Shortly after being diagnosed with Post-Polio Syndrome in December of 2006, I got very still and asked for Divine Guidance. What was next for me in my life? Did I have a future? The doctors said that Post-Polio Syndrome is a progressive neuromuscular disease and the best I could hope for was to preserve what functioning I had at the time. I had difficulty swallowing, walking, breathing and everything hurt. I was tired all the time. That didn't seem like much of a quality of life for me.
The answer came in the form of a poem ... many many poems after that first poem, "Running the Race."
I love this last couplet of that first poem I wrote:
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.
It took everything I had to train for and run the 2018 Bermuda Half Marathon. It was my 3rd half marathon is as many years. Quite the accomplishment for someone who was told they'd spend the rest of their life in a wheelchair and a miracle of healing after being told I'd need a total knee replacement in a few years after a serious knee injury in December of 2014.
Now it's time for me to take a step back from endurance running and give my body time to heal and recover; from the rigors of training and to continue to heal from the effects of having contracted paralytic polio at age 5 followed by enduring years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of family members.
I'm delighted and overjoyed to be where I am in my healing journey. In my mind's eye I run at a 12:00 minute/mile pace yet I'm so blessed and grateful to be able to run at any pace.
I have total confidence in my body's ability to heal from the strain of this training cycle. I'll be maintaining a 5 day training cycle with the emphasis on cross training and strength training and go for biweekly chiropractic treatments. In my meditations I continue to experience wholeness, health and well being leaving the past behind.
I'm so excited to be support crew for Ruth Anne and Tom as they train to RunTheBluegrass.. In the past, I would have felt frustrated and left out but instead I feel gloriously happy to support this wonderful father-daughter team as they tackle hills, work on speed and train together to go the distance for another half marathon.
I have a deep and genuine sense of accomplishment that I have run 3 half marathons in 3 years; a feat I never thought I'd be able to achieve especially after a serious knee injury. I am deeply grateful to Anthony Raynor for giving us an invitational entry.. It gave me the opportunity of a lifetime to know that I am healthy, healed and whole and I CAN and did go the distance. I did so without getting injured although I did experience a muscle strain on my right hip and now need to unwind all the tension and torques in my body that resulted from the training.
Even though I plan to keep my distances short, I am continuing to go the distance on the roads and in my life. Once I recover from Bermuda, I'm going to take new classes, explore new workout routines and work on my speed.
Running will always be an integral part of my life and of my health and wellness regimen.
What an adventure and what a ride!
After 11 years on this healing odyssey from the effects of paralytic polio and trauma I can say unequivocally that now I'm off the sidelines! I exceeded all expectations and will continue to experience the joy in the journey and the challenge of overcoming my past.
To going the distance with strength and courage
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):
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