As I lay in bed this morning meditating on the road to the Bermuda Half Marathon, the thought came into my awareness....your body remembers how to train for and run a half marathon!
When I first set out on my quest to heal my body, mind and soul from the effects of paralytic polio followed by years of unrelenting abuse and torture at the hands of family members, I wrote a poem that had the line, "The body remembers what the mind forgets....until it's time to heal."
Throughout my healing journey, I have resurrected and healed traumatic memories while also reaching back into the recesses of my mind to resurrect positive memories from before polio and trauma. I was a graceful ballerina. I was strong and flexible. One morning as I put my feet on the wooden floor, I felt the energy of what it was like to be in ballet class before tragedy struck my life.
After writing the poem, "Running the Race,", I watched the "Run Forrest Run" scene from Forrest Gump over and over and over again.
Dr. Joe Dispenza talks about the power of mirror neurons. By observing someone else performing an action our body responds as if we were performing that action. Immersing myself in the sport of running allowed my body to heal from the effects of paralytic polio.
With a 5 day training cycle and training for my 3rd consecutive Bermuda Half Marathon, I continue to encourage my mind, body and soul to heal from the effects of paralytic polio and trauma.
After my meditation, I was ready to embark on our training run.
The weather called for rain but the temperature was 77 degrees. It was cloudy as we had our breakfast, did our core work and stretched but by the time the water belts were packed, the rain started to fall. We ditched our plan to run around Jamaica Pond again, especially since there was a risk of thunderstorms and decided to head out to a part of the Boston Marathon course on Beacon Street.
The collective mind, body and soul memory of Team McManus' 2009 Boston Marathon run was experienced as we shared the good, the bad and the ugly memories of training for the Boston Marathon.
We embraced the challenge of the run with uphills and downhills, rain, humidity and moments of sun breaking through the clouds. We ignited the passion of being endurance runners - together - again - after a hiatus of 8 years. We began to imagine what it's going to be like to run the Bermuda Half Marathon together. Tom and I shared what the course is like with Ruth Anne who will be running her inaugural Bermuda Half Marathon. She did crush the Nashville Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon in 2013!
We took 11 seconds per mile off of our pace from last week, ran hills and added .5 miles to the run.
It's all coming back to us now - because the body remembers - and we are finding so much joy in the journey!
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):
No comments:
Post a Comment