Tomorrow is a big milestone for Team McManus on the road to Bermuda Marathon Weekend....DOUBLE DIGITS ... 10 miles. Now that's only a half mile more than what we did last week but it means that there's only 3 more miles that we have to run in order to finish a half marathon.
We are way ahead of the training schedule from last year. I'm really glad we are building miles slowly and putting down a solid base of miles going all the way to 12.5 this year. We will stay at 10 miles for the next 3 Saturdays.
I have greater dedication to my training this year. Last year I was putting effort and energy into helping someone grow their business and was not as focused and well trained as I could have been to go the distance. I believe that my lack of dedication to my mental and physical training accounted in part for the cramping and muscle spasms I experienced out on the course. It was also a result of conditions on race day and my going out too fast having unreasonable expectations and goals for race day. I was ready to choose another half marathon later in 2018 and take more time off from training but God had other plans; Race Director Anthony Raynor extended an invitational entry to us and well how could we say no?
Last year there was also the stress and worry about our daughter's health and well being as she struggled with severe depression and PTSD.
This time last year, Ruth Anne was in dire straits living on her own, yet she managed to get through October through March working part time until the symptoms became unbearable for her. It's hard to believe that 6 months ago she was first at Norwood Hospital and then at St. Elizabeth's Hospital at her physically and mentally lowest point close to ending her life. I thank God everyday that she made that last minute call to 911 instead of ending her life.
As Ruth Anne tells me, "Mental illness is no joke."
With a new medication regimen and a great team to support her at an intensive outpatient therapy program that is psychoeducational in its focus she is making an incredible comeback on the roads and in her life.
So many people love our post run selfies saying how they love the smiles and the miles. {From this week's 3.11 tempo run on Wednesday and last Saturday's 9.5 miler}
We are so grateful and happy that Team McManus is reunited to go the distance once more having had an incredible 2009 Boston Marathon run. Every run is a celebration of health and healing; for Ruth Anne healing from depression and PTSD, and for me as I continue to gain strength and healing defying the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease by Western Medicine standards, a result of the effects of paralytic polio that I contracted at age 5 and severe childhood trauma. It takes strength, courage and determination to do what we are doing every week on the roads and in our lives.
My Nike+ is set. We have ponchos on hand just in case that 60% chance of rain turns into 100% chance of rain but we will be going out early hopefully to beat the rain. Water bottles are chilling in the fridge. Bananas and Luna Bars are on hand for our fueling. A ground turkey and mushroom pasta sauce is simmering on the stove to have over pasta with a big salad for tonight's dinner.
Ten miles - double digits - and Team McManus is in the zone to deposit more miles into the Bank of Bermuda tomorrow morning!
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