While in my mind I focused on...

All of my training is completed for the Tufts Health Plan for Women 10K. I have one more Aquatics Therapy session Tuesday morning at Spaulding Rehab. I'll do 5K walks on Monday and Wednesday, and look forward to a wonderful massage treatment on Thursday at Sollievo Massage and Bodywork.

The physical part of my training is complete. The hay is in the barn as they say. It's time to work on my mental preparation for Monday's race.

Running the Race February 2007

Early summer 1959 my kindergarten year
everyone around me filled with nervous fear
despite the Salk vaccine hope polio would disappear
the polio virus crept right up and knocked me in the rear.

Dancing all around the gym feeling free just like a bird
I dropped to the ground just like a stone and no one said a word.
The pain it was so searing-the diagnosis even worse
"It's polio" the doctor said...he was abrupt and terse.

Called one of the 'lucky ones' I had a 'mild case'
but with the other athletes I could never keep their pace.
Miss Holly physical therapist, curly hair and a warm, broad smile
it tempered the pain of being apart - to walk I'd take awhile.

I always wore those 'special' shoes
the kids they poked and teased
With no support and much abuse
with childhood I wasn't pleased.

But put nose to the grindstone and learned all that I could
I couldn't kick a ball but my grades were always good.
Years went by and no more thought to polio did I give
I accepted the limp and everything else
and decided my life I would live.

But symptoms of weakness and muscle pain did grow
I kept a stoic face hoping no one else would know.
Life no longer was my own I struggled through each day
suffered in silence, isolated from friends-trying to keep depression at bay.

And with the grace of glorious God
my world it opened wide
I discovered there was a Post Polio team and they were on my side.

Sought out paths for healing and my spirit flew free
for the first time in life, I could truly be me.
The chains are gone and possibilities abound
I'm a tree with my roots planted firmly in ground.

Using wheelchair to travel, set limits on what I could do,
resulted in joy to realize I could live life anew.
Celebrated my body- creaks, groans and need for a brace
while in my mind I focused on winning a 10K race.

I'm now off the sidelines, no need to sit and whine
so much gratitude fills my heart and love and beauty shine.
After all these years I can join the loving human race
I exceed all expectations and now I set the pace.

In October of 2008 I did in fact run a 10K race - The Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women. The last time I ran Tufts was in 2010.

As Thoreau so wisely said, we have to think over and over again the kind of thoughts we want to dominate our lives. The themes for this week's meditation are Peace and Equanimity. Protection and Safety. Ease and Lightness. Joy, Gladness and Gratitude for all that is in my life now and all I am able to do.

I notice when thoughts and feelings from the past arise but I don't dwell there. I take my focus and attention toward what I want to experience on race day while Being present in the days leading up to next Monday's milestone in my running comeback since my beloved nephew's suicide in March of 2011. My physical training is complete. The focus now is on my mental training...and in my mind I focus on an exceptional experience one week from tomorrow as I take my place at the starting line of the Tufts 10K.




The first 7 years of my healing odyssey are chronicled in Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility available on Amazon. I donate 50% of royalty payments to The One Fund Boston to help survivors and their families who were affected by the tragic events of 4/15/13.



I'm working on my 2nd book, "Journey Well," due out later this year: