50 by 50

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 after we hit 50+ marathons plus ultras to do a few extra to make sure I can truly say 50 marathons by 50 not 50 marathon plus ultras by 50... WTH!?? 

SO.. you think .. ok.. well thats kinda not too bad.. or maybe you say.. that’s outta your mind crazy.. either case... it’s the goal.. and I plan to enjoy every moment of it.. and I plan to bring my birthday in and say DONE... we have done that... and lets do something else.. 

First goal is to hopefully get that Boston qualifying time. And then complete my 50 by 50 all sprinkled through 2015.. cant wait for that week where I run 5 marathons in 7 days.. and... oh yeah.. and to run 100 miles in 24 hours but see that would only count as 1 marathon.. or wait one ultra.. so then does that count as a marathon.. EEP!  ...make sure you have your goals handy.. 

Ohh yeah and did I mention the fact that after my personal record setting half marathon that I completed in Naples in January where I could barely walk and remove my own sneakers... how on the way back from the race, my father decides he wants to get his car washed.. and that everyone must exit the vehicle... and whaaaat?

Road to Recovery

So it's about one week out of the hospital from colon surgery and I am trying to fit the pieces of my life back together.... funny how you don’t realize how sick you are until you aren't .... but see.. I totally believe that endurance athletes cannot distinguish pain.

Marathon training had been going exceptionally well for me this summer... I put in place one of the hardest training schedules to date, with a long run of around 17-20 miles every Sunday... but I was not feeling well... and I really couldn't differentiate was it from training or not?

Thinking back...I suppose I should have gone to the doctors but then again... he would probably tell me not to run...

I had been suffering quite horribly with a chronic lower back and hip pain since the beginning of the year but concluded it was a combination of stress, crappy bed, and increased training... and then it happened... a 4 day spell that I thought was food poisoning..and then a re-occurrence of that “food poisoning” and in the hospital I go... less than 24 hours later my ascending colon, appendix and some other stuff are taken out and I am now recovering.  I am told I cannot run for 4-8 weeks..

So this brings me to where I am today.  Twelve days post surgery... with at least 4 weeks of no running to go..and I am going to lose my mind....So how does an endurance athlete differentiate pain?  Not sure I can ever really tell you... but I do know NOW what it's like to NOT be in pain.. The road to recovery....

Déjà vu Marathon

Déjà vu Marathon

November 9, 2013

147 total, 15 marathoners

Time: 4:10:58

1 mile loop...26+ times.. I don’t know seemed kinda cool to me.. at least when I signed up for it way back in the summer when it was nice and warm.  It was 36 degrees when I arrived at the starting line of the Deja Vu Marathon and I was cold... I was cold to the bone cold... and really crabby about having to run long.. in the COLD.. did I mention I was cold?!  

You will see in the race reports below I mention about being mentally tougher...  SCRATCH that out... My tolerance for adversity GONE... I don’t know, perhaps I am getting soft.. or maybe the old bones are just sick and tired of the FNING COLD.

So step back a moment... yeah I said it right.. I would be running for about 4+ hours on a figure 8 loop to complete a marathon.. yeah that’s right.. thats 26+ laps and not so many people smile when they do that.. and there is a reason for that. So lets picture this... a small pathway used for recreational walkers, joggers at a park, perhaps about 4-5 people wide at best.. and lets picture 147 people+ on the course, marathoners, half marathoners and teams of relay runners.. all looping around a one mile course...  I want to emphasis that walking is OK>. .but walking three across on a narrow path when you are LARGE individuals and not moving out of the way for the people trying to run for a time, IS NOT OK!...

I am trying to remember if I saw much of anything during my run...other than the chalk lines on the pavement pointing us in the correct direction.. really after you do it once.. I think you kind of get it..  I was kinda worried though that the direction they were taking us (clockwise) would put an increase pressure on my rehabbed right hip since I was banking to the right on my turns... I mean it wasn’t a track with hard banks but it still had that general lean in on the bad leg...

I remember a volunteer calling out that #20 girl was in the lead... and other than that I have no recollection of how you could determine who was what (a half marathoner or marathoner) and or who was on what lap!.... although you could tell relay because they had to carry a baton... so round and round we go...At mile 16, I decided I would never do marathons again.  EVER....At mile 21 I decided perhaps I would.. thank goodness because I already paid for Rehoboth Marathon on December 7^th...

I found that running a loop was very pleasing to me.. something about the comfort that I didn’t have to think .. and just do... and I finished in a favorable 4:10:58... I point out that when I was done.. I was frozen solid... and could barely walk... but I was done!

Oh and I think I failed to mention that I wore a sassy Minnie Mouse skort.. yeah... how could I forget that... especially when I was called up to get the first place women's masters award...yipee!!!.. oh and they said oh Minnie Mouse won!  (after calling my name)..Déjà vu I love you.

Race reports for the last few weeks:

Free to Breathe

November 3, 2013

Time: 22:52

For mom... every step I take is for her...  Somehow out of the many weeks of hard marathon training I developed into a mentally tougher runner... I can sustain more pain now.. A first place win for my age group... and a beautiful third place win for Joe...

Black Cat 5K

October 26, 2013

Time: 22:24

Unexpected overall women’s win.  There was over a 100 folks in the race and some of them warming up with sprints.. I held no aspiration of doing anything but having a nice fast run... and so I lined up a few rows back from the start.. I let the other “sprinting” women line up in the front... and so we were off. Funny how sometimes the engine just goes.  I am not sure what happen but I broke into the lead... and couldn’t stop.  Running like my hair was on fire and I was going to hurl... at the turn around.. I was still  in shock that no one else had challenged my lead and when people started screaming first woman and pointing at me... .. I ran even faster... I scored a PR this day 22:24... with a first mile at 6:49... dude...

USATF Masters XC Championships

October 20, 2013
Time: 24:09

A week off of the marathon and the legs were just super tired.. but our team did well... I was happy with my overall time as the course was grass and had a hill...

Steamtown Marathon

October 13, 2013

Time: AH CRAP... 4:17:32... not the break 4 hours that I expected after training for 20 weeks... and def not a Boston Qualifier... and there really was no explanation... I felt great.. I ran strong but around mile 18.. I just petered out... and had to walk... WALK.. Sigh... I am kinda really mad about that.... I cried.... I finished... and went home.. Seems like a lot of work to spend 5 months of your life training for something and it not go as planned...I am sure there is a lesson in there somewhere..

Heart & Soul 5K

September 21th

Time: 23:31

For the cancer center... I ran ... and won third overall woman... won a little cash and donated it to the organization... I just love to run...

Philly RockNRoll Half Marathon (13.1 Miles)

September 15, 2013

Time: 1:45:13....still in awe that this old body can run.....and set a PR at Age 47..  I got to say though I worked d-mn hard these last few months with my marathon training and I knew I had a chance to PR (Personal record)...but you really never know until you are in a race whether things are going well or not.. and I knew right away things were going well... everything was clicking.. the legs felt good.. the breathing felt good.... and I felt strong... and sometimes you just need a friend to keep an eye on ... 

Happy Birthday in Heaven Mom

Today would have been your 69 birthday... Happy Birthday MOM!... I love you!... and I miss you!.... it’s been over a year now.. and the days don’t ever seem as bright.. and the nights seem that much longer... but the legacy of your love prevails.

Today would have been your day... you loved your birthday...the party and birthday cake ... and oh how I wish you could see your great grandson, Carter, what a beautiful happy baby, an amazing testament of how well you helped raise Heather.  Mom, he is beautiful, as Heather is, and she is such a great mom, you would have been soo proud to see... 

and your grandsons... wow they have done wonders in their sports and in school, they are truly going to make a great impact in this world..mom you would be so proud.  

But I have to say, you would be most proud of your son, your leaving us hit him so hard and he held it together and kept strong.. he kept strong for the family and mom he has starting to run... oh would you have been laughing at him trying to beat me, mom it’s wonderful.. he truly is so wonderful.

Oh and mom.. in case you were wondering.. dad is going to be ok...  he lost the love of his life but you made him strong.. like me.. you made us all strong..

Mom, I know those last two years of your life kinda really sucked... but I want to thank you.. for allowing us those extra days with you... I know how much pain you were in and how much you just wanted to pull those damn weeds... and we always had hope.. and you never gave up.  Mom I loved your spirit.    Your body was being destroyed by something that we all were helpless to control... but I wanted to thank you...

I miss you beyond words mom... you were the light in my darkest days... until we meet again..

 Happy Birthday mom..

Peaceful Saturday at Mount Krumpet

So what’s a Mastripolito to do on a “peaceful” Saturday morn at Mount Krumpet?

Get out the paint gear and gettum painted (the outside of the house that is)... in the garage and find the right brushes, paint, gloves, ladder, back in the garage for painting shoes and old painting clothes... and that’s odd... hey Joe I think someone may have lost a dog or something...noticing that the SAME car pulled into our cul-d-sak... 10 times... and well.... set up the paint stuff... and gotta getter done... lovely day to paint... 

....you know sitting way up here on mount Krumpet you can hear everything in the valley, in the woods... and those damn dogs in the distance barking and barking and ...here comes that damn car again... ... 

I march myself down to the street in my rubber duckies & painting gear and stop the lady who is on her 15th time down our road.. What's you looking for I ask...? 

She stops and explains that her older neighbor's 2 dogs bolted out the back door and ran away... ohhh...I ask what type of dogs?..... Beagles she says... I tell her I have been hearing dogs in the distance.. hear that..I point over younder into the woods... that sounds like beagles I say and she nodded but she said that each time she tried to get through the woods she got caught in thickets... I said I would keep an eye out for them... she drives away calling the dogs... telling me the address if we happen to see them... 

I walk back to the house... thinking... you ... know... I stop and think.. and look into the distance... that damn well sounds like a damn beagle... gosh darn it.. I take off sprinting IN MY RUBBER SHOES and paint gear... I know the woods well.. as I do spend time in them on occasion.. you just need to make sure you are NOT IN THEM AT NIGHT!! JUST SAYING!!

And I know where the clearing is and where the thicket is... and I run up our hill into the woods... running FULL JAUNT at the sound which is WAY in the distance... and moving... I am leaping logs, ducking branches...clearing a path and then I see something... and its moving... and OMFG.. I see one of the beagles..!!!

I race over to it as it bellows and I stop and call to it slowly.... and it's frantic.. and I can see really old... and I get her to come near me.. and I pet her... and just as I am about to see if she will let me pick her up she BOLTS... . HOWLING...

I am now in a FULL SPRINT chasing an old beagle who BTW can run damn fast... and I manage to run back out of the woods down to my house grab a dog leash (so next time I get her she aint going nowhere).. I sprint back up to the woods and racing around trying desperately to catch back up to the howling she devil...

.... briars are ripping into my skin...THORNS...CLUNK... a tree branch nearly knocks me off my feet.... vines rip off my hat... I jump rock beds... busting through the woods ... 

....it was a chase and I was LOSING!... I AM OUT OF BREATH and not giving up... and why do damn dogs run back and forth!???!!! 

.....She finally busts out to the clearing and starts ripping through the cornfields.. I MUST be clocking in at 6 min miles at this point.. did I mention in my RUBBER BOOTS!???

Joe is frantically trying to ...I don’t know find me ...find the dog?... I could hear him calling me in the distance... AHAHAHA...wrestle her to the ground... I got you my pretty!!! Good god I was tired...

I had caught her and clipped her in the leash ...as Joe caught up to us... I think I need to throw up now.. 

AND NOW she does not wish to go... ANYWHERE...... aint no way we were moving a SOLID beagle no how no way... Joe carefully picks up the rather LARGE canine... and she starts howling like she is being murdered and slumps her FAT butt in his arms and we carry her back down out of the corn field, out of the woods, and down past Mount Krumpet.. then we proceed to WALK the half mile to the owners house... 

The older owner was soo grateful, almost in tears telling us her husband is away and the younger one (this one) darted out the backdoor and through the electric fence and then the older one darted out to follow as they were best of buddies... she tells us they were rescues that they have had them for 8 years and they came together... She said she called the SPCA to report them missing, put it out on Facebook... they are both microchipped... there were two.. the other one was fatter and slower....

I looked down and noticed that i was in my painting gear still and rubber boots and so we excused ourselves to walk the 1/2 mile back home... and told her we would keep an eye out for the other.

I had a feeling that if they were buddies.. that the other one HAD to be near where we found the first... Joe and I walk back and listen... nothing.. I hear no more sounds... I hear nothing else in the woods.. nothing.. it's just really silent... we want to WILL a sound now... but NOTHING..

I go back in the woods to where I found the first one and call the other dogs name (now that I know the name) and I listen.. I walk, and walk and walk... I hear the owner calling in the distance.. I listen.. nothing.. not a damn thing... Joe takes the truck to check the local roads... nothing... 

SO sad to think we could save one but not the other... heavy hearted I put my paint gloves back on..and Joe stands next to me... we sigh..and then he says.... did you hear that.. I did... I small deep howl.. in the distance.. IN THE WOODS!!!   We sprint up to the woods... 

I heard it again... joe goes in the woods one way.. I started sprinting another way.. I am crashing through the woods again and OMFG NO WAY!!! I see her.. !! I yell to Joe that I got her ... I clipped her into leash and yell to Joe again..... I found her.. I found her...but Joe no answer ... 

I manage to have her follow me attached to the leash... .. and we see Joe... he came a running... FINALLY!!! And we were once again out of the woods... and she STOPPED.. she NO WISH to move any more.. and she was a LARGE BEAGLE one.. and quite tired... So joe ran down to his truck to go the neighbor.. I carried her down to our yard... 

I just gotta say that I am going to put this down in my running log as TWO trail races... with some crossfit in-between .... just saying.. OH yeah and then I had to go back to painting.... and then run my 5 mile recovery run... just saying..

PS: Here is a map of where the dogs house was (white x)... the path we THINK the dogs took to get to the woods behind our house (in yellow)... the yellow X is where I found them both at separate times.. and the red circle is all the crazy running area... the blue dot is our house... 

Throwback Thursday 2006

Today is Throwback Thursday and is also approx the 7 year anniversary of my running journey.. well let me correct that.. the start of my running journey as an "ADULT". I did run a few years in high school.... but then took a little break of some 20 years or so...just to catch my breath.....

This week marks a great time in my life. Here is an exert from the beginning of the madness.. that first week of running...back in 2006... I knew NOTHING of the world that I have lived in these last few years...

The Quest 
Fall 2006  

A flyer appears in my mailbox. It’s a 5K run on September 30th to benefit our local firefighters. They are offering medals for the top three placers, hmm, medals....oh I likely medals... I carefully reread the flyer,  3.1 miles... in 4 weeks... oh heck yeah I so can do this.. no problem!  I skip across the room and excitingly show Joe the flyer.  

"Do you think a month is enough time to get ready to run this 5K?.. (how can he resist this huge smiling face of mine?  I just know he will say of course and be so supportive and provide endless encouragement, and .. well after explaining to him what EXACTLY the distance was for THIS RUNNING RACE... that a 5K is 3.1 miles.  He paused, he looked me in the eye and said, “YOU ARE KIDDING, RIGHT?  That is 3 miles, you don't even walk that far, how the hell are you going to be ready to run that far in a month?  NO WAY!” 

um.. oh... wow .. ok .. that was a bit of a bubble buster... but heck whatever.. I assume all my trips walking from....,the couch to the fridge for more wine doesn't count? whatever!  I will ask someone with a bit more compassion and who will give me the reassurance and correct answer, off to talk to the daughter.  

Who promptly LAUGHS at me... LAUGHS!  And says, “Um, no mom you will have a heart attack.” .. OH jeez... NOW I am offended.. I am NOT that out of shape.. !!!!  YOU DO KNOW I was like in cross country and track some years ago and I was kinda fast for a mid packer.. and JEEZ .. that's it.. I'm going to talk to my MOTHER!  

I call my mother. Mom’s are great at giving encouragement.  My mother will BACK ME UP!..  I am her SUPERSTAR!....   And so I ask her if she thinks I have enough time to train for a running race in a month.  I hear giggles over the phone... WTH!??? ....GIGGLES.. that becomes almost hysterical laughs ..  “How do you expect to get in shape that fast, you ain’t a spring chicken anymore, you do know you are 40, right?  .. DEVASTATION... !  Total devastation.. knocked to the ground and.... but this lit a fire... a fire so deep that it created what I am today... I will show them! 

ALL THE NONE BELIEVERS!!

Pre Training Day: So the following morning I set my alarm for 5:30am. I figure I can start off running a mile before work and increase each week until September 30th. The alarm goes off. I hit snooze. 

Training Day 1: I find my old sneakers in the garage under some boots. I will show them, I can still run. I am going to win a medal! My sneakers are kind of cobwebby. I tap them on the ground to make sure no spiders are sleeping in them, I sit down to stretch. My dog Isabella licks my face, my cat Fernando starts wrestling with Isabella over my outstretched legs, for the love of G-d! 

Jogging, why is it when you first start jogging it feels like all the extra meat on you’re ass swings? 

I jog 1.3 miles in about 20 minutes... holy shit.....I cannot breathe, I cannot walk.... and OH hell that was the longest 20 minutes of my life... EVER. 

Training Day 2: Joe offers to buy me new sneakers. I pick pink and white ones. Damn my feet look cute! Wow, the adrenalin from day 1 IS GONE. EWE this really sucks, who the freak runs anyhow!! I jog 1.3 miles in about 17 minutes. No enjoyment what so ever. 

Training Day 3: Rest. Thank goodness. 
RETHINK RUNNING THING. ****************** 

Training Day 4: I RUN like a bat out of hell. There is something severely wrong with me. Less than a mile in 15 minutes. WTF!!!! I am gasping for breath and heaving, my dog is looking at me with great concern. I am ok, hyperventilating, throw myself on the ground, temple veins protruding. WHY AM I DOING THIS ANYWAY!? 

Training Day 5: Rest. 
RETHINK THE WHOLE RUNNING IDEA. 

Training Day 6: Ass swing has lightened, oh yeah. I jog a decent 1.75 miles in 22 minutes. Wow, great. Joe asked if I was on the highway? HUH? He said look in the mirror, I look, bugs are smashed all over my face. 

Training Day 7: Rest. 
RETHINK THE WHOLE RUNNING IDEA. 

Training Day 8: After some enlightening conversation with myself, asking self why, why on earth am I running?... I am tired, I am hungry, I am sore from I don't really know what.. the weather is crappy, there are tornado watches in area, but I am going to run. I check time. I run. 

So what if the course I chose was not the best and perhaps it would have been advisable to stick to back roads or at least roads with shoulders. Yeah sorry to the huge tractor trailer who had to stop in the middle of the road because he couldn’t get around me and didn’t want to hit me.  I Cant't FNG breathe just run me over... Oh and is he waving to me to wish me well.. me the runner girl!  I smile...

HI!  oh wait that is not a wave... was that the finger he is giving me?   Mean people SUCK! I  run a clear 10 minute mile!!! 2 miles in 20 minutes, yeah!

The truth be told, I ran that race on September 30th of that year and then another race and another... and it took me a few races to not actually run in a damn cotton tshirt.. but I did it... it was slow.. and I didnt know a damn thing.. but i did it... AND I AM STILL DOING IT!  HAPPY THROWBACK THURSDAY!

Eagleman Triathlon 2013 (1.2 Mile Swim, 56 Mile Bike, 13.1 Mile Run)

End of an Era

I completed my 4th Eagleman Triathlon on Sunday and I have to say that after all these years, I am still in love with this damn race. I knew this year would be my last. IT was the plan, I wasn’t even supposed to start this year, as I didn’t really bike or swim much since January... and well, what the hell.

I smirked as I felt my first jellyfish.... I smirked as I sloshed through ankle deep mud..... I smirked when I felt the crosswinds.. I smirked at the hot asphalt... and I SMILED as I crossed that finishline.

I am closing this chapter in my life for now. Looking back this would have been my 6th Eagleman, baring the DQ’d (disqualified) in 2010, and the didn’t start in 2012 due to mom’s passing... so officially it’s my 4th and MY LAST, for now.

SEE...I set out on this jaunt 7 years ago with visions of qualifying for Kona... the Hawaii full Ironman. But being really naïve can make you grow up real fast. I worked my arsh off that first year and thought that the possibility for me to land one of the (then two slots to Hawaii in my age group) was within reach...and alas the reality check that was handed to me formulated the endurance athlete that I am today....

I hope that one day you too can experience something so life changing and grow!

For now... ado.... I have to get ready for my sprint triathlon this coming Sunday!