners will not let you cook below 350 degrees. With the Ducane 4-burner grill I have, If I want a slow cook, I can turn one burner on low and it will get to about 260 degrees.

Once the meat has reached 145 degrees internal temperature, take it off the grill and let it rest for at least five minutes.

After the meat has rested, you may now slice it any way you want. We have an electric meat slicer that is similar to what you can find in most delis. I cut some of the meat about 1/4 of an inch thick and then the rest, thinner for sandwiches or beef and cheese rolls.

We prefer our meat “medium rare” which is exactly how this roast came out after about 1 hour and 45 minutes of cooking. Below all of the roast is sliced. The one piece to the lower left would be for my Father in Law, if he were here. He loves the end pieces!

Every grill is different and cooking times will vary depending on grill type, grill size, desired level of doneness, etc. This recipe is just a guideline. You will have to experiment in order to get your perfect roast! One word of caution, low and slow gets it done! You can always cook your roast more if you need to. As the expression goes, “You can’t un-ring the bell”!

Enjoy!

I purchased this grill from Grillsdirect (Hayneedle) and after all was said and done, the price paid was $495.00 including shipping.

Arrival:
The grill arrived at 3:00 pm Friday. As others have noted, it came on a pallet. The bottom of one side of the box was damaged and I feared the worst. After going through the shipping issues, I would really have been upset if the grill arrived damaged. I ripped the box apart before the delivery person could leave to make sure there was no damage. Fortunately, there was none!

Assembly:
It took roughly one hour to assemble the grill. The instructions are nothing more than a bunch of pictures. A few pointers for those who purchase either the 3400 or the 4400.
There are 16 black bolts in one bag and 4 black bolts in another bag. All of the bolts in the 16 bolt bag are for the base/wheel installation. The 4 longer bolts are for the top of the grill.
Speaking of which, do not tighten any of the bolts for the frame until the doors are in. Also, when securing the top to the frame, place one bolt in and put the nut on just a couple of turns. Then put the other side bolt/nut in. After they are both in, then tighten them so the top is centered in the frame.
Another assembly tip, unscrew the bezel that holds the ignitor in place. Then, remove the ignitor and install the wires. Then, reinstall the ignitor. It is much easier to take it out and put it back than to try and attach those wires in a small space.

Firing up:
As I was putting the side trays on, I heard a loud bang from my garage. It appears as though the main spring for my garage door broke. I had to cut the broken piece off, re-thread the remainder of the old spring on to the new cone, and readjust the spring. This took about a half hour. Just enough time to burn in the new grill!
The grill fired right up (burners) and got to over 600 degrees in about 10 minutes. Heat doesn’t seem to be a problem.

Cooking the first meal:
The first meal was a few strip steaks. The grill cooked evenly and seared the outside and as you can see from the pictures, was cooked to perfection. My son seemed to enjoy it as it was the first thing he ate on his plate!

Second meal:
Rotisserie chicken. I put the chicken on the rotisserie, seasoned it, and let it spin for an hour and a half. The skin did not get a crispy as it did with the other grill, so, I decided to crisp it up a little by turning on the two bottom burners for 5 minutes. Do not repeat this mistake! There is no picture as the skin was burnt in a short period of time. Fortunately, the interior meat was still tender and juicy. I got lucky…again!
Third meal:
Hamburgers. I go to the meat market and get a bunch of ground chuck, add my seasonings and then place the meat in zip lock sandwich bags. One burger per bag, then freeze them. I usually have 10-15 burgers in the freezer at any given time. You never know who may show up!
I placed the frozen burgers on the grill and they cooked evenly on one side, flipped them over, cooked on the other side, flipped over again to get the “diamond pattern” on the burger, flipped over again.
Toasted the bun, and on they went. They were cooked perfectly, for me anyway, medium rare, just a pink line in the center of the burger, and were delicious.
Side burner:
Last night I made spaghetti with meatballs. As we got home a little late, and I took out too much meat for the normal number of meatballs, I had to cook two batches of meatballs. To boil the water for the pasta, I decided to use the side burner on the grill. It took about as long as it does on the stove to get the water to a boil, but, the grate on the burner is sturdy enough that when the 10 inch pot was put on it, it didn’t move around.

Cleaning:
After using the grill it was time for its first cleaning. Everything on the exterior cleaned up easily. The grates cleaned up fairly well. I may have to do a little more brushing.

Summary:
For grilling, this grill we do everything I want it to do. It is well designed (mostly, see below), easy to maintain, and after some modifications are made, will probably be the last grill for quite some time.

Issues:
The placement of the rotisserie burner ignitor.
Where the line comes out on the burner, it gets red hot when the burner is on and actually bends upward. I can see this failing in short order. As it is, the spark is very poor and I suspect that this is a wire issue as I switched the wire to several positions on the back of the ignitor. I’ll be calling Weber Monday regarding this issue.
The tube that feeds the rotisserie burner is exposed and all of the drippings land directly on it. This cannot be good in the long term. I plan on correcting this issue.

The side trays are an extra set of burners!
The side trays, as others have noted, get very hot. Too hot to touch! I have read about the heat sink modification, but, I am going to call Weber and see if they have a ready made solution for this.

Heat loss out the back.
Others have pointed this out and I plan on calling Weber to determine why they didn’t just extend the back metal piece up two inches to keep the heat in.

Planned modifications:
Depending on what Weber says, I will block off the rear panel to keep the heat in.
I will add some protection for the rotisserie burner tube.
I will add, again, depending on what Weber has to say, the heat sink modification for the side burners.
I like the way the lower portion of the grill, the drip area, is constructed and angled to the opening for the drip pan. I think that adding an inner liner of say one of those aluminum baking pans, to the bottom should keep that area from getting dirty.

As the paint has already splintered on the flavorizer bars, when I get a new set, I may convert this to a rack with lava rocks.

Favorite feature, a toss up between the drip pan and the “backstop” at the rear of the grill.

This grill is actually a little bit smaller than the Charmglow 4 burner. But, the cover still fits!

My one year review, which is overdue, will be coming out around the same time as the “Q” review.

I purchased this grill from Grillsdirect (Hayneedle) and after all was said and done, the price paid was $495.00 including shipping.

Arrival:
The grill arrived at 3:00 pm Friday. As others have noted, it came on a pallet. The bottom of one side of the box was damaged and I feared the worst. After going through the shipping issues, I would really have been upset if the grill arrived damaged. I ripped the box apart before the delivery person could leave to make sure there was no damage. Fortunately, there was none!

Assembly:
It took roughly one hour to assemble the grill. The instructions are nothing more than a bunch of pictures. A few pointers for those who purchase either the 3400 or the 4400.
There are 16 black bolts in one bag and 4 black bolts in another bag. All of the bolts in the 16 bolt bag are for the base/wheel installation. The 4 longer bolts are for the top of the grill.
Speaking of which, do not tighten any of the bolts for the frame until the doors are in. Also, when securing the top to the frame, place one bolt in and put the nut on just a couple of turns. Then put the other side bolt/nut in. After they are both in, then tighten them so the top is centered in the frame.
Another assembly tip, unscrew the bezel that holds the ignitor in place. Then, remove the ignitor and install the wires. Then, reinstall the ignitor. It is much easier to take it out and put it back than to try and attach those wires in a small space.

Firing up:
As I was putting the side trays on, I heard a loud bang from my garage. It appears as though the main spring for my garage door broke. I had to cut the broken piece off, re-thread the remainder of the old spring on to the new cone, and readjust the spring. This took about a half hour. Just enough time to burn in the new grill!
The grill fired right up (burners) and got to over 600 degrees in about 10 minutes. Heat doesn’t seem to be a problem.

Cooking the first meal:
The first meal was a few strip steaks. The grill cooked evenly and seared the outside and as you can see from the pictures, was cooked to perfection. My son seemed to enjoy it as it was the first thing he ate on his plate!

Second meal:
Rotisserie chicken. I put the chicken on the rotisserie, seasoned it, and let it spin for an hour and a half. The skin did not get a crispy as it did with the other grill, so, I decided to crisp it up a little by turning on the two bottom burners for 5 minutes. Do not repeat this mistake! There is no picture as the skin was burnt in a short period of time. Fortunately, the interior meat was still tender and juicy. I got lucky…again!
Third meal:
Hamburgers. I go to the meat market and get a bunch of ground chuck, add my seasonings and then place the meat in zip lock sandwich bags. One burger per bag, then freeze them. I usually have 10-15 burgers in the freezer at any given time. You never know who may show up!
I placed the frozen burgers on the grill and they cooked evenly on one side, flipped them over, cooked on the other side, flipped over again to get the “diamond pattern” on the burger, flipped over again.
Toasted the bun, and on they went. They were cooked perfectly, for me anyway, medium rare, just a pink line in the center of the burger, and were delicious.
Side burner:
Last night I made spaghetti with meatballs. As we got home a little late, and I took out too much meat for the normal number of meatballs, I had to cook two batches of meatballs. To boil the water for the pasta, I decided to use the side burner on the grill. It took about as long as it does on the stove to get the water to a boil, but, the grate on the burner is sturdy enough that when the 10 inch pot was put on it, it didn’t move around.

Cleaning:
After using the grill it was time for its first cleaning. Everything on the exterior cleaned up easily. The grates cleaned up fairly well. I may have to do a little more brushing.

Summary:
For grilling, this grill we do everything I want it to do. It is well designed (mostly, see below), easy to maintain, and after some modifications are made, will probably be the last grill for quite some time.

Issues:
The placement of the rotisserie burner ignitor.
Where the line comes out on the burner, it gets red hot when the burner is on and actually bends upward. I can see this failing in short order. As it is, the spark is very poor and I suspect that this is a wire issue as I switched the wire to several positions on the back of the ignitor. I’ll be calling Weber Monday regarding this issue.
The tube that feeds the rotisserie burner is exposed and all of the drippings land directly on it. This cannot be good in the long term. I plan on correcting this issue.

The side trays are an extra set of burners!
The side trays, as others have noted, get very hot. Too hot to touch! I have read about the heat sink modification, but, I am going to call Weber and see if they have a ready made solution for this.

Heat loss out the back.
Others have pointed this out and I plan on calling Weber to determine why they didn’t just extend the back metal piece up two inches to keep the heat in.

Planned modifications:
Depending on what Weber says, I will block off the rear panel to keep the heat in.
I will add some protection for the rotisserie burner tube.
I will add, again, depending on what Weber has to say, the heat sink modification for the side burners.
I like the way the lower portion of the grill, the drip area, is constructed and angled to the opening for the drip pan. I think that adding an inner liner of say one of those aluminum baking pans, to the bottom should keep that area from getting dirty.

As the paint has already splintered on the flavorizer bars, when I get a new set, I may convert this to a rack with lava rocks.

Favorite feature, a toss up between the drip pan and the “backstop” at the rear of the grill.

This grill is actually a little bit smaller than the Charmglow 4 burner. But, the cover still fits!

My one year review, which is overdue, will be coming out around the same time as the “Q” review.