It's All About the Journey

Taking on back to back half marathons was a very ambitious goal for Tom and Ruth Anne. Since we had the base mileage from running the Bermuda Half Marathon, they decided to take on the RunTheBluegrass Half Marathon and work on their pace. My next goal was to recover from three consecutive Bermuda Half Marathons and train #justforthehealthofit and find harmony and healing in my training.

Tom and Ruth Anne had a rigorous Half Marathon training program to be sure that they met the time requirement for the cutoff for the Half Marathon at RunTheBluegrass.

There was a confluence of factors that precipitated Ruth Anne's recent hospitalization for severe depression. But Ruth Anne shared with us that one of the things she really missed was our Saturday morning runs getting ready for Bermuda. We also had unknowingly put way too much pressure on her with the training for RunTheBluegrass.

We were so focused on Tom and Ruth Anne's pace and the destination of the RunTheBluegrass race that we forgot all about the journey!

Last Saturday as I joined Tom and Ruth Anne for the first part of their run, a 5K at my pace right now, I introduced the idea of ditching the Half Marathon for the 7 miler. They would still get to experience a beautiful race through horse country and we would enjoy the weekend with our Bermuda buddy, Denise and her family, but there would be no timing deadline and it would ease the stress of training for another half marathon.

They even realized we could do "just a 5K" on Saturday and they could run the errands without stress or pressure.

Reunited and it felt so good - especially after Ruth Anne's hospitalization earlier in the week:


When we got home, we changed the registration from the Half Marathon to the 7 miler with ease.

It is a miracle that I continue to run and maintain a health and wellness routine after the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome 11 years ago and that I continue to soldier on in my journey healing the effects of childhood paralytic polio and severe trauma. It's a miracle that Ruth Anne has the fortitude, strength and courage to go the distance in her journey healing severe depression and the wounds of trauma. We are blessed and grateful that we are able to do all we are able to do; that we are blessed with so much abundance and are reclaiming our lives and our mental, physical and spiritual well being. Somehow 6 miles of a race course pale in comparison to all we have already overcome and the way we run the marathon of our lives.



While I know there are many wonderful quotes about life happening outside of your comfort zone and it's where the magic happens and always setting greater and greater goals to challenge oneself, sometimes it's just as important to take a step back and remember that it's all about the journey of this miracle called life!

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):