For the Health of It!

It feels strange to not be training for another endurance event or recovering from an injury or a "relapse" of Post-Polio Syndrome yet here I am. Three half marathons in as many years in Bermuda after being told I needed a total knee replacement and should stop running.


While I have hip, groin and back pain that needs time to recover, I feel wonderful.

I'm embarking on a new phase of my health and wellness journey in the wake of childhood paralytic polio and childhood trauma. I'm focusing on building strength and getting ready to experience new ways of moving in my body.

Tom and Ruth Anne are training for RunTheBluegrass. I am delighted and thrilled to cheer them on. On Saturday, we started out at Jamaica Pond. I was going to do a 5K at a very easy pace and they were going to get in their 6 miles with a tempo run. We thought the path would be clear and could manage the cold. After a half mile, with Tom and Ruth Anne going in the opposite direction, my phone rang. Tom told me it was too icy on their side of the path and we needed to abort the mission. I was so grateful because I needed two pairs of gloves and two pairs of pants if I were going to be able to get through the run although I did tell myself that I could think greater than my circumstances and get through it. We all laughed in the car when I said that I was going to do it and think greater than my circumstances because Ruth Anne predicted that's what I was going to say.

We got to the gym. I decided to push myself on the bike to do 6 miles in under 40 minutes:


While I was on the bike, I took this photo of Team McManus training on the treadmill:


They decided to get onto the track after 3 miles. I used that time to do a cool down on the track, stretch out and cheer them on (as well as be the official team photographer):


As I walked around the track I spied with my little eye the rowing machine. I saw the chin up bar and all sorts of incredible equipment that I've never used before. I felt a stirring in my soul that I want to reach out and experience it all! I want to go to classes - spinning, water aerobics, Zumba and anything else Spirit moves me to do.

Of course I'm going to keep on running! I do need some time to recover from Bermuda and my body will know when it's right for me to go out for twice a week runs and begin to work on speed. There's so much joy and freedom in being able to plan my work outs based on the weather and how my body is feeling. I am disciplined with a 5 day training cycle but have a lot of freedom within those 5 days to choose my workouts.

Yesterday was a cross training day for Tom and Ruth Anne. Tom and I swam while Ruth Anne did rowing.

Tom and Ruth Anne did speed work with their treadmill runs. Thank goodness Tom has a treadmill at work!


This morning I did strength training in my home gym.


While focusing on training for endurance events, I maintained my level of strength training. Now, I am able to use more intention, focus and purpose working toward my new goals of balance, strength, feeling ease, freedom and flexibility in my body and then working on speed in my running.

I remember when I couldn't do 12 reps without stopping using 5 pound weights with arm raises. Now I can do them without stopping! I love feeling the muscle fatigue and soreness and how I can take myself to the edge (and sometimes over the edge) knowing that every day in every way I continue to heal and get stronger and stronger leaving the effects of paralytic polio and trauma in the rear view mirror!

While I may not be training for any specific event right now, I am training for the health of it!

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):