After Bermuda Half Marathon I, my friend Lashell Head who I met through another friend I made in Bermuda, posted a beautiful article, "If you run slow, who cares...and what is slow anyway?" It inspired a blog I wrote about the "Sweet view from the back of the pack." Because I was at the back of the pack in Bermuda, and the marathon is two loops on the same course as the Half Marathon, I got to see the lead marathoners pass us. It was a thrill to see that the two lead runners were a male and a female battling it out. The female runner won the marathon. During these past two years I became friends with the American Runner aka Tim Price who now lives in Bermuda who was the lead male runner.
When it came to training for Bermuda Half Marathon II, my heart and soul weren't in it as I wrote about in a recent blog. I didn't even realize it at the time because I was focused on pushing myself to get a PR and beat my time from 2016. I wasn't mindful on race day, race day conditions were not ideal with a lot of cars on the road and it was warmer than I had anticipated and I could not enjoy the day as I had in 2016. Muscle spasms and cramps took over at mile 10 yet I was fierce in my determination and will to finish.
Training this year is a wonderful joyful experience having Team McManus reunited on the roads and in life.
We watched the NYC Marathon on Sunday. One of my Facebook friends said he had two goals. 1) Have fun and 2) Finish.
I watched a New York Times video of the back of the packers. The finish line stays open until the last runner crosses the finish line regardless of the time. The elite runners went back to cheer on the back of the packers and gave them their medals. It was called, "Last but not least."
Here's a story that Stephanie Pennington, organizer of Project Finish posted on her Facebook feed about the last finisher of the 2016 NYC Marathon.
I have to remember the miracle of healing that has happened for me to train for and finish Bermuda Half Marathon III in just a little over two months and embrace my pace at the back of the pack.
First was the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome in December of 2006. "Be prepared to spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair," I was told. "It's a progressive neuromuscular disease....If you use it you will lose it."
I decided to get still and ask for Divine Guidance. Despite being in a leg brace, using a wheelchair at times for mobility and facing a grim future by Western Medicine standards, I wrote the poem, "Running the Race." You can hear a wonderful reading of this poem along with an interview I did with Keith Cartwright on TwoTim47 podcast by following this link.
I went on to run the 2009 Boston Marathon as a mobility impaired runner finishing in 7 hours and 48 minutes!
I kept feverishly writing poetry to inspire mind, body and soul to heal.
It was a challenge for me to get traction on my healing journey until a very serious knee injury in December of 2014.
I was blessed to meet a chiropractor, Dr. Ryan J. Means, after I was told yet another cautionary tale from Western Medicine and was blessed to have had the physical therapist from hell. In addition to reigniting my mission, passion and purpose to heal from the effects of paralytic polio and trauma as well as the new knee injury, Dr. Ryan turned me onto the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza.
These past 3 years have been a wondrous time in my healing journey. I have not had a total knee replacement as was predicted. I have grown a new gastroc muscle that "they" said could not be regenerated. I did not cap my distance at a 5K but have run two Bermuda Half Marathons and am well on my way to wrapping up training for Bermuda Half Marathon III.
Another five days of training are in the Bank of Bermuda with this morning's 5K.
When I focus on the miracle of healing, the joy of Being and the gift of running in my life, I am able to set two wonderful goals for myself in Bermuda 2018 quoting my Facebook friend from Sunday's NYC Marathon and adding a third goal:
1. Have fun.
2. Finish.
3. Celebrate my miracle of healing after I cross the finish line, our daughter's miraculous recovery from severe depression and PTSD and the wonderful friends we will see in Bermuda.
To going the distance with strength and courage
From my heart to yours,
Mary
Be sure to listen to my interview with Keith Cartwright, "From Polio Survivor to Boston Marathon Finisher" by following this link.
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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