We are HERE

WE ARE HERE.. In Sunny COLD Florida... and I think everyone who lives in Florida resides in OCALA...

The traffic here put my morning commute in PA to shame...I pictured Horse Farms.. countryside.. and flowers.. not even close... so far.. the words .. PHILLY... seem to be more accurate.. will see what tomorrow brings..

I took some more notes on drive from Savannah to Ocala... (thats me in the pic)
..not much to report.. other than the 45 minutes it took at Quiznos to get our lunch ...OH...and that I almost ran over an older guy with my truck at the Florida Welcome Center... I mean I felt REALLY bad... it was an honest mistake..!!... thank goodness his wife caught him....and that he didn't smack my truck with his cane... DONT ASK...poor old man.. jeez us... I am going to H-ll for sure...

Went to the Walmart and got us a couple throw away sweatshirts.. figured that would be the best option for tomorrow's freeze start and the subsequent heat finish... only problem is that I have issues with actually THROWING the sweatshirt away... I don't know.. I am not sure why I can't part with things.. I mean it was purchased for this reason.. was $5... it will be given to charity (whomever pics it up will send it to charity)..... and it's really a nice throw away sweatshirt.. sigh..

Heading for our pasta dinner.. Joe is done being mad at me now...DON'T ASK.... I guess too much togetherness on the ride down is taking it's toll.. GEE THAT DIDN'T TAKE LONG! :)

Freeze Warning?

YO.. so we wake up in Savannah, GA...and it's like 30 degrees out... so I weather.com it and according to the hopefully inaccurate weather people... they say that tomorrow.. MARATHON DAY.. will start at 27 degrees in sunny Ocala.. and be around 60 degrees by the time we finish... NOT believing that because we will be in FLORIDA.... I go on NOAA (National Weather).. and there is a FREEZE warning for Ocala for tonight... with this statement:

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSONVILLE HAS ISSUED A FREEZE WARNING... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM TO 9 AM SUNDAY. COLD HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING INTO THE REGION WILL ALLOW FOR SUB-FREEZING TEMPERATURES THIS MORNING. DURATIONS OF 3 TO 5 HOURS BELOW 32 DEGREES WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH MINIMUM TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER 20S. AREAS OF FROST WILL BE POSSIBLE. ANOTHER FREEZE EVENT IS EXPECTED SATURDAY TONIGHT WITH MINIMUM TEMPERATURES BOTTOMING OUT IN THE UPPER 20S EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. LIGHT WINDS WILL ALLOW FOR A HEAVY FROST AS WELL.

SOOO.. how does a Pennsylvaniaite dress for running 4+ hours when the temp jumps 8 degrees each hour????

7am: 27 degrees

8am: 32 degrees

9am: 40 degrees

10am: 48 degrees

11am: 55 degrees

Noon: 60 degrees

Do you start in a snowsuit and end in a bathing suit..??... WTF!!!!!

PS: We just slept 11 hours straight.

PSS: I stand corrected!!! ... So although there were only 3 cars in parking lot at hotel last night... there must have been TWO BUSES hiding somewhere.. that’s why all the rooms were sold out... I will remove the pins from the voodoo doll . HOLY SH-T trying to get the free breakfast was hard.. GIVE ME that biscuit!

(Where did they fit all those kids!!!??)

Rule the World

We are in Savannah, GA... took us 12+ hours of "blissful" driving...

Let see....I took some notes.. we were up a total of 36+ hours straight ...(Thursday @ 5:30am went to work, then came home, packed, and then left for our trip at midnight.. it is now Friday @ 6:30pm).. yeah working on that mental aspect of staying awake for 36+ hours in case I ever do like the Western States 100 miler race or something....UM NOT....

Eyeballs feel like they are coming out of their sockets..... encountered some oh WAY TOO CHEERFUL PEOPLE in Virginia....stepford??....saw Lava chunks in the road... I DID!...black rocks with steam coming off them ... yeah must be those hallucinations settling in...

Sleep deprivation... think I am going to die... a-shole in hotel wouldn’t let us in our room when we arrived at 1:30pm... told us we had to wait until 2:30pm.. ..MAN DON’T BE MESSING WITH MY TIRED A_S!!!....he said it was because they were overbooked.. funny we were one of three cars in parking lot..

Joe bought me a T-Shirt.. how fitting! LIFE is GOOD!

We are on V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!! Next Stop OCALA... OH BABY!

Joe & his Furry Coach

This is Joe getting instruction from his coach (aka: the kitty..... )

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed.

Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve.

It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or gazelle - when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."
- Unknown

Colorado State Games

Well, I qualified for the 2009 Colorado State Games.... cool huh???...They hold these games every two years and by “winning” a spot in the top three of my age group in my track events (400M, 800M, 1500M, & 3000M) in the summer of 2007... I qualified to go…they just sent me the announcement… of course the fact that out of the four events I did in 2007, that I was the only one in my age group for two of them should not deter my enthusiasm for qualifying! ...HA..Remember it’s who shows up to run!!

Alas, I cannot go... it’s during the Duffy Family Vacation and well it’s a LONG drive to Colorado.. so will have to pass this year.. ....although the medals are really, really cool.. and did you see??.. they have an archery event.. !...hmmm.. gotta look into this ....(click on picture above for link to Colorado State game site.

Here is the note I received:

Dear SGA Qualifier,

Congratulations...you have qualified for the 2009 State Games of America by winning a gold, silver, or bronze medal in your State Games or in the 2007 State Games of America!!! As a qualifier you are invited to participate in the 2009 State Games of America, July 30 - August 2, in Colorado Springs, America, July 30 - August 2, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The State Games of America is a national multi-sport event for athletes of all ages and abilities held every two years.

The 2009 State Games of America will offer competition in the following sports: 5K Run/Walk, Archery, Badminton, Basketball, Billiards, BMX, Bowling, Cycling, Diving, Field Hockey, Figure Skating, Flag Football, Golf, Gymnastics, Inline Hockey, Judo, Karate, Powerlifting, Racquetball, Rock Climbing, Shooting, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, Track & Field, Triathlon, Volleyball, Weightlifting, and Wrestling.

For information on local events... there is the PA Keystone State Games (this is where I qualifed)at the end of July. Click on picture for website information (they will update website in the spring. )

Florida Flat?

I just pulled up the elevation chart for the Ocala Marathon (click on picture for website) in Florida that Joe and I are doing on Sunday, February 1st... and well .. um... they state the course is a two loop course with rolling hills... BUT I THOUGHT FLORIDA WAS FLAT!!?

....Can't wait.. less than a week and we will be heading south for our yearly vacation with the parents in sunny ..hopefully WARM FLORIDA.. YES!!...

SO OF COURSE we have to stop on our way and run... a marathon..I am just trying to figure out who will be the driver afterwards....hmmm.....should we go with whoever crosses the line first or whoever has function of their feet?


Ocala Marathon Elevation Chart

I SOOO hope to have a week of rest, relaxation and NO DRAMA! Especially after this week with the whole dog fiasco, Heather locking her keys in her car fiasco, and someone stealing my identity on Ebay fiasco... so a little bit of R&R is what the doctor is prescribing.. "By the way, how relaxing is a 19 hour car ride?"

LOST & FOUND

This am… Isabella, our 16 year old Lhasa Apso (dog)… got herself lost. Mostly blind and deaf…. she somehow got herself confused when she went outside and for the first time in the five years we have lived at our new house…. she got herself missing.

5:40 am – I let Isabella outside (for the second time)… “Boy Joe it’s cold out.. 17 degrees… brrr”… 10 minutes later.. “Joe did you let Isabella back in?”….nope.. hmm… I shine a flashlight from the door into back yard.. out window into side yard, out front door into front yard.. listen.. no noise.. nothing… hmm.. “Joe where the heck is she?”..

So I ..(ha..please don’t laugh).. am in my footed skull flannel jumping jammers (PJ’s), a housecoat, and I slip into some knee high flowered rain boots, hat, gloves and coat and with flashlight in hand venture outside to look for her.. wading through the snow…

…I am calling her name.. (she is deaf by the way)… I am starting to freak out.. I mean HOW FAR COULD SHE HAVE GONE!!??.... after walking a couple circles around outside of house and yard, I start to walk up street.. Heather is now outside too with her flashlight.. mine just went dead.. Heather said she is going to get her car… Heather goes up road in car… I get another flashlight and Joe joins the search.. now all three of us are calling her name (AGAIN.. she is deaf)… and shining flashlights up and down the road.. all our neighbors still appear to be asleep.. it’s now about 6:15 am …

I check down by the creek.. fearful I may see her frozen solid in the water.. no.. phew… good.. she cant see, so if the snowplow comes down street she most certainly will be plowed into a snow bank….panic… its very dark…hard to see anything…Isabella is white and gray.. and so small.. not going to make it easy to spot her if she is hurt and not moving.. listen.. NOTHING… got a huge pit in my stomach…

I didn’t want to lose her this way.. her suffering out there alone and frightened….. I thought I would have myself a cry… but it was too cold… Joe got in his car and went back up road..

..I don’t take her for walks anymore because her legs tire so easily… so she doesn’t wear a collar.. so not good.. no one will know where she belongs.. no id.. what if she just freezes to death and we never find her.. ??

… so now I play detective .. Heather and I recheck a “trail” of something that went into our neighbors yard and down through their woods to their drive way..then the trail went cold.. or so we thought.. I shined my light a bit… very faintly in the snow are a couple small dog paw prints.. two of them. ..I follow them…. nothing.. sigh… . very faintly it started to get less dark.. this should help.. then I saw something…

Heather stated later she had seen this but didn’t realize it could have been Isabella’s prints.. there was a set of prints that went from our other neighbors driveway across their yard and around their house… I called Joe and Heather over… they took one side I took the other.. Joe said he thought he heard something.. we stopped and listened.. nothing.. it’s about 6:50am now.. we had been out in the cold looking for her for well over an hour… I had a horrible deep down feeling of dread… then I heard it.. and Joe and Heather heard it.. a faint bark.. ISABELLA… we listened again…. where is she????

Joe and Heather sprint through the back woods of our neighbors… and through the next development and she was standing there barking in the middle of no where… cold, lost and lonely… wanting her family… I don’t think much can express how happy all three of us where. We were BEYOND ELATED… !!.. I started to tear up.. I got her in a big towel and held her tight… she is getting way too much love now.. (I am sure she will promptly piss on floor once we get inside.. oh well.. )..

BY THE WAY.. THANKFULLY it had snowed because if it had not snowed we would have never found her… the trail she left in snow was what finally led us to her… (after we determined what was her trail and not deer or rabbit trails… ).. not only did she walk farther than she has in over 10 years… she did it through 3 inches of snow and being partly blind… AMAZING.

YES.. we wont let her out of our sight now…

Type O Negative

There is just no way to describe what it felt like on Saturday morning at 6am… the thermometer read -2…yeah that's right... NEGATIVE 2... eeekk gads.....within a few hours it reached a whopping ZERO degrees.. Halleluiah… freaking heat wave…

So after much debate ...and waiting ...until way after lunch.. and with it now being sub tropic at 14 degrees.. I said, "NO WAY.. not going to do it.. UH NO.. NOT.. NIL.. NADA"… "Not running OUTSIDE in that…. ridiculous!!"… Joe on the other hand said he was…um...brave man... thankfully I DID convince him to run part outside and part inside.. thus 3.5 miles outside, then change, and do 3.5 on treadmill…thus he did really well… came back only slightly blue.. hope that was fun hon.

So what to do about the long run on Sunday? We had a 13-16 miler scheduled.. no way we were doing that on treadmill.. and it was a bit warmer.. 28 degrees.. hmmm...so we decided that would be a bit more manageable.. except the part where my legs got really really tired.. and I bailed at mile 8… Oh yeah I am one big WHOOSE BAG… and the machine kept going.. he ran 16+ miles, over two and a half hours in 28 degree weather… LOOKING FOR A BIT OF WARMTH I SUPPOSE… utterly amazing.. the man is going to be unstoppable come the spring!

2008 Year Highlights

2008 Year Highlights.. (looking forward to a fantastic 2009!)

Pick your Poison

Well on Saturday we had a 6-8 mile run scheduled. … it was a good ole um 29 degrees out…and sleeting.. yeah no thanks.. going to run inside on treadmill ……Joe says he would rather chew his arm off ...or something like that (about being on the treadmill that long) and ops to put on a ton of clothes and run outside.. have fun there bud....He checked on me before he went out into the frozen tundra.. Joe to Wendy, “So what mile you at there pal?”…

So who had more fun??? Well lets see...I got to run like a hamster for an hour and 20 minutes while looking at a blank white wall, dang near sending me to the psycho ward.. . (note to self: obtain a TV or something and place in front of treadmill).. Joe came in with wild eyes.. and a thin coating of frost on his hat..

Pick your poison...

Looking for spring…

Ridiculous

I HAVE to tell you.. Joe was away on business last night.. so I was on "dog duty".

..should be no problem... I get her dinner, take her out (twice) and then run water for a bath for myself.. no sooner than I get in my bath I hear her barking at the backdoor. I ignore her.. I know she can't possibly have to go out again.. she has been out twice in the last hour..

Patience.. she will stop… NO.. she gets PISSED that I am ignoring her and she marches herself all the way to the bathroom door and then proceeds to bark LOUDLY at the bathroom door.. SIGH.. THUS I CAN HEAR YOU.. so I get out of my bath.. soaking everything on the way to back door to let her out .. tap.. tap.. tap...wait patiently for her to get done her business (as I dang near freeze to death waiting)…done, great.. back to bath..

So we finally get settled for the night or so I think… At 2am she has an allergy attack and I have to get up and get her medicine and OH LET HER OUT AGAIN… I stumble out of bedroom, in a half sleeping stupor… tap ..tap.. tap.. wait for her to return.. back in.. back to bed.. ah… BARK BARK BARK.. WTF now..!!!... I look at time.. jeez it's breakfast time on the dot.. 5:15AM.. GET UP .. I stumble back out of room, dog trailing, let out, feed.. back to bed.. not time to get up yet.. yawn..

BARK.. BARK.. BARK.. drool coming from my mouth and one eye open I look at clock.. 5:45 am.. Isabella.. please.. I get back up to let her out AGAIN.. tap.. tap.. tap.. Where the HECK is she.. ??..I look out into the darkness.. I lay down on my livingroom floor.. EXHAUSED.. about 5 minutes later she returns.. finally back, in, go back to bed....

BARK BARK BARK… getting angry now… 6:15 let her out AGAIN.. I then GRAB her and lock her in with me in bedroom... STOP IT..!! She settles for 15 min then starts barking again.. I am exhausted…. I stumble around… I resounded to the fact I was NOT getting any more sleep or any kinda quality sleep and I get up and make myself breakfast and I look over and she goes the F@#&^ to sleep and was still sleeping when I left for work…. how cute.

GOD of HURT

Went to my Sports Massage Therapist last night for the first of a few sessions to help elevate some residual pains and aches from all the crap I did last year.... OH boy is he a GOD OF HURT… After my first session with him a week or so ago, I noticed that I could actually rotate my hip again while running .. it felt REALLY good to run… amazing how you don’t realize how LOCKED up your body can be and how your body will adapt to bad habits.

Everyone thinks of massages and or stretching with words such as OHHHs and AHHHS, and something like warm water running down your back.. but perhaps given that if I was NOT being twisted into the shape of a pretzel and kneaded into a ball of dough that perhaps.. just maybe… I could say something more than OW>>> and EWE>. And .. UGH>.. AND JEEZ US…. but the goal is recovery and to get me running really well again. And my God of Hurt does an AWESOME job..!

So after being stretched, pulled, prodded, and had pointy fingers stuck into my hip sockets.. I crawl off the table to go watch the suggested plyometrics in order to enhance my training. So hobble …hobble… hobble … go watch the man jump around… as he diligently shows me something such as bunny hops.. and fast feet... I am thinking, “OH YEAH.. I most certainly will be in traction”… see the man jump UP.. and see the man come down soft like a snowflake (his words I swear.. liked that analogy)… see the man jump up.. see the man come down… see the man’s feet move like he’s stomping out a fire.. see the man jump up..down… I read about some of these in my journals for Personal Training… I am SOO freaking exhausted just watching him…I hope he seriously does not think I will need to do these… (yes Wendy you will need to do them)

Session over… he says, “See you Saturday”… huh.. oh yeah.. I almost forgot.. another session on Saturday am….. now to figure out how to walk out to the car.

PS: HAPPY 1st YEAR ANNIVERSARY JOE!!.. (if you remember.. it was a year ago this month that he stopped smoking and started running and biking... )

I can't believe in ONE year you have completed 2 marathons and numerous other runs and races..and you never ran before in your life !!! YOUR AWESOME!!
PSS: I hope everyone’s goals for this year are set.. I am SOO excited.. this is going to be a great year!!!.. starting off with a nice WARM Florida Marathon in a month!!!... so far here is the spring race schedule (obviously subject to change).. if anyone wants to train for a 5K or anything let me know… I can set you up with a plan… Heather is entertaining the idea of doing a half marathon..

1/11/09: Icicle 10 Miler (training)
2/01/09: Ocala Marathon (training)
3/07/09: Pittsfield Snowshoe Marathon/Half (training) – (only Wendy doing)
3/21/09: Virginia Beach Shamrock 8K **THIS IS THE BIG RACE
3/22/09: Virginia Beach half marathon (training)
4/04/09: Kutztown 5K
4/26/09: Women’s by the Bay 5K (only Wendy doing)
5/17/09: Delaware Marathon or Half

Wendy's Website

Check Out my website:
www.wmastripolito.com
Here are pics from it.. I will keep the link on the side bar of the blog. I thought it was a great idea to keep all my projects in one area...

Happy New Year

We opted for the Mastripolito Mile instead of the 5K!!

Weather: 17 degrees with 12-15 mph winds..so wind
chill of around 4.. humidity 40%...(so winds not as bad as previously stated..BUT STILL FREAKING COLD)

Well I tell you.. it was sooo cold last night that I convinced Joe that doing a Mastripolito Mile was SOO much better than the Mastripolito 5K (3 miles)!!!! And he calls me a WHOOSE... !!!....I said whatever .. I don’t care.. but if you want to do the 3 miles instead.. FINE...I will do it... (I am no whoose)... so almost right before the time to leave he goes outside to check this out.. .. and he is like WTF... !!!....it's freaking cold out there.. NO SH-T there buddy...um duh.

So we did the mile instead.. THANKFULLY SO.. .. but it was horrible.. I am wearing TONS of clothes.. like long johns, under armour leggings, sweats, then on top I had five layers... and then hat, gloves, flashlight, face gaiter… I must of weighed 5-10 pounds more than I usually do..

So we go tearing up the road at 11:55pm (according to the kitchen clock.. failed to look at the GARMIN clock.. this will have significance later)... figuring a 10 min mile at worse.. crossing over into the new year.. it was just REALLY COLD..I mean with it being REALLY DARK..and it being just 17 degrees out.. It was JUST REALLY REALLY COLD.

Joe had his headlight on and I carried a small flashlight.. my hands started to get cold almost right away... I should have done mittens... we clock in doing a 5.36 pace at the first QUARTER mile marker..and then we died… DIED...the hills in our neighborhood seemed REALLY REALLY steep... and the air was really really dry and it was hard to actually draw in a breath…

So we stay together until the first hill.. then I was dropped..DROPPED.. GONE.. BYE BYE.. I was fooling with my face gaiter... while holding my flashlight.. and of course almost blinded myself..and then seeing spots for the next few feet .. the next time I look up .. he is up the road!!!... ARGH... .it's an out and back.. Joe ends up finishing first.. THE WINNER... and I second..

But our kitchen clock is wrong.. our Garmin's say we started at 11.51 (which we both did in the 8's for our mile.)... SO since Joe was ahead of me... he did not cross over midnight RUNNING.. so SHOULDN'T HE BE DISQUALIFIED!????.. tee.. hee.. .. here are MY time specs (according to MY Garmin)
Start Time: Dec 31, 2008 11:51:46 PM
Finish Time: Jan 1, 2009 12:00:13 AM
Time Zone: Eastern (US & Canada)

We didnt get to bed to almost 1:30.. and I am EXHAUSTED.. but what a great way to bring in the year!

2009 HERE WE COME!!!!!