On Believing, Healing and Crushing Goals!

From January to late June, When I am not building miles for my annual Bermuda Half Marathon, I increase my work in cross training and strength training.

After working out on the Arc Trainer for a year, I decided it was time to set new goals. First, I increased the settings and worked at that level for 20 minutes for awhile. Then I decided I want to set a distance goal based on what/how I was doing and decided I'd go for .9 mile however long it took me. The next goal was to see if I could hit .9 mile within the 20 minute time limit. Oooh I came so close for the past several weeks.

We begin to increase mileage on the road to the Bermuda Half Marathon on Saturday so I knew I had one more opportunity to really open it up and see if I could crush that goal.

As you read this, kindly remember that 10 years ago I was told I 'had' 'Post-Polio Syndrome' - a progressive neuromuscular disease. I should prepare to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair.

In December of 2014, I was told that I should not run, could not run and would not run any distance more than a 5K - well maybe a 5 miler at most and should prepare to have a total knee replacement in a couple of years. That was based on an MRI of my left knee and leg - the leg more severely affected by paralytic polio that revealed a whole host of findings including degenerative joint changes, a fatty lipoma, torn miniscus, atrophied gastroc muscle and the list goes on and on. I started out using Western Medicine to try to get back on the roads but was redirected by the Universe to ditch my entire treatment team including a massage therapist I was working with at the time.

I was blessed to meet Dr. Ryan J. Means - a chiropractor who believed in the body's natural capacity to heal and reminded me about all teachings I had heard about before but somehow forgotten to practice their work. He added in the teachings of Dr. Joe Dispenza and Dr. Candace Pert, both teachers in "What the bleep do we know..."

I did not have the intention to set out and crush that goal on Tuesday. Something fired up within me and I was giving it my all. Sweat poured. Heart rate went way up. Once I set the intention to crush that goal, I had a single minded vision and focus. All that mattered in those moments was to see the distance change over as I increased my pace. My intention was clear and once I knew I was within striking distance, there was more and more momentum in my workout. It took on a life of its own and I hit .9 before the 20 minute mark. I kept going until 20 minutes:




From the beginning of my journey to heal my life 10 years ago, I had faith - I believed that I could and would heal. What a thrill to crush my goal on Tuesday.

I'm ready to take on 5.5 miles on Saturday on the road to my third consecutive Bermuda Half Marathon. It will be a first for me to train for and run a third consecutive half marathon but that's what believing, healing and crushing goals is all about!

Go the distance with strength and courage!
~Mary

Be sure to visit my website by following this link.

My books are available on Amazon.

Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life


Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing Hope and Possibility that chronicles the first 7 years of my healing journey:


And my latest and greatest book - Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance (With a Foreword by Jacqueline Hansen):