Wendy Mastripolito

I don’t know.. I kinda expected to cry.. throw my arms up in victory..scream, holler, have fireworks light up, streamers, confetti, horns, you know.. dramatic flair the moment I did it...  but on Sunday as I crossed the finish line of the Shamrock Marathon , at a Boston Qualifying time of 3:55:30.. I felt an unbelievable sense of calm... like when someone finally gets to the end of a book and closes it gently...  I am stunned... the utter disbelief that FINALLY after 8 years of holding on to a dream... the countless miles; in snow, rain, heat... through good training and bad training.. good weather and bad weather, through sickness and health..  I cannot believe that I FINALLY QUALIFIED  FOR THE BOSTON MARATHON!!  KEEP calm and carry on… I was blessed to be able to come back to the Shamrock Marathon this year, having suffered some personal setbacks in August and having to build back my strength to be able to run and to live again... Life is suc...

I cant believe its been 9 years since I have been running the Shamrock Half Marathon and 8K… Seems like just yesterday I was gitty with excitement for my first ever half marathon.. BOY when I tell you.. how exciting it is to reach milestones like that.. the longest I had ever run in my life… it truly is life changing. I was reading over my racing diary for that great day in March 2007..how I made this map of the entire course and taped it to the wall of the hotel.. and how Joe at this time was not running yet and seeing him near the end of the race was the most amazing thing ever… but true be told… this race had only great meaning after mom was diagnosed with cancer in 2010. See I did that race in 2007.. and then in 2008 (Joe stopped smoking and did his first 8K ever).. and in 2009.. but then the year 2010.. mom was diagnosed in Feb 2010 with cancer…our family was devastated.. I remember how mom actually pulled me aside and said, "Go to Shamrock, this race means so ...

I used to be a writer.. . I mean I used to write all the time.. prior to the whole Facebook take over thingy....I used to jot down my adventures, stories and escapades … Mostly because I needed to get that shit out of my head…because we all KNOW I got A LOT going on in there.. lol! But also it was a way I could stay connected with my family… Back in the day… it was letters…. And phone calls… and then the new and exciting way of reaching more than one person at a time… electronic mail… EMAIL!  WAHOO! And with advances in the operating systems for email, a document could be sent quite quickly to family and friends, and viola.. either you sent something you SHOULD or you SHOULD NOT HAVE…uh oh…      For the young ones reading this and saying.. um what?  Yes, my little cherubs there was a time without email.. when I started working (shhh just a few moons ago)… there was no such thing as email.   THE HORRORS.. how did we communicate? ...

I was just discussing with Joe how much I miss documenting my adventures.. and thought for a moment on what happen... and the plan matter of fact is.. when mom passed, I kinda got lost... I kinda lost the motivation, the willpower.. and the drive .... And so I had hoped that through this empty madness I could find that light... to once again bring forth the words I so love ..and so it begins... AGAIN..  This is a special year for me... with a renewed life of wishes, hopes and dreams.. I bring forth 50 by 50. ... The goal of doing 50 marathons before I turn 50 in December... of course I am still debating on if an Ultra counts as a marathon because its more than a marathon and if I should revise the 50 by 50 to marathons and above.  See this makes a difference when you are currently at 35 marathons and 5 ultras.. would that make the need to do 15 marathons in 2015 to get to 50.. or would that make 10 (counting the ultras as marathons)... so lets say we just make sure aft...