Water For Good

Next weekend we are taking part in a fundraiser designed to let people know how good we have it and to encourage those who are blessed to help out the less fortunate.  In many places in the world people do not have access to water clean or dirty at their home.  Instead they must walk 1, 2, 3 maybe 5 or more miles to get water for their everyday needs.

Imagine what it is like having only 5 gallons of water to use everyday, and you have to fetch that water from a source that is  at least 1 mile from your home, but wait there is more.  The water you bring home is not even clean water, but can be not only muddy, but could contain disease.

That is the situation many people face.  One organization is working to solve that problem by digging wells in central africa and then setting up a program where the town is responsible for maintaining the well.  They don't just walk away, they also help with the maintenance, but want the town to be part of the solution and bare responsibility as well.

As part of raising awareness me and Starry will be carrying 5 gallon of water for 1 mile (it i probably less then a mile, but we get the picture by the end of our short trek).  We are asking people to help, by donating at least $5.  Every $5 provides a year of clean water for a person in the Central African Republic, ending their walk for dirty water!

Donate here at Our Donation Page  - This is our second year.

Learn more about Water for Good here Water for Good

Biking with Activity Tacker

It has been a while since I have been able to put any thoughts down.  Last Easter I had three boys (ages 1, 2 and 5) enter my home through the NH DCYF.  They went home before Thanksgiving.  On December 18 I received two boys ages 3 and 8.  When June came around I realized I was at zero energy and not able to meet all the commitments the boys brought to the home so they were transferred out of my home the middle of June.

I've spent the last month or so recovering and then this past Saturday I was looking forward to taking a bike ride to our Men's Breakfast at our church.  Saturday morning I woke up an hour early and got ready and was heading out the door when I realized what time it really was.  Went back to bed and got some more sleep.  Then headed out the 10 or so miles to our church. I've only done a few errands on the bike the past week and just started running again last week as well.  During the past year I gained back the 10 pounds I had lost in my fitness program.

Biking to the event was good.  I had some energy left and even managed not to pig out at the breakfast buffet.  But after an hour I was not ready to bike home, but had no other options, so back I went.  It was tougher, and took a little longer, but I made it back and was pretty useless for the rest of the morning.  Ended up taking a nap at noon.

As part of my routine to encourage me to stay active I've been wearing my Polar activity tracker and it does well, but on the bike ride - very disappointing.  I realize that it doesn't track when my arm is still so i stuck it in my pants so it would get the motion from pedalling.  Well after the trip there and back it barely registered 2,500 steps.  You got to be kidding, 20 miles later and I had nothing to show.  I do realized I coast at times, but that was just plan disappointing.

I have now switched to the new Garmin Vivoactive, which has a biking and running feature so I get credit for what I really am doing and it has a GPS unit to track my mileage, speed, pace, cadence (for biking I think you need to purchase a separate sensor).

Staying fit is not cheap.

5K Turkey Trot 2013 - PR

Time for another 5K race - same one as last year so I was hoping to see how much I improved.  To develop a plan I ran the course a few weeks prior.  My plan was to do the first mile under 11 minutes while I warmed up.  Then the next mile I wanted to maintain 10 and the last mile I had done under 9 minutes so I should be able to make it to the finish line at 30 minutes.

Weather was 22 degrees F with a very light wind.  Last year the temperatures were in the 40's and for my practice run in the 50's, so big difference and not a good sign for setting a personal best.

Started out at a faster pace then I did last year, with a time of 9:54 and HR average of 150, but the pace felt right, so I stuck with it.  The hill went about as planned, at 10:22 and an average HR of 162. So far my average heart rate was up a lot higher for longer then I had trained with in the past.  Now I wasn't sure how the last mile would go and was wondering if I made a mistake and pushed it too hard and fast on the first part of the race, but I still felt okay.  Tried to pick up the pace, but it didn't seem like I was going that much faster, HR average ended up at 166 with a max of 173, but despite the feeling my pace was faster at 8:52, some slight downhills helped.  The last tenth was slower, but still under 10. Finished with an official time of 31:00 last time I finished at 32:36.

Due to the cold I feel pretty good about my time. They also say the cold will increase the heart rate a bit too. The fastest runners were about 10 seconds slower then last year, so it wasn't just me.  If they had a timed us from the starting line, instead of gun time, I might have actually gotten a time under 30 minutes (or at least that's what I'm going to tell myself.)

576   617 Dana         M   MANCHESTER        NH  54/86   341/585  M50-59  31:00 10:00 

Cigna 5K in Manchester, NH after a long day

Ran the Cigna 5K today and this was my schedule for the day.

7:50 AM biked 7.25 miles to the Boston Express Bus

3:10 PM Walked 1 mile to the South Station in Boston

4:50 PM Biked 7.5 miles home, took the longer way home to avoid some hills and keep the heart rate as low as possible

5:50 PM Walked 1 mile to the starting line

6:24 PM Ran 5 K in 35:40

Then walked the mile home and cooled down.

Considering I've only been biking the past two months and not really doing any running over 1 mile, I was very happy with the results.  Did not walk at all, but kept a steady pace the whole distance, though the hill at the very end slowed me way down.

Love From Heaven

Starry singing her very first solo. 

We were told the children could sing a solo during the children's Christmas program at church on Sunday.  After some thought Starry decided she wanted to sing a song and picked out this number.  We got the backing track and words from www.Nubeat.org.  She originally heard it on the Christmas album we bought and downloaded onto her MP3 player.

Let us know what you think.

5K Derry NH Turkey Trot

Was the rear guard for several friends who participated in the 5K Turkey Trot in Derry, NH.  This is my second official 5K race and I knew that it would be easy to beat my first race time of 40+ minutes.  Tough part was actually trying to figure out what to wear since you have to stand and wait for the race to start.  Lucky for me Stephen Waldron pushed his son down to the race with us and I was able to store a jacket and hat in the stroller during the race.


Started off on the slow side, the air was cold and my lungs don't do well sucking in cold air when they have not warmed up.  At the 1 mile mark the time was about 12 minutes.  The next mile contained the category 5 hill, just a short thing, and not that bad.  I arrived at the 2 mile marker in about 10 minutes, my heart rate was over 160 and hitting 170.  I arrived at the finish line in a personal best  official time of 32.36, very pleased.

Reviewing my heart rate data it took me 1 mile to warm up.  After the 1 mile my heart rate was in zone 5 or around 160 or above for the remaining 2.1 miles.  My average heart rate was 160 with a max of 176.  I could feel my thighs after the race and not sure if I had warmed up for a mile if I could have run another mile in zone 5.  But I did feel that I pushed about as fast as I could the whole way, had enough to do a little sprint to the finish line.  I could still walk so perhaps I could have gone longer.  I guess I'll have to run a few more races to figure it all out.

It was an enjoyable experience and can't wait to run my next race, until then I'll have to do a little training.

726   645 Dana M   MANCHESTER        NH  64/86   401/608  M50-59  32:36 10:31

Why I am voting for

I do not believe that our Government can or should try to solve all our problems.  Our country is founded by strong independent people who have came up with many great solutions to the problems we faced.  I visited the former Soviet Union and their Government tried to solve their problems.  They did redistribute wealth and it did not work.  The people had no reason to work hard because they would not get ahead.  

When Obama talks about making others pay their fair share he is talking about redistributing wealth.  Why should someone pay more just because they have more.  Do we not all benefit equally from living in this free country.  Should the price of gas depend upon the price of your car?  Or the price of your groceries cost more based upon the size of your kitchen? That what you doing when you talk about someone else paying their fair share.  Romney paid over 1 billion dollar in taxes, why should he be required to pay even more just because he has the money.  What gives the president the right to tax someone just because they make more money.  This sounds a lot like Obama is trying to start a class war, we are all equal and should all equally contribute to the government.  But I do believe a flat tax would be too hard on the poor so what we have no is not perfect, but is about as fair as we can get.  With room for improvement of course.

On the subject of Choice.  I do believe that everyone should have a choice, but for most people that choice should come before conception and not a matter of convenience after conception.  Once conception has taken place I still believe in Choice, but all the parties involved should make the choice and one of them has not learned to talk. I believe that life starts at conception so killing that unborn would be murder.  I also believe that science has shown the viability of that life.

I want a smaller government.  I do not want a department of education.  The states can do a better job.  We spend more per student then any other nation in the world and the results do not show this.  Spending more is not always the answer.  We need to spend smarter and I think the charter schools are a good start.

Charter schools save me money, it costs about $2,000 less per student.

They help reduce class size in over crowded public schools without the cost of building more schools.

I also believe that the local community can make better decisions and can come up with better solutions if they are not burdened with requirements placed upon them by a federal government no matter how well meaning they are.  Let's use our Yankee ingenuity to solve out problems.

Obama care will become the mess they have in Canada where they have government healthcare.  Also, check out the tax rates of other countries.  France and Germany have personal tax rates over 50%.  The more the government does for the people the more money they need from the people who are working.  I do not like fact that I work hard for my money and then it is taken and given to someone who is not working.  I believe that I cans see the need and make the difference myself and do not want someone else tell me how to be charitable.  

I could go on, but that is enough for now.  

My vote is for Romney.

Also, vote for Hillsborough County Attorney Patricia M. LaFrance - she's a democrat, but worth voting for.