Going the Distance: Be a Hill Seeker!

Next Sunday Tom and I return to Gillette Stadium to race the Finish at the 50 5K.

What a difference a year makes!

Last year I was sending emails to Race Director Dave McGillvray scared that I would be left in the dust to get lost in Gillette Stadium.

Today Tom and I went out for our last strong run before the race. I'll strength train tomorrow, cross train in the pool at Wave Health on Monday, do cross training on the Arc Trainer and Bike on Tuesday rest on Wednesday and Thursday and go for a shake out run on Friday. Saturday is a rest day and Sunday we take once again to the ramps at Gillette Stadium to be a hill seeker.

Today's run was hot and hilly as we ran up what we affectionately call "Billy's Hill" by Boston College referring to Bill Rodgers. That hill was part of the Bill Rodgers 5K Run/Walk for Prostate Cancer when I nailed a PR:


I pushed hard knowing that I was training my legs for those pesky ramps at Gillette. It's an incredible feeling to experience the sensation of strength surging through my legs and also feeling the fatigue at the end of a hard run.



The momentum I continue to experience in my running and in my life is a blessing and a gift.

One week from tomorrow we will be a hill seeker because well quite frankly life happens on the hills.

To your health and wellness!
Mary

Going the Distance:! On Intention, Affirmations and Outcomes

It all began with Dr. Ryan J. Means, a doctor of chiropractic medicine as we stood face to face in January of 2015. One would think it was a random meeting until he reached out to me with a Facebook message asking if we could meet for coffee so he could learn more about my healing journey. Meeting Ryan changed my life forever setting me on a course of health and wellness and quantum healing! We poured over Dr. Joe Dispenza's "You Are the Placebo" book together. I read Candace Pert's book, "Everything You Need to Know to Feel Go(o)d" at Ryan's suggestion and watched, "What the bleep do we know." As we sat having lunch the other day while he was on vacation from his practice in China, we reminisced about the work we had done together. He opened up my body with adjustments, intention and affirmations for healing and reminded me that I AM worthy of healing even though my childhood training led me to believe otherwise.

As I trained for the Bermuda Half Marathon last year, training in a way I never had before and running more miles than I had since I trained for the 2009 Boston Marathon, I set my intention to go the distance. I wrote these affirmations.

August 21, 2015
I run unencumbered swift with ease and free.
I allow healing of everything that went before and to stimulate my body's natural capacity to heal
I live in a new mind body living only in the present moment.
My body is healthy, whole, and strong, and I am stronger in the places where they tried to break me.
I allow my beautiful pure chi to flow freely and easily.
I may remember things from the past to integrate them into my consciousness; I only believe truth, love, light, and that I am a whole healthy vibrant woman and runner.
I am grateful for this opportunity to run long and run strong again.
I trust in my body's ability to meet the challenge of every experience that I present to it.
I run with courage, strength, fierceness, and determination.
There is going to be soreness and new sensations as I train in a way I've never trained before. I trust in my body's ability to recover from long runs, speed work, hills, and strength training workouts with ease.
I am so happy and grateful that Tom and Dr. Ryan are my partners on and off the roads.
I am so happy and grateful for the abundance of health and healing that is now mine to claim.
I love myself and consider only those thoughts that are going to propel me toward the finish line.
I am strong and I am determined and I am healthy and I am protected by divine love and angels and I am so grateful for their presence in my life.
I allow thoughts and fears to come and go and I greet them with kindness and compassion.
I am so happy and grateful for the amazing support of my running community and my village. And I know with their love, with their cheers, and with their support, Team McManus is going the distance.
I fall in love with the process and the results will come--a quote from Dr. Joe Dispenza

The universe has orchestrated everything that I need to be who I am truly meant to be which is a long distance runner.
Everything is healed. Everything is rewired.
I see myself through the eyes of the person I've become. A quote from What the bleep do we know!
I am filled with life and vibrancy and joy and gratitude and happiness so much happiness to be living this beautiful life that I live.
I grieve the past and I feel the sadness for what happened to me and then I feel a wellspring of joy bubbling up from deep within me knowing that spirit, Light, and love always win.

I started following Geoffrey Smith, two time Boston Marathon Champion and Race Director extraordinaire. He holds the record for the Bermuda Marathon Weekend 10K and he would #runhappy - the hashtag for the Bermuda Marathon Weekend. I added this to my list of affirmations:

Running successfully is all about adopting  a clear plan that includes easy, hard, and rest days. They are all important. Listen to your body. #RunHappy Geoff Smith

And so it came to pass that I successfully ran the Bermuda Half Marathon in January of this year. I went on to run the Hyannis 10K in February and then took a racing hiatus while I trained through my off season. A huge shout out of gratitude to Jack Fultz, Boston Marathon Champion who suggested I cross train on the Arc Trainer which, as good fortune would have it, is available at Wave Health and Fitness.

And as I affirmed almost a year ago - the Universe has orchestrated everything I need as go the distance and reclaim life enjoying training, momentum, races, a sense of health and wellness healing the effects of paralytic polio and trauma. Next up the Finish at the 50 Race and then I begin training for the Bermuda Half Marathon all over again! Life.is.good.

To your health and wellness!
Mary

A Reunion with Dr. Ryan - Simply the Best

We were at the book release party for "Journey Well." Most people had left to watch the Patriots in the playoffs. I found myself looking deep into the blue eyes of Ryan J Means, DC.



He had been practicing at Sollievo Massage and Bodywork but was a very well kept secret there despite my sharing with the massage therapist I was working with at the time about left knee pain. When our hearts are open and intention for healing is clear (and boy did it take me awhile to believe that I was worthy of healing) the Universe sets before us all that we need.

And so I was enthralled listening to Dr. Ryan's passion about what chiropractic medicine can do beyond just cracking the spine. He reached out to me on Facebook and asked if we could have coffee. He was intrigued by my healing journey.

When we met for coffee I felt this wonderful and magical connection with him. I interviewed him for a feature on my blog to let others know that chiropractic care is not just for the spine. Little did I know that meeting Ryan for coffee would change my life forever!

After that meeting I decided that I wanted to experience chiropractic care. Things were not going so well with my massage therapist. I had fired my physical therapist and ditched the physiatrist who had taken excellent care of me when I was first diagnosed with post polio syndrome but no longer served me.

His philosophy of healing:
Don't let pain or fear of pain slow you down ~Dr. Ryan

The doctor of the future will give no medication, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, diet and in the cause and prevention of disease. " ~ Thomas A. Edison

Dr. Ryan Means transforms human potential into power and performance to maximize health.

He met Dr. Candace Pert while he was in training for chiropractic medicine. She was one of the teachers in What the bleep do we know and wrote the book, "Everything you need to know to feel Go(o)d." And turned me onto the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza.

He cared for me in a way I'd never been cared for by any other physician, therapist or body worker. His kindness, compassion, warmth, caring, deep intention to help me heal and get back to running reminded me mind, body and soul about the intention I set to heal my life shortly after I was diagnosed with post polio syndrome and that I would not stop until I reclaimed my life.

I remember one session when he said to me, "I have no one scheduled after you and you are going to get the royal treatment today." He did adjustments, worked on my feet, taped my leg and went over exercises that were going to help me get stronger and healthier reclaiming my wellness.



We decided that even though the MRI showed my left gastroc muscle had atrophied due to polio, we could grow a new one and so he used KT tape to help me stimulate the growth for a new gastroc muscle:


We've had so many Facebook chats throughout these past 10 months and he has been with me every step of the way as he was able to witness the blossoming of the seeds he planted as I trained for the Bermuda Half Marathon. He cheered me on every step of the way and we experienced cosmic moments together as though no distance separated us.

And now, I am 5 sleeps away from reuniting with Ryan. We will meet at the Seaport Hotel where I first learned he was leaving for China.

Dr. Ryan J. Means - a man who blesses every life he touches. A man whose birthday is one week from today and boy talk about an angel falling to Earth to bring love, light, healing and joy wherever he goes.

I am so excited for my reunion with Dr. Ryan on Monday...He got me back on my healing path and co created a miracle of healing in my life reminding me of my power to heal. He is and will always be simply the best.

To your health and wellness!
Mary