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):
