Every Finish Line is a Starting Line: What's Next?

Mary McManus you ran the Bermuda Half Marathon, what are you going to do now?



I'm going to run the Hyannis 10K on February 28th!

What is so striking to me after running the Bermuda Half Marathon is how well I feel. I feel that I am ready to continue to build strength, endurance and improve speed on my shorter distances.

It's quite the miracle when you stop and think about it.

For the first time in my healing journey I am experiencing momentum. Chronic fatigue and pain have been replaced with feeling "vibrant sore."

I am experiencing confidence in my body and I am finding joy in running.

This morning, less than one week after running the Bermuda Half Marathon, Team McManus was back out on the roads. We did a good stretch to warm up along with a plank (now increasing time and we are up to 3:05), clams with weights on and 65 crunches. I layered with running tights under my running pants and two layers on my upper body with my Boston Marathon jacket. A Brooks hat and glittens from Saucony



completed the winter gear outfit.

We decided to take the mileage down to a 5K and build back up to a 10K to continue to give my body the chance to continue its recovery from 6 months of intense training and then running the Half.

There was a strong wind and we decided we should not run around any bodies of water but stay on Beacon Street in an out and back route from our home.

After training for and running 13.1 miles, running 3.11 miles, despite the weather conditions, was a joy. I began to crank up the pace a little bit but listening to my body in the weather conditions I dialed it back. I did about a 16:00+ minute/mile pace overall. There were patches of black ice and little snow mounds here and there. During every training run of the past 6 months we would imagine how it would feel coming into the finish line on Front Street. In today's run we remembered that feeling of exhilaration and how it was exactly as we imagined it would be.

After the Hyannis 10K, we will maintain our 10K distance on the weekends and work on speed at the 5K distance as we get ready for the Harvard Pilgrim Finish at the 50 5K on July 3rd - the race where my road to the Bermuda Marathon Weekend all began. And then Team McManus begins to train again for January 15, 2017.

It will be amazing to compare how I feel this year versus last year. Everything was so new and uncertain given my journey of the past 9 years and especially after the December 2014 knee injury.

Every finish line is a starting line and I am so excited to experience what's next.

Here's Team McManus after running 3.11 miles this morning: