Wendy Mastripolito

There are a lot of lessons in life.. and sometimes you have to relive them over and over again to get it just right.. and then sometimes.. you never do get it right.. but the one thing you can be sure of   is you damn well tried… Well I am about tired of signing up for races when its nice and cool.. and somehow forgetting that June, July and August .. well…    ARE HOT… Perhaps 90+ degrees is not too hot for people sitting in a pool or in the ocean ..   or maybe even ultra runners running in the desert but for me.. 90+ is just too hot to run all day.. and it seems almost every stinking time I sign up for a 24 hour race.. its 90+ degrees… Ok.. whining done.. for now.. bring another fun weekend with my dog and guy… Montour Course  

Taking some time to think about things.... I have been struggling a bit with some things in my personal life.. and so I was looking for something..to get away from everything... I guess normal would be heading to the beach for some R&R... but I found something better.... Sole Challenge 24 hour race .... Sole Challenge Hoodie and Bib # I mean what could be better.. ?!!....24 hours of me time to think!!!  It was only 2 hours from home, on a long weekend, camping was allowed, a 1.54 loop....a perfect match for what I wanted to do.   So I signed up.. then I told Joe... “Joe, I am going to drive the camper to run this 24 hour race and then I will be back on Sunday..."  OK.. so that didn’t go as well as planned...I can only imagine how his face doesn’t just stay in the perpetual state of exhaustion. I guess number one was.. he was in no way in hell going to let me drive the camper back 2+ hours alone after being up and running around for 24 hours... an...

Waking up at 3:30am, to be on the road by 4:30am, to drive the 2 hours, to run 26.2 miles....perhaps may not be the optimal way to have a stress free life.. but who wants stress free.. right? I originally signed us up for The Run For Red Marathon because I ran it last year and thoroughly enjoyed the course.. and I thought if Joe was feeling good, it would be a great marathon for him to try to get a Boston qualifying time.    Unfortunately by the time the marathon rolled around, Joe had too many setbacks in his training and would not be running it fast.    Although I was a bit disappointed that he would NOT be running for a quick time... I was happy that I was able to run it again and was looking forward to getting my marathon legs back. The morning was perfect.. a nip colder than I like but still perfect running weather and we lined up with the temps starting around 39 degrees... we saw our friend Pete who was going for his Boston qualifying time ...

Whoever thinks getting away is relaxing, restful, romantic, or blissful is out of their minds...  Maybe it’s the illusion of awesomeness that fulfills our minds when we schedule these little getaways..?? Given age and experience you would think that more thought should have been put into having two adults and a angry ten pound chihuahua reside blissfully together in a tiny camper during a rainy and cold weekend. So right now as I sit in my little love nest of awesomeness..next to the fat, angry Chihuahua... I am waiting for the hardworking Italian man to get back from the store with hopefully the replacement parts and tools to fix the “how the hell did that happen” holes in the camper's water pipes... which means we.. yes.. we DO NOT have any water.. that is the current state of affairs... Having no water on a blissful weekend getaway..I mean is fairly crappy... but I really could have done without Bessie throwing up in our bed. OH HELL NO... ...

BOSTON MARATHON April 18, 2016. .. I am not sure the words can ever express what this day meant to me.. so I want to share with you the cliff note journey. August 2006 I put on a pair of overused dusty sneakers and attempt to run for the first time in over 20+ years.   Yeah, probably should have figured this all out before I did... heaving and walking..this was before Facebook, selfies, and being able to have the vast space of knowledge on the internet... thank god! January 2007 I had been trying to figure out this running thing..read gobs of books on running, triathlons, and one day bought a book on marathons...  when the cashier asked if I was going to do one..I said, "Oh no, I am just reading about them.." (WOW crazy right?) Fast forward a few months May 2007 A-H... yes  Frederick Marathon ... say what?  Yeah well I have to be honest.... I had devised this really crappy training plan (I thought it was wonderful at the time). .. with my lon...