Wendy Mastripolito

IM TRAINING HAS BEGUN . .....(actually its been going but officially this is my first official week.. I had a nice almost month and half of base, coming off a not too shabby 2011 season and now I'm ready).. 2/19-2/25 Totals Swim: 4 hrs (4.5 miles) Bike: 5 hrs (80 miles) Run: 3 hrs (16 miles) TOTAL: 12 hrs Special Workouts for week: **2 mile swim work out **10 mile hilly repeats **30 mile bike trainer Realized I need extra carbs because my blood sugar tanked during my run, and yeah MAYBE this is no time to diet... special run of the week was a 4:20am 2 hour run before work, where I ran the same hilly mile loop.. lets say 10 times in 2 hours..CRAZY... temperature was low 40's, rain, and dark. Headlight kept bonking out and paperman almost ran me over, oh yeah and the whole I should probably have had more than one glass of carnation instant breakfast before I ran for 2 hours.. yeah thanks... intelligent . Gelled at mile 8 but couldn't recover the sugar drop.. By the time I...

Dead f-cking last. ….A place I thought I would NEVER be. …..A place I’m glad God ALLOWED me to be. …..A place that has CHANGED…..ME. Last October…. October 23rd 2011 to be exact, I ran the Tussey Mountainback 50 Miler in State College, PA. It would be my second time completing the course and my 5th ultra run. Joe also ran but cleared the mountain in about 9 hours and some change… ….ME, well just say, I was the person with whom the medical vehicle followed. The person that everyone whispers and says, “Thank God I am not.. THAT person”. It took me almost 12 hours to finish.... So let's be honest here… “Wendy, how DO you feel about that?” Well let me tell you…..…… God… its been a little while since we talked.. I know we used to talk a lot but ever since mom got sick, I kinda been a little angry about that… so I’m really sorry that I’m calling on you now but we need to talk… ….I don’t need to win…. I don’t even need to make the time cut off ….but I do need you to help strengthen my min...

Its not really a lack of motivation.. its more of a lack of wanting to do ANYTHING. I'm in a big ole funk. I think I may need something .. perhaps a kick in the ass… hmph... will be back..

It seemed like a really cool idea… 9 miles ago.. the lama furry legwarmers.. BUT TAKE IT FROM ME... NOT COOL … although my legs didn’t actually ignite into flames.....by mile 5.... I could NOT LIFT MY LEGS... sure it didn’t help that I was still recouping from the hip flexor/ankle extravaganza and that this HECK would be my longest run in .. um.. 2 months… but um... The icicler 10 miler on Sunday, January 15 th was a blast.. given that running in 17 degree weather.... with wind chills in the single digits… and various hills delight you.. HELL… Saw a bunch of friends on the course ...which is always soo encouraging.. except when they PASS YOU… GOD DAMN!… BTW.. just for the record... 10 miles is a LONG f-n way ..,. just saying.

So yeah.... its been a few months since I posted..but it's not for the lack of trying.. These last few months have been a mishmash of mayhem with over half of my immediate family's birthdays happening in a condensed time frame (mom’s, dad’s, Joe’s, Heather’s, Joe's mom's, sister-in-law’s, 2 nieces, and my birthday), our anniversary, Thanksgiving, Christmas, working, school, training (kinda training), and a couple unexpected mom hospital visits...so yeah the writing suffered... a bit.. Eventually, I will finish my Tussey 50 miler story and my ramblings about attending the lung cancer conference (realizing I was sitting in the wrong conference for an hour), and oh yeah the hysterical breakdowns about Anatomy class and … so…. Life goes on.. and then someone shows me a website that not only takes mayhem to a whole new level, it compounds the already obsessive, compulsive disorder as well.. Welcome to Pinterest … http://pinterest.com/ (If you are even slightly crafty, lo...

Teacher: love your sandals but aren’t your feet cold? Wendy: Thanks, a little...but I need to air the feet out….. Teacher: oh…? Wendy: (I better explain this one)… see I run a bit on the weekends… Teacher: Oh yeah they are cute... You know this fellow teacher I was talking to is training for the Philadelphia marathon ….. AND SO IT BEGINS…………………….. Teacher: ......he runs all these miles and 6 miles at a time on the elliptical, and .. Wendy: yeah, I ran the Wineglass marathon on Sunday. Teacher: .....um, like did you run the whole 26 miles? THANKFULLY.. SHE DIDN’T ASK HOW MANY MILES A MARATHON WAS…… Wendy: ...Yeah the whole 26 in the cold and rain.. it was not fun. Teacher: How are your knees? I used to ice skate but cant now because I have knee problems… OMG WHY DOES EVERYONE ALWAYS GO FOR THE KNEES!?? Wendy: knees holding up, but the body is old, usually stiff and achy. Teacher: I guess you must really love it, I heard people do it because they get all those endorphins and...

MISERY – wasn’t there a Stephen King novel called that? Sunday, October 4th Way back in the spring, I came across an ad for a delightful marathon that would take place in the finger lake area of New York. The thoughts of walking hand in hand with my guy amongst cobblestone streets in the crisp autumn foliage, smelling cider and tasting wine… caused such a rush of elation that I signed us both up for the wineglass marathon. The course was said to be relatively flattish, down hill and then the thoughts of running fast times and of grander and glory then followed..... I have now realized I am delusional and so glad that joe is happy about that.. Perhaps, the forecast of 42 degrees and rain should have sent up a red flag or a giant flare or something.. I mean why would anyone purposely drive 10 hours (5+ hours up and 5+ hours back ) to run for 4 hours in the cold rain?. Ok... so perhaps we were a little stressed in having to get mom home from the hospital and make sure she was ok prior to...