Run Bermuda! Run Happy! After a week of training....

Another week of training - a 5 day training cycle is in the books for a threepeat of Bermuda Marathon Weekend.

Sometimes training is not pretty - it's a struggle. This is true for anyone training for an endurance event but especially true for me as a survivor of paralytic polio and trauma and 25+ surgeries.

I usually "back down" from my workouts as we add on the miles. It's all about having had a mind set as a survivor of paralytic polio and trauma wary of injury and not completely trusting in my body. It was a subtle mindset that I hardly noticed until I noticed the shift as I embraced and embodied myself as an athlete training for another half marathon. Picture if you will, a Rocky moment feeling a fiery determination. Oh Post Polio syndrome and trauma you were a worthy opponent but oh how you underestimated me!



As I am preparing to write my next book, "Adventures of Runnergirl1953" I am going through my old blogs dating back to 2008 that recap my training for the 2009 Boston Marathon. By all appearances there was no way I should have been able to train for and run the Boston Marathon but on April 20, 2009, after 7 hours and change out on the Boston Marathon course Team McManus crossed the finish line!



After this week of training I realize how far I've come and continue to go in my healing odyssey free from the effects of paralytic polio and trauma.

I feel strength in my body and the determination to embrace all of the challenges that come with training for a half marathon again.

After a week of training I realize the benefits of having worked hard during my off season. On June 20, right before we began to build miles for training for Bermuda, I crushed a goal I set for myself on the Arc Trainer - to go at least .9 miles in 20 minutes - that's the equivalent of 1.8 miles.



During my cross training day on Tuesday, I realized that while Tom and Ruth Anne go out and run 5 miles, I do the equivalent of their run on the Bike and Arc Trainer at the gym. I did 5.2 miles in 50 minutes! I poured sweat and experienced the ongoing transformation of mind, body and soul from a survivor of polio and trauma to a woman achieving her best in health and fitness.



Ruth Anne runs with a friend on Wednesday morning and Tom and I get out to do our final training run of the week. Day 5/5 as I like to call it.



I pushed myself as Tom paced me and was thrilled with the results of our tempo run despite the rather steamy conditions. We passed runners who have shared early morning runs with us around the Reservoir. What joy to greet each other and say, "Good to see you!" and "Good mornin'!'


We don't know each other's names or anything about each other but we are connected through the power and gift of running.

I am working with a chiropractor for wholesome healing after a rigorous 5 day training cycle. In addition to her skillful, healing hands she provides patient education and a down to earth approach to the body.

I can feel the cumulative, positive benefits of the treatment as we balance out my body in the here and now. Through the adjustments, the past falls away and I allow the transformation in my physical body to take hold. My back feels stronger and straighter. We are correcting and balancing out my hips, pelvis, sternum and clavicle and Dr. Lizzie performs adjustments on my knee joints after the pounding I give them on the road to Bermuda.

Today and tomorrow are rest days.

I took time to pause and reflect on this week's training.

After a week of training I realize how far I've come in these past 10+ years. After a week of training I embody the reality that:



After a week of training in which I was able to find my second wind, feel the joy of an early morning run and experience the gift of running in my life, and stepping up to embrace my cross training and strength training days, I realize that I can and will go the distance. A threepeat of the Bermuda Half Marathon with Tom and Ruth Anne by my side with my race, my pace will be happening on January 14, 2018!



Another 8.5 miles on Saturday on tap for Team McManus as we will begin another week of training!

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):