Celebrating Ten Years of Running: Leave The Stress on the Road

Monday morning the 6:00am alarm went off. There was a hint of daylight through the shades. Our cat Jamie jumped on the bed and snuggled in close. I set the alarm for 6:20 to begin the day with our morning meditation. My body felt sluggish. I continue my recovery from the trauma of our daughter's recent psychiatric crisis and hospitalization from last week and the ongoing exhaustion of watching her self-destructive behaviors. I know that no matter how I may be feeling before a run, after a run I feel refreshed and renewed ready to take on a new day.

Tom and I took deep breaths as we descended the stairs appreciating the spaciousness of our home without our daughter's presence. We did our core work out, had a banana and hydrated and opened the door to breathe in the cool clean crisp air.

It was 28 degrees with frost on the newly fallen leaves and patches of ice on the ground. We started off with a slow and easy pace as Tom continues to recover from his knee injury and once we got to the Reservoir, we ended up doing negative splits.

We passed a runner who we hadn't seen in a long time. We smiled and greeted each other with a tip of the hat kind of motion. During our last lap around the Reservoir we wished each other a good day. We don't know each others' names. All we know is we are runners and:


There are spectacular sights to see with the dawn of a new day and we stopped to take photos:


Running is our sacred time together. We unplug, breathe deeply in nature, raise our heart rates rather than our blood pressure in response to life's stress and leave the stress out on the road with every foot strike. We savor the sights and sensations of the dawn of a new day and fill ourselves with hope and possibility.



One of these days I should take a before and after run selfie to see what a difference a run makes:


It's amazing to celebrate ten years of running! I honestly do not know what I did before I discovered the gift of running in my life....oh yeah .... yes I do....I got sick and was given the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease. But all that is in the rear view mirror now.

We put on the kettle for coffee and oatmeal, popped in our quinoa bread toast, poured the juice and gave thanks for another great run in which we were able to leave the stress on the road.

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. 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 that tested her mettle while fueling 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. 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. Mary’s story is one that will leave you cheering for the underdog and discovering the meaning of different ability as Mary overcame every challenge that life presented to her.

Celebrating Ten Years of Running: My Morning Run

Yesterday's run was going to be an easy 5K. Tom and I are running the Joseph Middlemiss Superhero 5K on Saturday. It's a hilly course and my first road race since the Bermuda Half Marathon in January. I've been giving my body time and space to recover from 3 half marathons in as many years being mindful of what a miracle it was to have run 3 half marathons in consecutive years! Polio, trauma, Post-Polio Syndrome and a serious knee injury were not going to stop me!

My first mile was at an easy pace.

I couldn't leave it at easy and I picked up my pace that yielded a negative split of 34 seconds. The third mile was a +14 second split from mile 2 but still a 20 second negative split from mile 1.

It was a warm morning for September 17th here in Boston and quite humid. I loved being able to wear a tank top and shorts and could subtitle our run "Endless summer." I savored everything about our run. As the run went on, I felt my endorphins kick in. Problems became more manageable; stress melted away. I became in tune and in step with the Universe enjoying the sights, sounds and scents of our run. We had a lot of company on our run from Boston College students and staff. The energy is contagious from other like minded people who know the benefits of getting up and out on an early morning run.

By the time we got home dripping with sweat and a little nauseous from the heat and pushing the pace, I felt my heart open overflowing with gratitude for the blessings in our lives. Oh sure we have our challenges - everyone does - but the best way to shrink those challenges to a manageable size is to run. I don't run away from my problems. I run to transform and transcend those problems by shifting the hormones of stress to the hormones of well being and happiness. I smiled as the tea kettle whistled letting me know it was time for oatmeal (and coffee for Tom) and I popped in the quinoa bread toast. The chilled orange juice and banana delighted my taste buds. When endorphins kick in, the brain's sensory circuits get tuned into simple pleasures.

It is a bonus that I am blessed to run with my life partner of 41 years. When we took our vows we used the Bible quote, "A sorrow shared is a sorrow divided. A joy shared is a joy multiplied." We get to experience those vows in action during the gift of a morning run.



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

My healing journey is going to be featured in David R. Hamilton's soon to be released book, "How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body." It's available for pre-order 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):

Celebrating Ten Years of Running: On Patience, Persistence and Joy In The Journey!

My body needs time to recover after 3 consecutive Bermuda Half Marathons. It was a miracle that I was able to train for and run 3 half marathons in as many years given a) the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome after which I was told to prepare to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair and b) a very serious knee injury in December of 2014 after which I was told to STOP running or to cap my distance and to prepare for a total knee replacement in a "few" years.

No total knee replacement and I'm still running but I do need to have a lot of patience and persistence in my running and health and wellness journey.

Monday morning brought cooler temperatures and very little wind. It was an ideal running weather kind of morning.

I promised myself since I am not training for endurance events right now that I would work on speed at the distance of a 5K.

As I was pondering the best ways to work on speed, I instinctively ran fartleks with a tempo run in between intervals.

I experienced both the challenge and the joy in the journey as Tom and I embraced and celebrated the subtle changes in seasons. We hadn't run around the Route 9 Reservoir since early summer. We sensed the change in wildlife patterns and how the trees were beginning their annual transformation from bright green. Some leaves had even begun to fall!

It was exhilarating to see my pace fall into the 15/16 minute/mile pace even though my overall pace was 17:20/mile. I was thrilled to see a 17:02 average pace for one of the miles. I can see and feel a 16 minute/mile pace on the horizon. My ultimate goal is a 12 minute/mile pace. I have created a playlist with the title "12 minute mile."

When I returned to the roads after my knee injury, my pace went from an 18-19 minute/mile pace to 15/16 minute/mile pace. I remember celebrating how 15 became the new 16 while training for my comeback race; the 2015 Finish at the 50!

Comebacks are hard work on the roads and in life.

Getting up at 6 am to do core work and get out the door for a run brings sweet rewards to mind, body and soul.



We were treated to a flock of birds flying in formation and the sun playing hide and seek among the clouds.

As we passed an elderly gentlemen several times wishing him a good morning and then a wonderful day he said, "All you need is love!" We heard the smile in his voice as we passed him.

I charged up the hill toward Route 9 and felt my heart rate and spirit soar.

Tom and I experienced a sense of joy for another run shared, the start of a new day and to bear witness to the ongoing miracle of my healing from the effects of childhood paralytic polio and trauma.



A week from Saturday I will test my mettle at my first road race since the Bermuda Half Marathon in January, The 5th Annual Joseph Middlemiss 5K and Celebrity Mile. It's a challenging course with hills but I am up to the task. While I would LOVE to be back running 14/15/16 minute miles, I am delighted to be able to support a great cause, run with my heart and be a part of this great community.

I have patience, persistence and with this comeback, feeling so much joy in the journey having accomplished so much against all odds.

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

My healing journey is going to be featured in David R. Hamilton's soon to be released book, "How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body." It's available for pre-order 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):

Celebrating Ten Years of Running: To Every Run a Purpose - My Sanctuary and Retreat

I've been working on pace in my 5K runs and am delighted with my choice to not run a fourth straight Bermuda Half Marathon. Tom will be representing Team McManus in January in Bermuda. We run our 5K's together and then he goes off and adds his miles. It was humid and threatening to rain for most of Saturday's 5K. The skies did open up for the last 3/4 of a mile of our run.

I was not feeling the need to push my pace on last Saturday's run. I knew that I needed that run to have a different purpose. It was a special and sacred time for Tom and me to be together shortly after our daughter was discharged from her 4th psychiatric hospitalization in 5 months. It was a time to open our hearts to the Divine for guidance and healing. At first I felt frustrated by my pace but then realized that it was exactly the pace I needed on Saturday.

If I had gone any faster, we might not have bumped into one of our dear friends who we have known for over 20 years. Our children grew up together. She had seen my latest post about our daughter's hospitalization. She stopped to ask how she and we were doing. She is, what we call, a "native." She had quite the journey with her son who is a veteran. She brought us love, compassion and hope. It was medicine for our souls. We finished up the run in the pouring rain; a cleansing, healing rain especially since we did not bring our ponchos or a jacket.

Tom went on to run another 5 miles in the pouring rain on his road to Bermuda Half Marathon 2019.



The alarm went off at 6:00am this morning. Another muggy day in Boston. We meditated for 20 minutes, did our core work, had our banana and water and went out for our run. We thought that we'd have to run along Beacon Street because the Reservoir might have been too muddy. When we looked across Beacon Street to the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, we saw it was dry!

After our warm up with mile 1, I picked up my pace. There was a man walking in front of us. I did fartleks to pass him throughout the run. We would pass him and get a good lead on him but then we'd take a water stop and he'd pass us again. Then we'd do fartleks and pass him.

A gaggle of geese were squawking; half of the geese took off in formation. It was truly an awe-some sight. The fog was a perfect backdrop for our run this morning keeping the air relatively cool and reminding us of how mysterious life can be at times. We need to let go and trust. We wore jackets given the forecast for more downpours but peeled them off as the sweat poured off of us. The rains never came.

I picked up the pace for the last mile and knew I wanted to break that 18:00 minute/mile pace.

What a thrill to see the average pace drop to 17:56 as we heard Ms. Nike+ say, "Congratulations. You reached your goal of 3.11 miles."

My pace from Saturday's run improved by 17 seconds/mile.

While each run had its own purpose and vibe, one thing is constant throughout my runs; connection to the Divine. Whether it's through a "chance" meeting, seeing nature in all its awesomeness or experiencing the miracle of the Divinity within me pushing a pace when I was told to prepare to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair, running is my sanctuary and a retreat. What a gift and a blessing that I get to share the journey on and off the roads with my bestie of over 40 years!



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

My healing journey is going to be featured in David R. Hamilton's soon to be released book, "How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body." It's available for pre-order 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):

Celebrating Ten Years of Running: That Felt Soooo Good

It's been a very stressful 3 months as our daughter continues her struggle with her mental health. This past week was extremely challenging for her and hence for us as a family. My training schedule got shifted around. I usually run with Tom on Saturday, we swim on Sunday, run early morning Monday, I swim on Tuesday and we strength train on Wednesday. Between what was happening with our daughter and Tom's work and a chiropractic appointment early on Wednesday, I decided to strength train on Tuesday, take Wednesday and Thursday off and go to the pool on Friday.

When the weather looked great for a run on Friday, I decided to get out and do a solo run.

It was chilly with a strong wind. There was something invigorating about running in the chilly wind. The baby goose was grazing with its family and the colors of Spring seemed especially vibrant as the sun shined on the leaves on the trees. It was quite a contrast to what I was feeling when I first set out on my run. My heart felt heavy and my breathing was labored but with each foot strike, I released my burdens and worries to the Divine.

The presence of the Divine surrounded me with bird calls, gentle laps of the waves of the Reservoir on the shore and the songs that came up from the mix on my playlist. I felt a sense of being alone that transformed into a sense of solitude that became a sense of One with all that is.

There were moments of struggle, of ease, of freedom and feeling the need to turn everything over to the Divine. I felt powerless to be able to do anything to help my daughter - that it's her journey and yet I felt empowered to be able to get out and run and be with the Divine sharing my deepest most thoughts, fears and hope.

It was, for the most part, a hard run but those are the runs where we are blessed to meet ourselves on the road.



I don't know what I did before the gift of running came into my life 10 years ago. Eleven years ago the effects of childhood paralytic polio and severe childhood trauma reared its head in the guise of the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease. The medical community said if you use it you will lose it. My Spirit said, through the power of my pen, my divining rod for healing in the form of inspirational poetry - get moving and run the race set before you with endurance. Running is my medicine, my therapy and a vital part of my life whatever the distance and whatever the pace. I am so grateful that I can get out on a run and leave my troubles on the road.

While I kicked off my kicks, hydrated and had a banana, I sat back and took a deep breath saying to myself, "That felt soooo good."


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 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):