It doesn't get easier - I get stronger!

I'm in the off season of any races while I recover from my 3rd consecutive Bermuda Half Marathon but that doesn't mean that I'm letting up on my training!

I'm noticing that I had to up my game in my home strength training routine because the workout was getting easier. The workout hadn't changed of course -- I'm getting stronger!

Such a miracle considering that 11 years ago I was diagnosed with Post-Polio Syndrome and told to prepare to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. There was a paradigm being used to treat survivors of paralytic polio and other neuromuscular diseases that if you use it you will lose it. It's a paradigm that the patients are proving wrong. Polio survivors are accomplishing remarkable athletic feats. I refer you to Minda Dentler's recent Ted Talk and Diane Ngo's recent competition at the Working Wounded Games. Jimmy Choi and Bret Parker live with Parkinson's Disease. Jimmy took on American Ninja Warrior and Bret Parker, the World Marathon Challenge.

The paradigm for polio survivors and those living with neuromuscular disease did not take into account the miracle of how our bodies were made. There is an innate capacity for healing when we create the optimal environment to counter the effects of disease and harness the power of the mind to overcome challenges. I'm hoping that there is a shift in the medical community about allowing each person to determine their destiny rather than predict outcomes.

On Sunday, Tom and I went to the gym together to get in our cardio workout. I decided to work with my body to set the pace and intensity for my workout on the bike and see how I'd do.

Here are the results from a week ago:


and then on Sunday:


with a sweaty selfie of Team McManus after the workout:


Since I'm not training for any events right now, some might ask why am I working so hard? Why maintain this regimen?

My favorite response is just for the health of it. My training is also a metaphor for life. As Rocky said, "Ain't nothin gonna hit you harder than life...." Life and training doesn't get easier but I can measure my strength and resilience by looking at what I can do today that I couldn't do yesterday or a week ago or a decade ago; that I'm making different choices for how I live my life both on and off the roads.

I marvel at my progress, my strength, my resilience to keep coming back overcoming challenges after injuries or life stress and continue to make physical progress and evolve and grow spiritually.

The workouts, the bike, the runs, the challenges in life don't get easier -- I am blessed and grateful to say that I get stronger.


To your health and wellness
From my heart to yours,
Mary

Proud to be a part of Friends of Blue Diamond Athletic Displays, Inc. Be sure to visit us at Booth 758 during Boston Marathon Weekend.

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):

Pay It Forward Friday: Margo Feeney Running the Chi-Town Marathon Like a Fox for Parkinson's Disease

"When you get a diagnosis, take it day by day ... don't play to the end result." ~Michael J. Fox

I was blessed to meet Margo Feeney when she ran the 2014 Boston Marathon for Spaulding Rehab Hospital as part of their Race for Rehab Team. She and her sister Julie whom we affectionately call the Fabulous Feeney Sisters were having a fundraiser at Doyle's that I somehow knew we just had to attend to support their run. I'm so glad we did.

Margo is filled with love, light, joy and a smile and Spirit that lights up the world. Her heart is filled with gratitude and she is so excited to be able to run the 2015 Chicago Marathon in honor of her dad, the pop star diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease four years ago.

From her fundraising page:



This year I decided to support parkinson's disease research and dedicate my run in the Chicago marathon to my father, my popstar, and the Michael j. Fox foundation. My father was diagnosed with the disease more than four years ago. Since then he has joined support groups, has multiple therapy sessions a week, and is doing everything he can to stay active, vocal, and aware. My family is one of the lucky ones because he is still mobile, alert, and still lives to sing and dance. I have seen first hand how fast the disease can progress. Please help me support research to stop a disease that is affecting so many by donating to the Fox foundation and my run. I didn't think I would run 26.2 again but couldn't turn down a chance to fundraise for a great cause so close to home and challenge myself again. THIS ONE'S FOR YOU POPSTAR!

Five million people worldwide are living with Parkinson’s disease — a chronic, degenerative neurological disorder. In the United States, 60,000 new cases will be diagnosed this year alone. There is no known cure for Parkinson’s disease. But through your support of Team Fox, you can help change this.

About Team Fox

Team Fox is The Michael J. Fox Foundation’s (MJFF) grassroots community fundraising program. Its members include thousands of people worldwide who generate funds and awareness for Parkinson’s disease research. All funds raised through Team Fox go directly to MJFF to advance its mission to accelerate the delivery of life-changing treatments, and ultimately a cure, to people with Parkinson’s disease.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation is honored by your support. Since 2001, the Foundation has maintained an uncompromising pace — strategically targeting our resources to achieve maximum impact on patients’ lives, funding work on over 100 therapeutic targets to the tune of more than $450 million to date. MJFF also understands that patients are the key to a cure and is actively engaged with the PD community. To help connect patients and their loved ones with the clinical trials that urgently need their participation, the Foundation created a Web tool, Fox Trial Finder (www.foxtrialfinder.org). Whether you have PD or not, you can play a critical role in moving research forward — create your profile now!

Your timing to step up for Team Fox couldn’t be better. Be a part of the answer and help us speed a cure for Parkinson's today!

Margo also has a very special offer for you. She has 2 three day general admission tickets to the Boston Calling Music Festival happening 5/22 through 5/24 that will go to the highest bidder. The face value is $350. Bidding starts at $250 with all proceeds going to Team Fox. You can contact Margo via phone at 617.645.9665 to place your bid!

So donate to Margo's 26.2 miles through Chicago and give her a jingle to bid on those tickets for the Boston Calling Music Festival. Let's help her pay it forward to Team Fox!

Be blessed! Journey well! To all good things...

My latest book, "Journey Well" is now available on Amazon along with all of my inspirational books. 50% of book proceeds are donated to the Massachusetts Resiliency Center, a safe, welcoming space for survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing to heal and stay in touch with one another; a virtual hub for a widely dispersed community whose lives have been impacted by the tragic events of April 15th and the events that followed.

When terror struck the world's oldest and most beloved marathon on April 15, 2013, it was a defining moment in Mary McManus’ life and the lives of all those in Boston and around the world. It was her wake up call to return to the sport and community that have been medicine and a lifeline for her throughout her marathon of healing the late effects of paralytic polio and experiencing 9 years of domestic violence as a child and adolescent. Mary captures the essence of Boston Strong through her experience of the 2014 Boston Marathon and as she profiles the people who are Boston Stronger. Through her blog posts, poems and journal entries woven together with excerpts from her memoir, “Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility,” you will experience, through one woman’s journey of transformation and healing, that no matter what happens to us, we can all learn to journey well.