Hey All this is Ruth Anne here. My mum is ready to rock and roll for 7 miles! Please send your warm vibes and wishes for tomorrow's run! #highjackacellphone
We were absolutely floored by the likes and comments that followed!
I was taken back to when we ran the 2009 Boston Marathon and everyone would cheer us on in social media. It makes such a difference when you feel the energy of your village fueling your training runs.
Seven miles is another milestone on the road to the Bermuda Marathon Weekend. We are more than halfway the distance for the Half Marathon.
My village knows that while I have experienced miraculous healing from the effects of paralytic polio and trauma, defying the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease by Western Medicine Standards, it's a challenge for me to go the 13.1 distance.
While I've run two previous Bermuda Half Marathons, going the distance for a threepeat continues to challenge me.
That's what's so awesome about our sport of running. No matter the pace or the distance, everyone honors and respects the challenge that is individual to each person.
What a thrill to fall asleep last night to the well wishes of so many and also being able to wish them well on their training runs.
We got up early this morning knowing that there was a chance of thunderstorms and we wanted to get our run in outside!
It was hot and humid as we went out our front door, with water we froze, banana, luna bars and our Nike+ set to 7 miles! Ruth Anne suggested that we do an out the door and around the Reservoir route just in case we did not beat the rain and we could finish back at our house or if we needed shelter.
Fortunately there was shade and a few moments of breezes as we ran around the Chestnut Hill Reservoir. Three abreast in stride we ran reviewing our week, sharing our dreams and goals and experiencing the anticipation of Bermuda Marathon Weekend. I began to review the course mile by mile.
We found our rhythm and our pace running, as is so important, from the inside out paying attention to what we need given the conditions of the day. That's why these are called training runs! We are figuring out fueling and hydration and training in all sorts of weather.
As we approached the 6.4 mile mark, we felt gentle raindrops that soon turned into a deluge. "At least it's not thundering and lightning," I said. There's a funny line from the West Wing where Toby says to Sam, "Do you want to tempt the wrath from whatever from high atop the thing?"
Tom quickly reminded me of that line and we hoped that we would make it to the end of our run without thunder and lightning.
We quickened our pace as we were soaked to the skin and finished our sweet, sweaty and soaked 7 miles:
Stretching, ice baths, refueling with sandwiches, fruit and sparkling water and power naps are our new post run recovery routine.
We checked into Facebook and shared our sense of accomplishment .... one more training run closer to the starting line of the Bermuda Half Marathon in January of 2018 and Team McManus is feeling fine!
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):
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