Four weekends left to do a run - 7, 6, 4 and 3 miles.
28 days until race weekend.
One month from today...Team McManus runs Bermuda.
It's so much more than a 13.1 mile run for us. The journey that began 11 years ago for me and 3 years ago for Ruth Anne will culminate on the Island of Bermuda on 1/14/18.
11 years ago this month I was told that I 'had" Post-Polio Syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease. I should prepare to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. I should adapt our Cape home or buy a ranch. I might need a feeding tube since the left side of my esophagus was weak and I was aspirating my food. I was told that I should get a sleep apnea machine. Energy conservation suggestions abounded and I was told quite empathically I might add that if I use it I will lose it. Yes you read that right although I've had many people tell me that I made a typo ... Cautionary and fear-filled tales were told to me. At first, I paid attention to what I was being told and followed many of the suggestions. It was challenging to not talk during a meal, to need to do a chin tuck and dry swallow to avoid choking on food; to use a leg brace and a cane on 'good days' and when traveling long distances or going grocery shopping to use a wheelchair. We used PeaPod grocery delivery service. I became totally dependent on my family for chores (which did not make this control freak Type A personality very happy to say the least) and had to figure out what I was going to do with my life since I was told that if I had any hope of stabilizing the symptoms where they were that I had to quit my award winning career of almost 20 years as a VA social worker.
Well I did quit my job but before I did I got still and asked for Divine Guidance. The answer came in the form of a poem, "Running the Race," and poetry poured forth from my soul creating a future self as happy, healthy, whole and running unencumbered and free. That poem foreshadowed my 2009 Boston Marathon run even though I had never run a day in my life.
I got stuck time and again on this amazing healing odyssey until a very serious knee injury 3 years ago. After ditching Western Medicine and clearing out the naysayers from my life, I was blessed to meet a chiropractor, Dr. Ryan as he loves to be called who turned me onto the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza. With the help of Dr. Ryan and firing up my belief that I CAN heal and transform the past creating a new me mind, body and soul, I healed the knee injury avoiding a total knee replacement and returned to distance running.
One month from today Team McManus will celebrate along 13.1 miles on the beautiful Island of Bermuda. We will celebrate the power of endurance; how I never quit on my healing journey. We will celebrate the miracle of healing and the power of Divine Intelligence within each and every one of us that creates healing every day in every way. Running a third half marathon in as many years is a test if you will of my healing. I continue to move forward in my healing journey immersing myself more deeply in Dr. Joe's work. My knee - both knees - and my entire body will go 13.1 miles as my mind leads the way.
We will celebrate Ruth Anne's miraculous recovery from severe depression and trauma; from a woman plagued by stress, fear and anxiety not sure about whether or not she wanted to live or die to a woman transformed rebuilding her life one mile at a time.
We are trained. We are ready. One month from today we go the distance!
To going the distance with strength and courage
From my heart to yours,
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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