Free to Breathe: Philadelphia, PA - November 4, 2012

Free to Breathe: Philadelphia, PA - November 4, 2012

IM Training for Week of 2/19-2/25

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 was done working a full day I could barely get in a piece of pizza... but i did my 1 hour bike on the trainer and then passed out...

This the elevation for the run course for the IM... just wondering what that drop off is at mile 13?? Like will I need a parachute? 164 days to go.....

Tussey 50 Miler Recap - Oct 2011

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 mind to deal with this pain so I can keep my legs going so I can get me off this F-cking mountain!

…The lower half of my body was toast… my right hip flexor destroyed… 4.2 miles to go with less than hour on the clock … and its getting dark.

I have been out and moving for 11 hours now … and I am coming to realize.. I’m LAST… there is no one else behind me. The verification came at the last aid station when the wonderful volunteers acknowledged it.. YES ,THANK YOU VERY MUCH…

.. now it's just me and this hour.. and 4.2 miles to go… ALONE….…DARK.. COLD.. PAIN… ALONE… DARK .. COLD .. PAIN…

… 3 miles to go…

…and I see headlights… and the car slows besides me… and it’s Joe… he looks terribly worried and tells me to get in the car… I felt so bad for him. I know I looked like shit and if I were he, I would be scared for me… but the BOY DOES NOT KNOW ME TOO WELL… NOW DOES HE!?

“No, I’m ok”.. as I shuffle along… “I am going to make it.”

He said, “PLEASE get in the car, it’s COLD, you don’t have the proper clothes on, it’s DARK.. and..”

“NO… GO AWAY!”

I am sure it was more for my safety and health and he was right.. it was getting soo COLD… and it was SOOO DARK… and I was exhausted and in PAIN..BUT… there was no way… so with some wild jesters of my hands I swish him away.... and he turned around and went back down the mountain… and now I realize…. that there really was NO ONE ELSE OUT HERE… I WAS ALONE….DARK.. COLD.. PAIN… ALONE… DARK .. COLD .. PAIN…

2 miles to go…

Then a light behind me…it was the sag wagon and they trailed and provided light for me for the last 2 miles off that mountain… I see the finish… and I see Joe….I drooled a SMILE… he’s screaming to get in within the cut off…poor Joe…

Finish time… 11:54:47… cutoff was 12 hours.. I had less than 6 minutes to spare…PLENTY OF TIME…

49:47 for the last 4.2 miles (11:51 pace)

DEAD F-CKING LAST…..

So now let me tell you a little story…

.. about how HIDEOUS that mountain really is….

It happens to everyone

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..

Icicler 10 Miler

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 15th 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.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

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, love to dress, bake, sew, decorate and dream… this site will be your little piece of heaven on earth… )

Not only did I in the last two weeks, run out and buy TWO aprons, I also baked two cakes from scratch, made coleslaw from scratch (which Joe promptly called a science experiment).. got this REALLY “Fantastic Idea” about MOD PODGING a couple photos on wood for my parent's Christmas presents.. yeah..ME!!!…. If I wasn’t catatonic then… I am now.!

December 23rd.. two days before Christmas.. (put in Christmas music here)... after a "less" than stress free day of work, I somehow convinced Joe to drive from Philly (his work) to Exton (the shopping mecca).. about an hour or so drive for him and damn same for me due to the rush hour and HOLIDAY traffic..so we could meet me at the stores to do some “last minute shopping”.. oh and yeah… stop at the local craft store to get some “items” for my “project”… thanks and have a nice day…

I give Joe a lot of credit.. he’s sticking around… and not sure why… all I had to do was find the items I need for my “creation”…(1) Mod podge (found it no problem) and (2) Gel Medium (problem)…

Joe being the good chap he is.. helped me scour the store… not sure how many men would actually spend 45 minutes in any store, let alone a craft store but he does... 45 minutes looking for this thing called “GEL MEDIUM”… and
Joe to Wendy: "Wendy, what the hell is that?
Wendy: "HELL, I don't know" its kinda like.. um glue?
Joe to Wendy: "Then how do you know you need it?"
Wendy to Joe: "BECAUSE Joe the lady on the video said i need it!!! (STOMPING FEET)...
Joe to Wendy: "What video.. ?
Wendy to Joe: "The video on line...on how to mod podge the damn pictures...! (hysterical... )

And so this is how it goes.. Wendy trying to explain not only to Joe but to the store workers on how to create this mod podge thing I saw on the internet with something called Gel Medium...!

It goes something like this..
Wendy explaining to the workers with hands in air brushing imaginary wood... the girl on the video, said that you do this (whisp, whisp)..and this ( swish .. swish... ) … and (CRICKETS sounding )..

BLANK LOOK from workers ...

Wendy (wide eyed pig headed not going to give up until the store closes hysterical..) Joe frantically attempting to locate said video on cell phone... and between that and the store manager finally suggesting to look in aisle 14 (the paint aisle).. and whew...(the victory dance.. insert music here )... YES life was good.. viola… GEL MEDIUM… !!!

So now to race home… (forgetting the lets go shopping for Christmas presents part)… the pictures are printed, now I just have to brush gel medium on wood, invert picture… press.. let dry overnight… next morning I can wet back of paper and remove it from wood.. dry it again and then mod podge. AND VIOLA?!

UM... NO GET...VIOLA... it is now the next morning... Christmas eve day…

December 24th... I am NOT finished wrapping presents, its my daughter's birthday, and I am due at my parents for Christmas dinner at 4pm..and what am I doing? FRANTICALLY scrapping the back of the paper with my finger.... I CAN NOT GET THE M-FO paper off this piece of wood.. 3 hours later.. YES, 3 hours later.. like the shroud of Turin.. I see an image… and I am crying.. I now have to MOD PODGE these damn pictures… and get to wrapping, dressing and AHHHHHH!!!!
















So I just want to thank you … to all of you... for accompanying me on this adventure... because if one more person sends me some "fun" link, or some "fun" website, or some new "fun" adventure .. I will hunt you down.. each and every one of you…

PS: In case you want to try out the “EASY” lets mod podge a piece of wood here you go (here's the video)... www.petapixel.com/2011/10/06/how-to-transfer-a-photograph-onto-a-block-of-wood

THIS WOMAN NEEDS TO BE SLAPPED!…

Just some school ramblings...

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 such.

PERHAPS I SHOULD NOT ANSWER THE LOVE PART RIGHT NOW SINCE I AM STILL IN RECOVERY…

Wendy: I don’t know, I use the time to get away from people, and I like to beat people.
Teacher: (slightly concerned look)…OH...
Wendy: I mean I don’t always win, in fact I don’t always even come close to winning but its fun to race.
Teacher: (still a bit concerned…. ) … At least you don’t come in last... So I know this guy who does these things called triathlons where he swims like 3 miles or something then does a bike and a run.

LETS JUST NOT GO THERE..

Wendy: yeah ......

I have come to the conclusion that normal folks will never understand what I do or why I do it because HELL I don’t really understand what I do or why I do it! And the looks I get from them are usually is she BAT SHIT CRAZY or what!?

So its just best and just a heck of a lot easier to keep hush……

Thankfully BAT SHIT crazy UNDERSTANDS BAT SHIT CRAZY.. so if you are reading this and can relate.. WELCOME……