Tired tootsies on track

Happy national running day! How did you celebrate? We did a family run after dinner. I had hemmed and hawed all day. It was a cold dreary day here in New Hampshire. And it was a non-running day for me since I had run yesterday afternoon. I could come up with a million excuses if you want me to. Oh and I had bacon for dinner...there was no way I could run after eating bacon! But John thought a quick three miles sounded like a good idea. And We did 3.18 in 30:06. Rock on!



Goals for 2014: 500 miles, sub 25 min 5k and sub 2 hour half.

Mileage to date is 280.77 and with several long races in my future to train for I should hit that by October. Fastest 5k has been 27:20 and my last half fell short by 9:51. My goals are within striking distance, but seem so lofty!

My biggest goal is to stay healthy and so far that has been ok. I have been plodding along with two bouts of strep, a nagging knee pain, and lately my calves have been grumbling at me since I changed up my gait.

So here's to a great second half of 2014. Looking forward to what the second half will bring. New races, new challenges, and a fancy new pair of running sneakers!




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We have spoken and we demand to be heard!

This is a message to our dear friends on the Board of Selectman. The town has spoken. We voted nearly 2:1 to keep our police department as our own. We voted to have seven full time officers. We voted to not have the Belknap sheriffs department not provide services which would not be equivalent to the services we are supposed to have. How are four full time sheriffs supposed provide the same coverage as seven? How does that math even make sense?

The town has spoken. We voted to have a full time fire chief command our fire department. We do not want to merge or form a partnership with Gilmanton or Pittsfield. We already work together with these departments in the form of mutual aid on a very regular basis. If regionalization is even a potential reality, I demand to see your master plan. How is the police or fire commission going to be set up? What is the long term plan if one town wants to get out in a year or two? How much will it cost?

Have you even looked into the RSAs that would allow for such a change? Have you considered the large expense involved in getting all of our equipment matching from each of these departments? You currently have one town using MSA breathing apparatus and another using Scott. They are not compatible. What about the cost of building a central station? You cannot realistically put a station in North Barnstead and expect them to respond to the Northwood town line in Pittsfield in a timely manner. Or respond to the corners in Gilmanton. But I am sure you have already considered all of this because you must have a five to ten year plan already if you are already proposing such a change.

We have spoken and we demand that you respect us as your constituents. Personal agendas need to be put aside. The bullying needs to stop. It's time to put the town of BARNSTEAD front and center. We demand a police chief, a fire chief and more than one full time police officer. We demand that you hire another full time firefighter and keep our town safe.

We have spoken and we will not allow this to be brushed under the table while you destroy our town. We demand to be heard! Do not push us aside because those of us who put our lives on the line for this town will push right back.
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Needs vs wants

I am writing in reply to a letter featured in the Baysider this week. Since when has the BARNSTEAD BOS ever put the needs of the town before their own agendas? Seriously? They have never once shown the ability to put the needs of our town before their wants! This had been seen time and time again with the firing of our elected road agent, and the "retirements" of the police chief and the fire chief. The real need here is public safety and the BOS are compromising each and every resident's safety by letting our police and fire be without commanders in chief. Sure we have adequate officers on our fire department and I am not knocking their abilities one bit. I have full faith that I can follow my officer into a fire and he will get me out safely. But the need goes beyond what is happening inside. Someone needs to fulfill the hierarchy of incident command and then complete all administrative duties that go with this position.

And one fulltime police officer? I am sure Sargent McDowell is being stretched thin at this point. How many hours can one person realistically work during the week. We cannot rely on one fulltime officer when there are supposed to be seven including a chief. It's ridiculous to think that our town is safe.

I am proud to work alongside these men and women of our fire, police, EMS personnel. I do not believe for one minute that our leaders of these departments think that the taxpayers dollars do not matter and that all they do is want, want, want. We need adequate equipment to protect ourselves and this town. And we need an adequate number of trained people to run that equipment. By cutting two firefighter/EMT positions, how is the ambulance supposed to roll out the door? By law, there needs to be two certified EMTs on that bus in order to transport a patient. And the majority of our call EMTs do not work in this town during the day. I know I can't leave my fulltime job to respond to a call. This is true for most of us.

What would happen if you or your loved one called 911 and there was no one to help? That is the dangerous road our BOS are leading us down. Think very carefully about what your needs versus wants are when your house is burning down or you are suffering a medical emergency. What will your needs be then? You need and want the fire department. To me needs and realistic wants are a simple answer.



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Sometimes it takes a village

First I would like to thank everyone who has read and shared my blog. I had over 450 hits in the last day. WOW! My letter has been sent to all the local papers.

Tonight I would like to address firefighter and scene safety. As I wrote last night, it is important to have an incident commander at every call. This person is set back from the chaos and active work to control that chaos. Number 1 is firefighter and EMS personnel safety. If the chief or other officer is expected to be part of that active scene than safety is compromised. When will the board of selectmen realize this? After someone is seriously hurt or worse. I do not want to say goodbye to another firefighter lost too soon. It sucks plain and simple.

Yet the selectmen's budget proposal doesn't allow for the hiring of a new firefighter to fill one of the open positions nor does it provide for adequate part time staffing to cover when people are off. This essentially brings us down two firefighters. Now neither my husband nor myself are fortunate enough to live and work in the same town. This goes for the majority of the call firefighters in the area. So what happens when there is a major incident during normal work hours? Who is going to show up to assist those on duty. Who will be in charge if the chief has to work interior attack because there are not enough bodies. It comes down to compromised scene safety and how much value we put on human life. I do not want anyone to ever have to explain to my son that his mom or dad's life was not worth it because budget cuts were necessary due to personal agendas.

Firefighting is probably the most physically challenging tasks I will ever undertake. That goes for my fellow firefighters. We need enough people on scene to allow us adequate rehab breaks. The number one cause of firefighter death is due to heart attacks at scenes or shortly thereafter.

The BARNSTEAD BOS is completely reckless with the lives of not only our civil servants, but also the lives of the towns people. We need to stand united and take a stand against their out of control behavior. I do not want it come down to the lives of my brothers and sisters before some change is made.

Remember...the BOS forgets they work for me. I am a voting tax payer of this town and I will not allow them to drag us down. They are elected to oversee the running of the town. Oversee, not micromanage.

Maybe it's time to ask them why one of them is no longer the police chief and why the other is no longer involved in the fire department.

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Spring in NH

It's been awhile since I have done a blog post. Life is busy happening and there are a many good things happening in the world of chez Savage. I had the pleasure of completing my 10th or 11th half marathon back at the beginning of May and the miles have been continuing to pile up. I am to the point that 8 miles doesn't feel like anything to me. I no longer feel the need to nap for hours when I get back. I can come home, have some food, take a shower, and be ready to chase the crazy kid around for the rest of the day. And I have been enjoying my early morning runs around town listening to audiobooks. Thank you to my old high school friend who suggested it because conversations with myself just weren't doing it for me.

The Barnstead Firefighters Association has started a scholarship in memory of Jake and it's just taken on a life of its own. We have sold over 200 shirts as of tonight and we are still taking orders until next week. John and I will be making a delivery to the north country in a few weeks when we go to complete a half marathon as a relay. I look forward to meeting my competitor in shirt sales. I have learned how small the fire service is and it makes me so proud to be a part of it.

Next weekend I have my first 15k. It's actually 10 miles and a trip around Bow Lake. At least it's close to home. Then the week after we head to Colebrook for a weekend of family camping, running, and hiking.

So spring which seemed to begin last week is rapidly heading towards warmer days and time at our beach. The days are getting longer and softball starts in a few weeks. There are good things ahead...


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From my soapbox...accountability.

When we first moved to this town of Barnstead I decided I would join our fire department as a way to integrate myself into the community and contribute to helping neighbors in need. I had no ulterior motives and no personal agenda other than giving back. However it has come to my attention that not everyone feels this way and it has become very clear that our elected officials do not approach their job as selectmen without personal agenda and ulterior motives. It's disgusting and disheartening. They have bullied and harassed with the most knit picking micro management until we no longer have any department heads leading the fire department the police department, and the highway department.

Now I find out that one of them took it upon himself to go to the town of Gilmanton to see if they wanted to merge departments...police, fire, and highway. This is the same selectman who stated at last nights meeting that he wants the new fire chief to live in town...is that because he already has someone picked out, but forgot that the BARNSTEAD firefighters association has to be directly involved in the selection process. Oops forgot about that contract you signed a few years ago. Oh and he never mentioned last night that he was at Gilmanton's s meeting the night before.

Another wants a chief who works...hello what has the current chief been doing? The fire chief needs to be an administrative position. He should not be dragging hose and working interior during a structure fire. He needs to be at the command post making sure that his firefighters are safe and accounted for. Why would anyone suggest that the chief be working shifts? Because he clearly does not understand what a fire chief is supposed do. And he kept reminding us that he used to be on the fire department. Then he should know first hand what makes an effective chief. The fire service has changed a lot since his days. It was recently named the third most stressful work environment. We deal with inherently dangerous situations and we need someone to lead us. I have a husband and child at home and I want to come home to them at the end of the day. I want safety and accountability for my fellow brothers and sisters to be at the forefront of each call we go on. We all come home. It's what we are repeatedly taught in training. Our safety first...all else second.

Accountability...that is a perfect word for tonight's post. The people of this town need to start holding the board of selectman accountable. They are running this town into the ground. It's time we stand up and take our town back. I love this town and hate to see the current state of affairs that three members of the BOS have created with their personal agendas. Please go to the meetings on Tuesday nights...ask question! It's time to turn the tables on them.


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Paying it forward

So a friend is in training for a 40 miles ultra this year as part of her 40th birthday celebration. I am mile 14 and for my end of the bargain I was given 5 dollars to do with as I see fit to pay it forward. Now those five dollars have been sitting in a drawer since late December. When I originally signed up for the challenge I figured it would be so easy to come up with a plan for using that money for the greater good. Not so much when push came to shove. I was coming up with nothing...zip, zilch, nada. Until this evening...

Tonight I asked my husband what he would do and he asked me what are some things I care about. So I listed off Grayson, him, my family, the fire department. Then he asked what I could use those five dollars to turn them into something more. And there it is folks....my grand plan for paying it forward.

What do I love? What is my blog about...I am going to combine my love of yarn and my love of running. So stayed tuned because I will be hitting my sweat shop to help my friend celebrate her birthday and her 40 miler.


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Simplify

2014 is all about making my day to day less stressful. I have so many things I want to get done and only so many hours in my day. So I started off my day looking for new and different crockpot recipes. Specifically I want make ahead dishes that I can freeze and pop them into the crockpot for a yummy home cooked meal. I started pretty simple. First up is my tried and true crockpot Mac and cheese. That will be followed by an Apple BBQ pork tenderloin, then a Mexican casserole consisting of ground beef, kidney beans, diced tomatoes and chilis, taco seasoning and gree pepper. Also threw together cranberry BBQ chicken breasts that I put into the freezer for next weekend. This should get me through the week with plenty of leftovers for lunch or dinner since Grayson and I will be on our own after Wednesday for a few days. I enjoy a nice cooked dinner, but getting home with a mobile almost one year old doesn't allow a lot of time for cooking. So we shall give this a try.




Got a smaller crockpot for Christmas after Grayson broke the handle off of my other one. It's still usable, but I felt like I always made way too much. This one is a 4 quart and seems more manageable. I already made a chicken dish the week after Christmas and it should get plenty of use in the next few weeks as I experiment with new recipes. Thankfully the interweb is a great resource for recipes and I hope the freeze ahead method works well.

On another note I got my new running sneakers out today. Anything to make the treadmill a happier experience. And yes they made me run fast!

Now it's off to think about taking the Christmas tree down and reclaiming my house.

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Location:White Birch Rd,Barnstead,United States

New year, new goals!

So I sat here last year on this very day and set a ridiculous running goal for myself. I don't remember how many I said I was going to run. It was something like 500 or some crazy number. I did not know then that I would be laid up for 8 weeks after the baby was born or that he was going to grace us with his presence a week late. Needless to say I did not reach my groove until late summer. Then I did manage several months of 45 plus miles.

Bring on 2014. I can now run sub 8 minute miles and I have dropped all of my pregnancy weight plus another 15 or pounds. I am back at my high school weight and feel awesome. I still have that annoying post baby hernia, but it doesn't cause me any pain so I will ignore it for now.

Well what are my goals...I am going to run the big lake in May and I would like to do it under 2 hours. I want to run a sub 25 minute 5k and I can't find one for this weekend! If anyone has one coming up...let me know I will join you. I have been running like a gazelle this week and am itching for a road race.

I am going to the Seacoast Series again. I really enjoyed the series. Also hoping for a destination race with my running buddy. Looks like I will have a full plate this year. Hoping to stay healthy and injury free as I pile on my miles. Here's to 500 happy miles!



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Who knew??

65.73 miles completed for September! That is all!


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In the home stretch...

I am in the home stretch of my September goal. I set my lofty goal back on September 1 to do 45 miles this month. I am safe to say that I am well over 30 miles. This may not seem like a lot to a seasoned runner, but I have come a long way this year. I have also fell below the 120 lb mark for the first time since high school. I went into the hospital topping the scales at 179 and have since lost 61 pounds. I feel great and I stepped into my first pair of skinny jeans over the weekend. Thanks to John who convinced me to get them instead of my usual boot cut jeans.

If all goes well, I should be almost at my goal before I leave for my conference next week. The weather forecast for San Antonio is the low 90s, but everyone keeps telling me its a dry heat so I should be able to get outside to run after our sessions let out for the day. But really I am looking forward to the RiverWalk and doing some shopping while there. It'll also be the first time I am away from Grayson for more than one night. I think it's going to be a lot worse on me than him.

So now it's time to relax with my pointy sticks and string and some chai tea. Made it through Wednesday...looking forward to the rest of the week and my treasured weekend.


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Another one down

Last night was our last long race of the Seacoast Series. I have lived in New Hampshire all of my life and I had never been to the town of Newington prior to last evening. I mean I have been to the mall and Pease Air Force Base, but never to the actual village of Newington. It was quaint and secluded. Great small town field that happens to have a runway bordering it on one side and Great Bay on another. It has all the benefits of being a small town, but with the Seacoast just down the road. I could live there very easily.
All that aside it was a pretty tough 5 miler with lots of hills, but I think all of my running with the jogging stroller is paying off. I managed 9.17 minutes per mile. Crazy! That is almost as fast I was two years ago before the pregnancy. And I have to say I feel great. From Sunday to Saturday I put in 20.5 miles and that was only four runs.
Today is my off day. I am going to lounge around the house, do some housework and hopefully get my wrap done. And of course, the Patriot play their opener today. All in all looks to be a good day.
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Change in routine

I am not one for change. It's Saturday and normally I am getting ready for my run, but not today. We have an off hour road race today and it starts a 5pm. Just strange for a weekend. Instead I am going to start my early morning with a cup of tea and my knitting. Something I don't do enough these days.

I have a wrap to finish before I get cranking on my Christmas knitting. It's a lovely linen lace piece that I have been working on and off all summer. And I want it done before my conference in two weeks. I just have to sit down and make it happen. It's an eight row repeat and I find I am bored with it at this point. Don't get me wrong, it's very pretty and I will post pictures when I am done, but it just seems to be taking forever with the fingering weight.



So I am off...to make things happen today! Happy Saturday! Enjoy the picture from our camp fire last night. It was the perfect night at home.


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We made it to September.

Well it's September 3rd and I am 10.5 miles in. Only 32 more to go to hit my September goal. And it's going to be a busy month. One race on the docket, a business trip to Texas, camping in Vermont, and apple picking round out the weekend plans.

So onto September 5 and I completed another 5 miles. I like having a goal and even though I am no where near my year long goal made back on New Years...I am still happy with my achievements thus far. It has felt like a long road back and I am finally seeing some serious progress. I have been running a lot by myself pushing the jogging stroller and towing the little dog. She has finally gotten the hang of where she needs to be in relation to the stroller so she does not get the run down feeling. Although she has learned that if she drags behind enough we will put her in the stroller with Grayson. We aren't going to lolly gag! I usually have to get a baby ready for bed and dinner going so there is time factor in my afternoon runs.



And besides my fulltime job, I have also taken on teaching a lab at UNH this fall. Because really...I didn't have enough going on in my life. I guess I like the challenge of being really busy.


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Packing on the miles

I have been diligently keeping track of my mileage since I got the go ahead to start running again back at my six week check up. I have to say I have the second best month. In April I did 45 miles and this month I did 41.8...I would've have tied April, but it was thundering on Wednesday when I was going to hit the pavement. I have no excuse for the rest of the week other than life got in the way. So my goal for September will be to beat August. We only have one scheduled road race coming up so almost all of my running will be up to me. Just do it!

This morning I took Grayson and Scout on my run in the thick summer air. It really was not a good time, but I got it in the books and I can hang out working around the house for the rest of the day. I have baking I want to do and some knitting. There is a bounty of yummy goodness sitting on my kitchen counter. So far we have made two loaves of zucchini bread and John is making pickled beets as I write.

Next up banana chocolate chip muffins! Sounds like they need peanut butter! Mmmmmm





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My clothesline

I finally broke down and bought a real clothesline. It has been two summers since my other one was taken down to put up a shed. Since we out it up, I swear it has rained nonstop, but finally this week I am going to be able to hang my clothes out before I go to work. It's a good thing we get up super early at chez Savage because I can a load washed and hung out before its time for me to get to work. We will see how much use I get out of it as the weather takes a turn this week.




So the week is over and I only used it once...was going to hang out the sheets today, but the threat of severe weather thwarted that plan. And no, we never got any storms today. But the heat has finally broken and I will attempt to hang my laundry out tomorrow when the weather promises to be better. Finally going to shut the air conditioners off tonight and we are planning a trek up Mt. Major in the morning...will be Grayson's first hike. Hopefully he will keep his hat on and enjoy his ride with his dad. Then it will be back home for a swim and I will be hard at work making baby food and blueberry pie.


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Great place for ideas

I have to admit that I am an interweb junky. I love google, I love google plus and I will even admit I love Pinterest. This past week while on vaca I played with different ideas I found on the web.



Started with the Food Network's kitchen sink cookies which were a bit of a disappointment. Way to squishy for my liking...they seemed like they were lacking something and on paper they sounded great. They had dried cherries, apricots, oatmeal and dark chocolate chunks...I mean yum! But really weren't worth the effort of chopping everything up. The next recip I tried was a chicken salad with tostadas. The World Wide Web redeemed itself with this one. Restored my faith that good recipes actually exist out there. In all seriousness I use the Internet for recipes all of the time, but those are usually things I have tried before.

The next brilliant idea I found on Pinterest. With a teething baby in the house who chews on his fingers nonstop, I needed to figure out a way to give him relief. He can't have ice so I looked for some other option. Enter breast milk Popsicles. I make pops for myself all summer so why not do the same for the baby. I bought tiny molds on amazon and filled them with good old fashioned boob juice. He loved them!


I still have a bunch of recipes waiting to be tried, but with all of our weeknight activities they will have to wait until the weekend. And who knows what I will find next because you know I will be searching and scouring in my free moments. And yes I know those free moments should be spent finishing up my many WIPs that are sitting on my coffee table...three to be exact.

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Last day of vaca

It's our last day of vacation and on tap we have Grayson's six month pictures. How did that happen? How did six months already fly by? He has changed so much and has developed quite the personality as of late. John spent the last week working hard on the basement with my dad and his mom while I entertained the baby.

I only managed two runs in the last week. This summer has killed my mojo because its been miserably humid. We had one nice day and I managed to get the lawn mowed while the temps and humidity were down.


Got up super early this morning and was back at home by seven. I did my loop around the Parade and back up. It wasn't so bad out on the pavement, but in the woods the bugs almost sent me over the edge. The deer flies are at their worst right now and I got attacked whenever the dog slowed down. She didn't really seem to be into this morning and I felt like I was dragging her along the entire time. I didn't take John or the baby and Scout kept looking behind her for her family.

Been doing quite a bit of knitting this week in moments of downtime. I have half finished a drop stitch scarf and have almost finished my linen wrap. Both should be done in the next week or two.....

As you can see, Grayson is worn out from his almost constant playing. And I swear you give him this blanket and he knows its time to crash. He pulled it over himself and off to sleep he went. Now I can go get some things done!

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The dreadmill.....

We have been locked into high humidity here in New Hampshire the past several weeks and this week the high temps have joined in the fun. I get up pretty much every day between 5 and 515 am to get ready for work. I start with pumping, then it's onto making lunches for me and the baby, breakfast follows that and somewhere in the mix I get the baby dressed and get myself into scrubs. So in the blink of an eye it's time to head out the door and off to work. Simply put I just don't have time to run before work and after its just too gross outside when we get home.

Today I took to the treadmill. I got 35 minutes in and managed 3.75 miles in that time. The a/c was set at 64, but it was definitely a lot warmer in there than that. Doesn't help that there is a gaping hole in the plexiglass that is above the a/c. Really? Who thought that was a good idea? No wonder Charlotte decided to build her web right there...easy access to all of t he bugs that must stream in once evening hits.

And my goal is to hit the treadmill again tomorrow...I have a half I have committed to and need to get on with my training despite the weather. I need to stop making excuses and do it. But the pond will also be calling my name since temps are again supposed to make a run into the 90s. Resist the urge and get the run done!

Then it will be onto vacation and spending a week with our little boy! I cannot wait. I love the idea that daycare closes for two weeks out of the year and I am "forced" to use my time off. It's a new concept for me and I plan on taking full advantage of it.

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Location:Barnstead,United States

Weekend happiness

I finally began training for my next half. In reality I just started running again after a week of an upset stomach that was followed by a week of really ad allergies/and perhaps a touch of Grayson's cold. I didn't work out and I didn't knit.

Now that I am feeling better, we have started to get back into our groove. Softball has us on Monday nights and then the rest of the week is ours. But the weather in the past week has been warm and humid. I sweat just thinking about going for a run.

Yesterday we didn't workout, but knocked out the painting on the basement. Thankfully my parents and John's mom came up to help. My mom watched the baby and the rest of us managed to get the whole thing done in one day. Never did we think we would get it completed in one day, but we did and got to enjoy our Sunday.

Today was spent getting spit up on and playing with the baby. He is so much more interactive these days and we are really enjoying his budding personality. He loves his exersaucer which we jokingly refer to as his command post. He spins around in it playing with the different toys like it's his job. I love watching him grow and develop every day.

I have also managed some serious knitting this weekend. I am more than half done my lace wrap and almost half done on a sock yarn snake for the little guy. I have so many projects to get done in the coming month...I want to finish my wrap and start the drop stitch scarf. Both items will be perfect to dress up my favorite outfits.

And we got the laundry done! Now it's back to the old grind, but one week to go until vaca. Been back at work three months...it's definitely time to enjoy my little family for a week.


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