Celebrating Ten Years of Running and Blogging!

On October 22, 2008 I posted my first blog on Healing, Hope and Possibility. I have chronicled my healing odyssey and my running journey through the years transforming my blog from Healing, Hope and Possibility to Welcome to a New World and now Going the Distance.

I used to be a daily blogger but now I've been blogging less frequently. I'm focused on finishing my next book, "The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953" and exploring avenues where I can share my journey with a wider audience.

In 2018 I was blessed to have my story included in Dr. David Hamilton's Tenth Anniversary Edition of How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body.



I was blessed to be a guest on David's radio show that complemented the release of his book on Hay House Radio. You can find it in the archives of Hay House UK 10/22 show.

I can feel that it is time to turn my attention to other projects now.

It's been a great run!

I've run the 2009 Boston Marathon and had wondrous adventures on the road to Hopkinton.

I experimented with different healing modalities and am now blessed to partner with Dr. Lizzie Sobel using chiropractic care to supplement my mind/body practices to continue to heal from the effects of paralytic polio and trauma.

I suffered a serious knee injury in December of 2014 and blogged during that time of uncertainty of whether or not I would be able to return to the sport I'd come to love after the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome in December of 2006. What a joy filled journey as I went on to run 3 consecutive Bermuda Half Marathons.

I blogged about businesses, fund raisers, and my daughter's struggles with mental health.

I am deeply grateful for my readers during these past 10 years and my followers on Google.

It's a great time to take a break from blogging to follow Spirit to other adventures on the roads and in my life.

You can follow me on Twitter @runnergirl1953, Facebook and of course my website.

My books are available on Amazon.

Thank you again to all of my faithful fans and followers and I'll look forward to when our paths cross again!

To your health and wellness
From my heart to yours
Mary

My healing journey using the power of visualization is featured in David R. Hamilton's book, "How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body-Anniversary Edition." It's available on Amazon.


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:


Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance (With a Foreword by Jacqueline Hansen):


***Coming Soon - The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953***

“The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953” takes you on Mary McManus’ healing odyssey from a wheelchair to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond. After the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome in December 2006, Mary got still and asked for Divine Guidance tapping into the powerful connection she experienced to the Divine from an early age. She harnessed the power of her mind to heal her body, feverishly writing poetry in which she imagined herself healthy, whole and free from the shackles of her youth. Mary’s quest to heal her life led her to the sport of running. Her story is one that will leave you cheering for the underdog, discovering the meaning of different ability and experiencing the stunning view from the back of the pack of a race. You will have the privilege of bearing witness to how Mary overcame every challenge that life presented to her. The sport of running provides the backdrop for her journey of transformation from a survivor of childhood paralytic polio and severe trauma at the hands of family members to a woman who embodies faith, grace under fire, courage, determination, endurance and resilience. Running became a way of life for Mary that tested her mettle while forging friendships to last a lifetime. As you’ll discover in “The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953” nothing, not even a serious knee injury in December of 2014 could stop her on the roads or in her life.

Lessons learned from a crashed hard drive

The dreaded swirling thingie was going full tilt on my mac laptop on Friday evening.



Fortunately my husband is a techie and I asked him for help.

As we tried different ways to reboot, there was bad news. The hard drive had crashed.

Tom tried calling the Apple Store and decided to make a trip down there without an appointment gently taking my laptop with all of my poems and journals, quotes and images to the Apple Store. We had two back ups but didn't know the last time it was able to back up. While he took my computer to the Apple Store, I took out pen and paper and tried to recall recent entries.

I had started a poem about the Shifting Sands of Time and it was a wonderful opportunity to be still and finish the poem.




The Shifting Sands of Time

She wades into the water past present and future swirl at her feet
wringing out with cleansing sobs tears bitter salty sweet.
Gazing on horizon contemplating all that went before
oddly grounded in this moment shifting sands upon the shore.
As seagulls soar above her they remind her she's now whole
from holy hell to journey well she traveled in her soul.
Drinking in the sunshine once doused fire now is lit
a brave and mighty Spirit running free she breaks the bit.
The warmth of sand between her toes her hair a mighty mane
resounding rhythm lapping waves echo life's refrain.
Unbridled joy and freedom breath heaving heart is light
footsteps sure and steady soon disappear from sight.
With an inner knowing smile drenched in sweat her pace can cease
no longer seeking she is found and walks her path of peace.

Tom came back in short order telling me that the only time the Genius Bar had available was on Tuesday. He explained that it just needed a new hard drive. "Oh we don't sell hard drives here. You'd have to leave the machine. We order it and then you come back to pick it up."

Tom was going to try to make it to Microcenter where they sell hard drives before they closed at 9 pm but since it started snowing decided to come home.

I suggested that we just reboot it and asked the angel techies to come and help save my computer.

Tom decided to allow me to give it a try.

We walked away and were patient deciding that we'd probably need to leave it overnight to do whatever it was going to do although Tom, with his 35 years in the computer industry told me to not be too hopeful. I suggested we join together in optimism that somehow the machine would fix itself.

About a half an hour later I walked by and said, "We have a screen saver."

Tom suggested we leave the machine overnight as planned and on Saturday morning he ran a utility program that was able to restore the hard drive and it's working better than ever without any more swirly thingies.

If we would have panicked and Tom tried to get to Microcenter to buy a hard drive and/or a new mac before they closed, we would have wasted a lot of precious time and money. Now it could have happened that it did not restore itself and we would have addressed that but it's amazing what can happen with patience, faith and the magical touch of a seasoned techie to restore a computer when it had a very grim prognosis.

All of my documents were there although I was fully prepared for whatever might have been lost knowing about the impermanence of all things.

I am, however, extremely grateful that my work is in tact and embrace the wonderful lessons learned from a crashed hard drive.

Journey well!

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.

Joy in Letting Go - Peace in Surrender!

"Your right leg is leading the journey," Joseph, my mind/body therapist at Sollievo Massage and Bodywork suggested to me after my treatment two weeks ago. "I don't really have words for this but I'm waiting for your left leg to tell its story. It's still encased." He verbalized for me what I experienced in my body but had not yet brought fully into my awareness. I realized it was time to delve into healing the experience of paralytic polio.

I'd been experiencing intermittent knee discomfort for months. Sometimes during Aquatics Therapy my left leg would lock. My right IT band , my right knee and right heel would experience pain to different degrees at different times. Running would help mind, body and Spirit to keep everything flowing. Several weeks ago my left knee was hurting after a run. After taking it easy and two treatments with Joseph that incorporated leg traction it felt much better. After our cat Jamie's dental surgery, I was getting up and down off of the floor and I knocked something out of whack on my left knee. Biking and Aquatics Therapy helped but at times, there was swelling and discomfort.

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do the Miss Santa Holiday 5K yesterday. I knew that I had to wait and see how I felt when I woke up. We were signed up as walkers so there was no pressure for a pace. We just wanted to be a part of the day and enjoy ourselves which we did!





I felt wonderful doing a race walker pace. It was cold but I loved being a part of the race put on by RaceCancer. {Be sure to check out their website for more information about this amazing organization!} There was a group of walkers that caught up to us and we were all out there to have a good time. There was a longer part of the loop to go to finish the 5K but we all decided to go over the bridge to the finish line. When Alain greeted us with his warm Alain hug, we told him that we took a shortcut. He smiled and said, "Oh you cheated huh?" I told him we were honest cheaters. It turned out to be a blessing that we didn't go the extra half mile or so.

As we walked to the car to head to the after party I could feel my knee swell. It became more and more of a challenge to walk. Despite what was happening in my knee, we enjoyed a delicious Breakfast Club (minus the bacon) sandwich and the festive atmosphere at the Hill Tavern. We were about to leave when the Silent Auction began.

Tom said we should stay and bid on the Boston Strong basket that no one had bid on.

We won our bid on this fabulous basket of Boston Strong activities to do in Copley Square:



Since I was limping, I told Alain about my knee. He told me to go home and ice it and then posted this to my Facebook wall reminding me that laughter is the best medicine:



Tom helped me get into the house and I began a regimen of ice/heat, elevation, advil and meditation. Tom was my crutch in every sense of the word and helped me get to the bathroom and back.

I was amazed at what my left leg was finally able to release after all these decades.

I was letting go of the pain and struggle I held ever since contracting paralytic polio. I allowed fears to come and go and bathed them with compassion and the mantra, "I trust in my body's ability to heal." Trust. Power. Strength. I felt strength returning to my left leg and knew that powerful healing was happening.

I came to a realization. I need to stop running. I choose to stop running. It's a struggle for me to run and while I have had an amazing run these past 9 months, it's time to enjoy activities and sports that will not take such a toll on my joints. Twenty three years ago I had reconstructive leg surgery to avoid a total knee replacement. My surgeon said he'd give me a ten year guarantee. I plan on making it a lifetime guarantee and one of the ways I can do that is to take the stress off of the joints. There are ways for me to get a runner's high without running. I get it on my recumbent bike now and I get a runner's high during Find your Aquatics Strength class at Spaulding. It's been a gradual letting go which began in my blog post, "That's Enough: Finding the Joy in the Journey." I know that there are wonderful articles about the benefits of running as we age and that running can actually be good for the joints. But for me, for now (and we never know how long now is going to last) with the combination of my knee issues and needing to heal the effects of paralytic polio, I choose to stop running.

Tom and I will always be Team McManus and will share in races together. I told him that he has a chance to shine in his age group now. Unlike the last time I stopped running, I am going to be an integral part of the running community. I am going to volunteer at races and be support crew during Boston Marathon training season.

I wrote this in "Journey Well,"

And if the time comes when in my physical form I am no longer able to run, running will always be a part of who I am. All that I have learned and become through running shall remain forever.

I feel incredible joy in letting go of running and racing. I look forward to long leisurely walks on warmer sunny days in winter and walks on the beach or around the reservoir enjoying being in my body - relatively pain and struggle free. I feel peace in being able to surrender to the experience of paralytic polio and look forward to continued healing in mind/body/Spirit. Today my body feels better than it has in a few months giving it this time to rest and heal. My heart and soul are filled with joy and at peace.

I am blessed!

Surrender

Surrender and heal unpack the bags of the past
surrender, let go, feel free
struggles be gone, there’s too much to do
let energy flow, it’s time to be me.
A woman of strength, courage and fierce
I had to fight my way to get to where I am today
time to take off the gloves, stop working so hard
be soft and gentle, let love light the way.
Nothing to prove, nothing to do
there’s no more time to waste
let fear be gone as ghosts disappear
all the demons have now been faced.
Surrender and heal my new mantra for peace
my body can now heed the call
with help from an earth angel healer
we rewind to that moment when I first took the fall.
Surrender and heal, let joy and possibility flow
everything’s perfect right here and now
let angels surround and be the guides
they’ll lead the way to the how.
To feel whole and balanced in my earthly home
my river of life, my beautiful chi
unceasingly easily flowing
for the first time in my life no more braces I’m free!

Journey well my friends!


"Journey Well" available on Amazon, is a book about resilience, strength, courage and how we are able to journey well no matter what conditions life hands to us. I profile the people who are Boston Stronger and share how 4/15/13 was a wake up call to me to return to my healing path from contracting paralytic polio at age 5 and 9 years of domestic violence as a child and adolescent. I am thrilled that Sollievo Massage and Bodywork is hosting the Book Release Party for "Journey Well" on January 10th from 5:30-7:30pm.





50% of book proceeds are donated to AccesSportAmerica where people of all ages and abilities achieve higher function and fitness through high challenge sports and training.