Going the Distance: Celebrating 10 Years of Healing: The Gift of Running Part I

May 25th marks 10 years since I took a leap of faith to leave my award winning career as a VA social worker to heal my life from the effects of paralytic polio and trauma.

I came to the sport of running in a rather unique way. In February of 2007, as I sat in a leg brace, using a cane and at times a wheelchair for mobility facing a rather grim future after the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease by Western Medicine standards, I wrote a poem called "Running the Race."

Here is an excerpt:
Using wheelchair to travel, set limits on what I could do,
resulted in joy to realize I could live life anew.
Celebrated my body- creaks, groans and need for a brace
While in my mind I focused on winning a 10K race.

Sought out paths for healing and my spirit flew free
for the first time in life, I could truly be me.
The chains are gone and possibilities abound
I'm a tree with my roots planted firmly in ground.

I'm now off the sidelines, no need to sit and whine
So much gratitude fills my heart and love and beauty shine.
After all these years I can join the loving human race
I exceed all expectations and now I set the pace.

A photo from Christmas 2007:



I had never run a day in my life. I was told to prepare to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair and at best, stabilize the symptoms of difficulty swallowing, walking with a limp, having difficulty breathing, aspirating my food, suffering with chronic pain and fatigue and the list went on and on ... Yet there I was imagining myself winning a 10K race.

Okay so I never did win a 10K race but I did go on to run the 2009 Boston Marathon and Team McManus raised $10,535 for Spaulding Rehab where I took those very first, very tentative and might I add excruciatingly painful steps on a healing quest to return to the land of the living.

How does one go from never having run a day in one's life to training for and crossing the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon?

From my memoir, "Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility":


At my six-month evaluation in February, I had dramatically improved in every area of the assessment. I had come out of my leg brace and I knew that I was on a healing path. Janine {the personal trainer I hired after being discharged from Spaulding Rehab's Outpatient Clinic} asked me what my next health and fitness goals were.

“Well I want to feel free in my body. I want to dance. I want to be able to walk outside and feel unencumbered when I take a walk.”

Janine wrote feverishly and we worked out a plan. She gathered up her belongings and had her hand on the door knob.

“Wait. I have one more goal.”

Janine stopped and turned around.

“I want to run the Boston Marathon for Spaulding Rehab Hospital. I know they have a Race for Rehab team and I want to do it next year.”

Janine was non-plussed. I don’t know what kept her from turning tail and getting as far away from me as she could. She came back into my house and put down her things. She said that the first thing I would need is a pair of running shoes. She told me that Marathon Sports on Beacon Street would be able to help me. She laid out a cursory training plan and said that we would begin indoors to build up my cardio endurance. As soon as the weather got a little warmer, we’d go outdoors and I would learn how to run.

What had I just done?

Spencer Aston of Brookline Marathon Sports was so patient with me as we worked to find my first pair of running shoes!

Despite admonishment from the medical community, running has been the best medicine for me mind, body and soul! It took a lot of courage to go from never having run a day in my life to getting out on the roads starting out with running for a minute and walking for 3 minutes.

I have so many cherished memories since I started running in April of 2008.

My first road race was the Corrib Pub 5K in June of 2008.



It was love at first race feeling the exhilaration of the freedom of being able to run AND being cheered instead of the jeers and taunts and teasing I experienced as a child lugging a full leg brace and trying desperately to keep up with my friends.

And then it wasn't love during my 2nd race in July - the Marathon Sports 5 Miler.



It was a competitive field to say the least. It was an evening race and so very hot and humid. As soon as the field took off I felt the old feelings of being left behind rear their head. Fortunately, Tom wouldn't let me quit and said that we would make it through together. As I write in my memoir, I couldn't distinguish between the tears and the sweat.

As we approached the finish, I experienced what it means to be part of the running community. Because the staff at Marathon Sports knew my story and what I was setting out to do, they made sure to give me a hero's welcome as we came into the finish on the field. They honked the horn of the sweep truck and cheered me on as if I finished first.

Because I did not give up in that race being able to dig deep despite feeling miserable in mind, body and soul, my journey of transformation through running had officially begun!

To be continued....

To going the distance with strength and courage!
~Mary

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):


Mary McManus, MSW knew challenges since she was five years old beginning with contracting polio followed by enduring nine years of violence at the hands of family members. Those early challenges prepared her for taking on the challenge of the diagnosis of post polio syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease in December 2006 when she was at the height of her award winning career as a social worker at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Asking for Divine Guidance as she had throughout her trials and tribulations, she discovered the gift of poetry in her soul. Her first poem, “Running the Race,” foreshadowed her 2009 Boston Marathon run. “Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance,” chronicles Mary’s journey as a survivor of paralytic polio and trauma, as a runner and a woman who refused to quit. Eight years after her diagnosis, she was finally led to two healers, a chiropractor and a muscular therapist, who helped her reclaim her life and go the distance, a woman transformed who embodies the power of endurance.

Presenting "Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life"

I just did a #tbt on Facebook to a blog post I wrote a year ago about the Marathon Sports 5 Miler. It's absolutely amazing to see my transformation from a year ago. I know in every fiber of my being that Team McManus will return to the Marathon Sports 5 Miler and what a triumphant run that will be for us.

I wasn't planning on writing any more books. I was running but setting the limit of one more Tufts 10K and then do 5K's. I had all of these limiting beliefs which of course at the time I did not realize were limiting beliefs.

There was this quote I used from Woody Hayes in the post about success - it's what you do with what you've got.

And I would have to edit Woody Hayes' quote: Success is having the courage to dream beyond appearances and "what you've got" and create something new!

Shortly after my knee injury in December, I was blessed to meet Ryan J. Means, DC who likes to be called Dr. Ryan. When I thought of seeing a chiropractor, I thought of having my back cracked. As we stood and talked at the book release for "Journey Well", Dr. Ryan's passion and enthusiasm for his work was infectious. He explained to me that chiropractic care is for the whole body and yes he could help me with healing my knee injury.

But first I would walk the path of Western medicine albeit very briefly.

The Universe hit me with a 2 x 4 when I went to see a physical therapist.

I landed on my feet literally and metaphorically in Dr. Ryan's office. Adjustments on my spine and kinesiotaping were just what I needed to get me back on the roads. My plan to return to the roads in mid-April moved to mid-March. Ryan, along with a Facebook friend suggested I read Dr. Joe Dispenza's "You Are the Placebo."

I realized that as long as I stayed at Spaulding Rehab, my focus was on rehab and continuing to identify with my diagnosis. God bless the Aquatics Therapist but because she did not like running and had sustained an injury while running, she was sending me the energetic and verbal messages that I should not run again.

I shifted my workouts to our Town pool and then was blessed to find my way to WaveHealth's pool where I create my own cross training plan building on the best that Spaulding's Aquatics Therapy had to offer.

Things that I usually struggle with in the creative process just flowed. The cover was a joy to create and once I got still I was able to hear the message and purpose of publishing "Feel the Heal."

Introduction

In December of 2006, my mind, body and soul were crying out for healing. I was diagnosed with post polio syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease as Western medicine defines it. It was my wake up call to find a path for healing. In February of 2007, I discovered the healing power of writing poetry. I foreshadowed my 2009 Boston Marathon run while using a cane, a leg brace and at times a wheelchair for mobility with the first poem that I wrote called, "Running the Race."

I call my pen my divining rod for healing. This anthology is a collection of poems old and new that inspire my healing mind, body and Spirit from childhood paralytic polio and sexual, physical and emotional abuse from the time I was 8 years old until my dad’s suicide when I was 17 years old.

I have learned that when we bypass our analytical minds and are able to see beyond appearances, magic and miracles happen. I’ve been blessed to find my way to people who believe in me and who provide me with the unconditional love and support that stimulates the body to heal.

My hope and intention is that as you read these poems, you too will feel the heal, experience the possibility and be inspired to open your heart to a world beyond what we see and know.

With my love
Mary McManus

Putting in page numbers has always been a challenge in the past but somehow, the numbers seemed to magically appear as they need to be. I know that the Universe is speeding along the process of bringing "Feel the Heal" into the world.

It's time for final editing and soon I will present in its final form, "Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life."

Cheers! To life! Love yourself well!