Wendy Mastripolito

WORN OUT.... it's now Friday, a week after Heather’s wedding and I am just starting to feel semi human again.... DANG… THAT wedding stuff is exhausting… ! Sure the humongous amounts of alcohol consumed from Friday night through Saturday night, the late nights with limited sleep, the socializing for three solid days with family and friends, the flailing of arms dancing, and the pitiful EARLY morning runs on a hangover depleted not only my physical reserve but my entire mental reserve. PITIFUL… I do have to give some credit to the fact I took my nursing 3-1/2 hour Teas test three days before the wedding, Bessie’s 1st birthday was the day after the wedding and mom’s trip to philly to see the cancer doctor was two days after, and oh yeah I put in a garden fountain and some annuals.. so ...its.. ok .. I am sure this all didn ’t help my complete, utter exhaustion. … So I shouldn ’t be so down that my training this week have been below par with a total depletion of natural resources.......

I'm IN!... Ironman New York, August 11, 2012: The inaugural Ironman U.S. Championship begins with a wave start, 2.4-mile point-to-point swim in the Hudson River. The 112-mile bike course spans the cliffs of Palisades Parkway followed by a 26.2-mile run course over the George Washington Bridge and finishing at 81st Street in the heart of the city. I WAS SO EXCITED about the new Ironman debuting in 2012 in New York and had a careful conversation with Joe about me competing in it. It would be a rather large expense and given the amount of training needed, I would need his full support. With his blessing, I attempted to sign up. [Registration opened up at 12 noon on Wednesday, June 15th and all general spots sold out in 11 minutes.] I was so nervous about trying to sign up, we were camping at the beach and the only internet connection and computer was dad’s paid by megabits, and if we went over allocation it would just shut off. And so I waited, watching the clock…..sigh.... ME, bei...

Cambridge, Maryland Sunday, June 12, 2011 Half Ironman : 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run Weather: HOT, start was 70 degrees @ 6am and ended up around 85 with heat indexes in the 90’s by 3pm. Swim: Water 82 degrees, warm, calm (except when fat boys swam by)..TIME: 1:15:56.. Garmin picked up 1.46miles ( that’s because I swam wide to get away from the fat boys) Bike: Some winds, flat, warm… TIME: 3:28:11 (16.14 MPH avg) Run: HOT, flat, no shade, did I mention HOT ..TIME: 2:32:25 (11:38 avg) Motivation. What causes someone to wake up early, on their day off, so they can spend 7+ hours in the hot sun? Motivation? Dedication? Insanity? Because they are dumb as a board? Sometimes I have to wonder WHY?..Why am I doing this....... and why do I continue to do this!? Originally, I was going to qualify for Kona ...YEAH... that was 4 years ago... REALity check... realized that after Eagleman 2008, qualifying was going to take A LOT MORE then dedicated training and hardwork , it ...

OK.. I am a TREE HUGGER and proud of it... .. so when a few of our trees were.. well.. looking.. a bit CLOSE TO DEATH , we hired an Arborist to help determine WHY....and well the news.. IS NOT GOOD... 3 of the 25 year old rather large Maple Trees are suffering from Girdling Root. . which I come to find out is especially common in maples where trees have been transplanted from one site to another, like from nurseries to landscapes. SO WHAT IS THAT? Basically the roots of the trees are strangling the trees… OK.. so how does that happen?: Sometimes, when the trees are planted the transplant holes are too small and the planter chooses to “screw” the tree into the hole rather than take the time to enlarge it. In other cases, the tree is grown in a container that is too small to accommodate the increasing size of the root system. The roots are forced to grow in a circular fashion rather than their normal pattern of radiating out from the stem. Death without removing the strangling roots ...

SOOO if I can remain focused.. This is my fall schedule : 9/4/11: Labor Of Pain 12 hour Run (I get to run with Joe all day.. precious) http://www.pretzelcitytiming.com/laborpain.html 10/2/11: Wineglass Marathon (get to drive 5hours to NY to run for wine..) http://www.wineglassmarathon.com/ 10/23/11: Tussey 50 Miler (50 miles of hills and running “with” joe ..no comment) http://www.tusseymountainback.com/ First off though...I have to get the LONE RANGER out of the way...... 7/16/11: Lone Ranger Ultra 24 Hour Run …(SAY WHAT!) So once that is done I should be able to FOCUS …a bit….so yeah the Lone Ranger Ultra… 24 hours of running… it REALLY DID seem like SUCH a good idea at the time (when I signed up 7 months ago). . but HELLO… running for 24 hours??!.. This is when you say OMG what the hell was I thinking! Like waking up after a night of drinking and OMG who the hell are you?!.. BUT I am STOKED! Seriously excited to see what I can and cannot do for 24 hours… I have my pla...

I had an altercation today.. At work… You really have to wonder if people will ever truly get it. I am seeing it more and more every day.. people are just HURRY crazy. People are in a hurry to GET to work…in a hurry to get OUT of work.. in a hurry to get JR to soccer, baseball, guitar and swim lessons…to get to the grocery store…to a movie…even to get to church.. But what people are forgetting in their HURRY is that many of them are driving thousand pound killing machines. I know its frustrating when someone slows up your world, heck I hate being inconvenienced, but at least I know that even though I am supreme ruler of the universe, I am not the only one in the universe... I don’t know how many times I have been almost killed while running…people in their big ole metal machines not paying attention… driving too fast…talking on their DAMN cell phones.. well today just solidifies it. While taking my “peaceful” walk from my truck in the far parking lot at work to the entrance of our buil...

Most of you have already heard by now.. for those who have not… I did NOT make the first ROLLER DERBY DRAFTS …. So I pouted and I sulked.. and I cried myself to sleep. … I guess I really didn’t think out what if…and yeah that was a bad assumption on my part. I am fearless.. and believe that anyone can do anything if they believe it… I remember that first derby meeting, sitting around a picnic table listening to some man and his wild ideas, thinking what the heck, but oh yeah! I remember that first practice on my birthday learning how to skate...but oh yeah! I remember putting on my helmet on backwards and someone telling me.. but oh yeah! I knew it would be hard balancing work, class two nights a week, family, keeping up with my running and tri training but derby was creeping into my soul. Yes, I know I am fearless.. I attempt a lot and sometimes I fall flat.. I pick myself up and continue on.. but sometimes it's just better to move on.. I spent a good portion of my life trying t...