Going the Distance: "Life is hard...that's why we run!"

Yesterday Ruth Anne and I had some business to take care of. It was time consuming and stressful. We knew that ultimately it would have a positive outcome but it was a grueling process to endure.

We were up at 6am, did our core work and Ruth Anne and Tom went on a run. My Day 5 of training on the road to Bermuda Marathon Weekend usually consists of me hitting the gym in the morning for 30 minutes on the bike and 20 minutes on the Arc Trainer; a rigorous cardio workout followed by 2 days of rest and recovery.

However, since we had business to attend to I had to put my workout on hold.

It was late in the afternoon by the time we finished everything we needed to take care of and oh how I just wanted to go home and take a nap. It was a marathon of a day already. Yet I reminded myself that I am healed from the effects of paralytic polio and trauma and I could think greater than what my body was telling me!

I've been so blessed by my friendship with Bill Rodgers through the years. At the Bill Rodgers 5K Run/Walk for Prostate Cancer, Billy and I were talking before the race as he sold copies of his book, "Marathon Man."



"Life is hard right? That's why we run. When we know we can tough it out on the roads, we know we can tough things out in our lives." He punctuated his statement with "Yeah".

As his words echoed in my ears, I told Ruth Anne that, despite how we were feeling, we needed to get in our workout.

At Boston Sports Club we poured sweat on the Arc Trainer and then on the bike. I knew I needed to stick to my training plan with no excuses. I felt nauseous and tired but love the motto, "When in doubt sweat it out."

And sweat it out we did:


A rigorous 50 minute cardio workout to wrap up another week of training for Bermuda Marathon Weekend - a threepeat! Yes sometimes life gets hard and that's why I run...and set big goals to work toward....so that when the going get toughs, I stick to my training plan and go the distance.

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):