Going the Distance: Flashback Friday to Team McManus' First Half Marathon

A memory popped up in my Facebook News Feed this morning with a link to an article in the Cape Cod Times.

February 2009 - Team McManus had already run longer than 13.1 miles but the Hyannis Half Marathon would be our first opportunity to be a part of a race at the Half Marathon distance.



I was so nervous about the race! I had the Corrib Pub Run 5K, the Marathon Sports 5 Miler and the Tufts 10K in 2008 but I never raced a half marathon before.

I emailed the Race Director Paul Collyer, told him my story about going from a wheelchair and a leg brace after being diagnosed with Post Polio Syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease by Western Medicine Standards to the 2009 Boston Marathon. He reassured me that there was no problem with a time requirement since the Half Marathoners and Marathoners start and finish in the same place.

I introduced myself to him at the pre-race pasta dinner and he said what a pleasure it was to meet me. It was, to quote Casablanca, the start of a beautiful friendship!

Ruth Anne had some kind of a stomach bug and didn't join us at the pre-race pasta dinner. She was a doubtful starter but wanted to make the trip with us.

At the pre-race pasta dinner I was in awe to meet Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers. I told them my story and they were so incredibly supportive of my undertaking of the 2009 Boston Marathon.



While waiting in line to get our posters signed, I struck up a conversation with another runner who was in awe of my story. In addition to experiencing paralytic polio as a child, I endured 9 years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of family members. I shared with him how I discovered the redemptive power of running. He told me that I had to come to his running club to speak! This was the introduction to my beautiful running village and friendships through the years with both the Merrimack Valley Striders and L Street Running Clubs.

When we woke up the next morning Ruth Anne said she was going to run the race! We didn't think to take a selfie (did they even do selfies back in the day?) or any photos along the way. We had a race plan from our personal trainer and our Coach but when the rain turned to freezing rain and sleet we forgot all about hydration and fueling.

By the time we returned to the ballroom I was shivering and a bit hypothermic but it didn't matter. I had my first race medal


and a blessing from a Gold Medal Olympian, Frank Shorter. Despite the thousands of runners in the ballroom, we found each other. He put both of his hands on the sides of my arms as my body shivered. He looked deep into my eyes and said, "I have no doubt that you are going to finish the Boston Marathon." He told me to get some hot soup and hydrate and then shower.

A reporter was next to me and despite feeling queasy and shivering I wanted to give him my story. What a thrill to see my name in print in the Cape Cod Times!

As soon as I got upstairs I hurled while giving thanks for what we had just done.

What an incredible sense of accomplishment!

When we returned to Hyannis the following year, I had Frank and Bill sign my bib:


Tomorrow Team McManus will deposit another 8.5 miles in the Bank of Bermuda on the road to the Bermuda Half Marathon. It will be a thrill to return to Bermuda as Team McManus and run our first half marathon race since Hyannis in 2009!

Go the distance with strength and courage!
~Mary

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):

Going the Distance: "Life is hard...that's why we run!"

Yesterday Ruth Anne and I had some business to take care of. It was time consuming and stressful. We knew that ultimately it would have a positive outcome but it was a grueling process to endure.

We were up at 6am, did our core work and Ruth Anne and Tom went on a run. My Day 5 of training on the road to Bermuda Marathon Weekend usually consists of me hitting the gym in the morning for 30 minutes on the bike and 20 minutes on the Arc Trainer; a rigorous cardio workout followed by 2 days of rest and recovery.

However, since we had business to attend to I had to put my workout on hold.

It was late in the afternoon by the time we finished everything we needed to take care of and oh how I just wanted to go home and take a nap. It was a marathon of a day already. Yet I reminded myself that I am healed from the effects of paralytic polio and trauma and I could think greater than what my body was telling me!

I've been so blessed by my friendship with Bill Rodgers through the years. At the Bill Rodgers 5K Run/Walk for Prostate Cancer, Billy and I were talking before the race as he sold copies of his book, "Marathon Man."



"Life is hard right? That's why we run. When we know we can tough it out on the roads, we know we can tough things out in our lives." He punctuated his statement with "Yeah".

As his words echoed in my ears, I told Ruth Anne that, despite how we were feeling, we needed to get in our workout.

At Boston Sports Club we poured sweat on the Arc Trainer and then on the bike. I knew I needed to stick to my training plan with no excuses. I felt nauseous and tired but love the motto, "When in doubt sweat it out."

And sweat it out we did:


A rigorous 50 minute cardio workout to wrap up another week of training for Bermuda Marathon Weekend - a threepeat! Yes sometimes life gets hard and that's why I run...and set big goals to work toward....so that when the going get toughs, I stick to my training plan and go the distance.

Go the distance with strength and courage!
~Mary

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):

Run Bermuda! Run Happy! A No Trash Bag Needed Kind of Run - 7 Sensational Miles in the Bank of Bermuda!

As we were running up what I affectionately call Billy's Hill celebrating the anniversary of my PR at the Bill Rodgers 5K Run and Walk for Prostate Cancer on August 10th, 2014



I "challenged" Team McManus to come with as many descriptive "s" words as we could for our 7 mile run on the road to the Bermuda Marathon Weekend.

Superb
Stupendous
Swift
Sweet
Sweaty
Sensational
Scintillating
Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious
Spectacular
Satisfying
Snappy
Soaring
Solid
Spirited
Stunning

you get the idea and then ... sunshiny!

Last night the pouring rain woke me up. I had visions of trash bags over our running clothes as we had done while training for our 11 miler on the road to Bermuda Marathon Weekend 2017. I fell back to sleep and when I woke up, the clouds were breaking. Weather on our phones still called for a chance for rain later in the morning. I rallied Team McManus to hit the roads before the rains would come again as they had last week during the last .6 mile of our run.

Instead of clouds with the threat of a shower, there was sunshine and blue skies!

We were going to do our around the Reservoir loops and then run to the smaller Reservoir to wrap up our 7 miles.

Since August 10th was the anniversary of my PR at the Bill Rodgers 5K, I was inspired to ask Team McManus if they'd like to run up Billy's Hill as part of our training run. Since it was the 2nd week we were running 7 miles, we do like to incorporate a more challenging run.

Challenging indeed but we charged up the hill as we reminisced about that day in August when I dug deep and gave it all I had to finish strong.

I love runs where we improvise our route. We took a right and ran through part of the Boston College campus, down Commonwealth Avenue, one and a half loops around the Reservoir to home and then an out and back loop of another 1.4 miles.

We ran without music and we ran without rain
we felt all the glory and triumph
we felt all of the pain.
Seven sweet miles sensational stunning we soar
Team McManus high spirited
going the distance once more.
You ask why we do we this
why do you all run
is there something to prove
why must you get this done?
Running is our way of life
it fills us mind, body and soul
training for a Half Marathon
it's our path to feeling whole.
We run together we run side by side
living fully in the moment
in tandem a rhythm to our stride.
To inspire others and to be our best selves yet
words can't describe it
just try it a runner's high you're sure to get.
Time now to recover
four more days of training you'll see
with swimming, strength training, another run
to be the best we can be.
Next week we up the mileage
7.5 will be our longest run to date
running a threepeat of the Bermuda Half Marathon
our kismet - our destiny - our fate.

It was a no trash bag needed kind of 7 sensational miles in the Bank of Bermuda!



Go the distance with strength and courage!
~Mary

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):

Run Bermuda! Run Happy! Be a Hill Seeker!

The metaphors between running and life are truly magnificent! When I saw Bill Rodgers at the Bill Rodgers 5K Run/Walk for Prostate Cancer back in September of 2014, he said to me, "Life is hard. That's why we run. If we can tough it out on the roads, we know we can tough out whatever life sends our way!"



There are rolling hills along the Bermuda Half Marathon course and the start and the finish have a significant hill. It is vital to train on hills to be well prepared for my third consecutive Bermuda Half Marathon.

Jamaica Pond has some rolling hills and when we trained for the 2009 Boston Marathon our personal trainer had us do hill repeats and fartleks.

We were planning to train at Jamaica Pond last Saturday but with heavy rain and the threat of thunderstorms, we decided to train along the Boston Marathon course on Beacon Street. Now you may think that Heartbreak Hill is the only place on the Boston course that challenges you with hills but in fact an out and back run on Beacon Street after Cleveland Circle will give you quite the hill run for your money.

As in running and as in life, it's all about perspective, attitude and mind set.

If you approach an uphill with a sense of dread and drudgery, you'll never experience the joy of having conquered something that challenges you. For me, I experience a sense of satisfaction deep in my soul after exerting effort and giving something my all. My challenges of paralytic polio and being a trauma survivor helped to forge my fiery Spirit and sense of determination and a feeling that nothing can stop me now!

Life happens on the hills and I am sure we will be heading out to Heartbreak Hill for a few training runs on the road to Bermuda, repeating our Beacon Street out and back run and making sure we are well trained to take on the hills in Bermuda.

As in running as in life - you can't avoid the hard uphills so we may as well embrace them and become a hill seeker enjoying the thrill of swooshing down the other side!

From Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life:
"Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them." -Marcus Aurelius

Born to Run

Born free
born to run
run free
unencumbered untethered unshackled
pouring energy into my running form
liquid gold once fired in the crucible
now my treasure born of my Spirit molded with alchemy
refining
my precious treasure once buried
the map safely tucked away
X marks the spot
a new starting line.

Poised and ready
to go the distance
all out without hesitation
all is healed at last
my pace swift
Mercury and Hermes pace me on winged feet
I AM
born to run
running free
joyfully crossing the finish line with ease.

Go the distance with strength and courage!
~Mary

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):

"This is gonna make a great blog post...Celebrating the miracle of healing!"

The title for this blog was said by our daughter Ruth Anne as we prepared to run 5 miles around Jamaica Pond on our road to the Bermuda Half Marathon.

Torrential downpours were the lullaby we feel asleep to last night. We planned to run our traditional Reservoir route but as Ruth Anne put on her new kicks and I looked at the puddles outside, I knew we needed a plan B! Spirit spoke to me and directed me to suggest we do our training run around Jamaica Pond.

Jamaica Pond holds so many special memories for us. It's where we trained for the 2009 Boston Marathon. At the time I had not realized that Bill Rodgers trained at Jamaica Pond. His runs around Jamaica Pond are well documented in his book, "Marathon Man."

As so often happens during a Team McManus training run, we find something to laugh about and today proved to be the rule rather than the exception. I had trouble getting my arm band on and couldn't decide whether or not to wear my jacket given the "in between" kind of weather. We started our run and then realized we forgot to stretch. We started in one direction but there were throngs of runners going in the opposite direction and decided we'd rather swim with the salmon upstream than try to dodge runners.

We fell into our rhythm and had our best training run to date.

We reminisced about our Boston Marathon training runs around Jamaica Pond which of course included this gem:

From my memoir, "Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility":
And who could EVER forget us losing each other around - emphasize the word a-round Jamaica Pond. Tom had stopped at the car to fill up the water bottles and get some snacks. He had his iPod on really loud. I was in the zone and ran by him. I saw him looking for me in the opposite direction and yelled to him that I was over here. I felt so great and the weather was wonderful that I did not want to interrupt my rhythm. Finally, my daughter who had been going at her own pace came running up to me - where were you she asked? (well duh, we're going around in a circle) Dad is worried sick about you. He thought that since you had to go to the bathroom (and the bathrooms were not open yet) that you went off the trail and went to pee in the woods). We finally all caught up with one another and laughed so hard.

Today, our daugher observed, "Dad paced us, I'm keeping by your side running stride for stride and, We are celebrating the miracle of healing!"

As we passed by the rocks that formed a wall, we remembered how our runs during the winter of 2009 inspired my poem:

Courage - January 5, 2009
The fear of ice and snow and slush embedded in my soul
a training run in winter - the path to Being whole.
A winter scene - Jamaica Pond - a feast for eyes' delight
to witness nature's splendor and behold this glorious sight.
A leaf - a tiny dancer - skating free without a sound
God's breath directs her movements,as She guides her twirling 'round.
Families of ducks decide to walk or take a dip
a comedy of errors into icy water slip.
The branches now bejeweled with ice bend with loving Grace
sparkling diamonds' anchor water's surface hold in place.
God's hand a glove of glistening snow
hugs rocks along the wall
their heads peek out reminding me I'm answering God's call.
A scene I'd never witness if I let my fear take hold
courage triumphed, steppin' out with footsteps sure and bold.
Knowing that the pain subsides and Spirit can prevail
the Marathon is beckoning - through those miles I shall sail.

We kept an eye on our pace to ensure we did not go too fast given that we were training for distance and we nailed our pace. We improved on our fueling and hydration. We filled our senses with the waves lapping against the shore, the sweet scent of late Spring/early Summer in Boston, the lush green trees and allowing our bodies to train on the trails and terrain. It was our first training run where I felt a surge of optimism that we are and will go the 13.1 distance together.

Today's training run at Jamaica Pond DID make for a great run and a great blog post. Team McManus celebrated the miracle of healing!



To going the distance with strength and courage!
~Mary

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):

Celebrating 10 Years of Healing: The Gift of Running Part V

The gift of running is the gift that keeps on giving!

It's a gift I give to myself every time I lace up my running shoes and go out for a run. It's the gift of health and wellness and the gift of challenging myself; of being One with nature and testing myself out in the elements. It's the joy in the journey of preparing to get to a starting line and the sheer exhilaration of racing and crossing a finish line.

Running is a sport like no other where you can get up close and personal with running greats.

I had the privilege of meeting Bart Yasso during Bermuda Race Weekend and here in Boston and Tom ran part of the Bermuda Triangle Half Challenge 10K with Bart:


Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter signed my 2009 Boston Marathon bib. They have been so supportive of my running journey whenever our paths have crossed through the years:


And I was blessed to meet Jacqueline Hansen at the Hyannis Marathon Weekend in 2016:


She touched my heart in this moment during the Hyannis 10K - from "Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance":
In the distance a figure came toward us. The expanse of ocean was to our left and this beautiful woman came up on our right. She stopped me to give me a hug. She whispered in my ear," Run with all your heart." I felt she was my fairy godmother and I was Cinderella being told, "You will go to the ball." It was Jacqueline! You see growing up as a survivor of paralytic polio I was always the outcast. When it came to gym I was "easy out Alper” and those words were seared into me. I was bullied and teased and struggled with my identity as a runner when I first started running....
After Jaqi's hug I felt something ignite within me. My pace picked up and a woman behind us said, "Excuse me...is this the right course for the 10K?" We told her it was and laughed and shared with her my fear about losing our way on the course. She asked if she could run with us. She was supposed to run the half but had an injury and was running the 10K course but wouldn't cross the finish line. I had the opportunity to share my journey with her and she asked me when the book was coming out. Coincidentally, several years earlier, she had run Bermuda. We took in the beautiful views of the course and shared our memories of running Bermuda. Suddenly mile 5 was upon us. I had not stopped for 5 miles. I slowed down to take water and have a half of a Luna bar at mile 2 (when our bodies told us we needed to refuel) but I was running non stop for 5 miles! I knew that I needed to take a brief pause remembering how Jeffrey {my muscular therapist} told me that our bodies can reset in as little as 30 seconds. I hydrated and knew I wanted to run the last 1.2 miles strong.

And Jacqui wrote the Foreword to my book, "Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance"!

There are moments and friendships to last a lifetime that I will continue to share as I share my running chronicles and adventures as I continue to go the distance on the roads and in my life.

For today, I leave you with this precious memory that happened on Heartbreak Hill during the 2009 Boston Marathon.

From "Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility":
At mile 20, there was Dom, our team trainer. He had tears in his eyes as he embraced Team McManus. He put his hands on my shoulders and said, 'you're gonna qualify - go finish. I'm so proud of you. Go get your medal'

As a mobility impaired runner, I was on pace to finish to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Back then a finish under 8 hours meant that I was qualified to run Boston again. However, one time would be enough!

On May 25th, I will celebrate my 10 year anniversary of when I left my award winning career as a VA social worker to "heal my life." I had no idea that the gift of running would become a part of my life nor that I would be able to go the distance again after a serious knee injury in December of 2014. I am deeply grateful to Dr. Ryan J. Means, my earth angel healer chiropractor who came into my life at precisely the right moment to get me back on my healing path.

Here's to the next 10 years!

To going the distance with strength and courage!
~Mary

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):


Mary McManus, MSW knew challenges since she was five years old beginning with contracting polio followed by enduring nine years of violence at the hands of family members. Those early challenges prepared her for taking on the challenge of the diagnosis of post polio syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease in December 2006 when she was at the height of her award winning career as a social worker at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Asking for Divine Guidance as she had throughout her trials and tribulations, she discovered the gift of poetry in her soul. Her first poem, “Running the Race,” foreshadowed her 2009 Boston Marathon run. “Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance,” chronicles Mary’s journey as a survivor of paralytic polio and trauma, as a runner and a woman who refused to quit. Eight years after her diagnosis, she was finally led to two healers, a chiropractor and a muscular therapist, who helped her reclaim her life and go the distance, a woman transformed who embodies the power of endurance.

Celebrating Ten Years of Healing: The Gift of Running Part III

There's no such thing as a fake runner and it doesn't matter how far or how fast you run ... you're a runner. Great wisdom from two running greats!

Tom and I are watching Mind Over Marathon on YouTube. It's a two part documentary that chronicles 10 people who struggle with their mental health on the road to the London Marathon. From the very first run, and mind you none of these individuals had run before or were part of the running community, a few of the runners went back to join the slowest runner in the pack.

We runners are a very special breed and we do travel in packs looking out for each other, honoring the runner's code and celebrating the accomplishments and success of individual runners without judgment about the pace. PR's are celebrated regardless of the pace.

Here's one of my favorite moments from these past 10 years of my healing journey at the Bill Rodgers 5K Run for Prostate Cancer.



Tom can easily run a 9 minute mile but he stays with me, paces me, supports and encourages me and celebrates every mile with me.

I was trained and ready to take on my second CONSECUTIVE Bermuda Half Marathon this year. Every week I did a 5 day training cycle that included a 5K during the week and a long run on the weekends.

Race day was not exactly how I planned it yet it turned out to be quite the story.

I went out too fast, did not honor the conditions of the day and the road conditions were not ideal. I let the voices of the past put pressure on myself to finish in under four hours which was the time limit for the Half Marathon rather than enjoy the race as I had in 2016.



I knew the Race Director and I knew that the course and finish line would stay open until the Marathoners completed their race but sometimes the voices from the past are stronger than reasoning in the present.

I began experiencing some cramping and back spasms at mile 9. By mile 10 I was listing to to my left and Tom was worried I was injured. By mile 12 I couldn't straighten up. We stopped and I stretched and hydrated. A beautiful woman stopped and asked if I was okay; did I need water? anything? We reassured her I was fine and she went on her way to bring in a friend of hers who was a marathoner and struggling to get to the finish.

At about mile 12.5 she came running up to us. I had decided at that point to put my arm around Tom to support my hip. She said in a delightful British/Bermudian accent that she was going to help me to the finish as other runners had done for her in Chicago and Philadelphia.



As we approached the finish chute she stepped out of the way so that she would not be in our finisher's photo:


It's taken me awhile to embrace and celebrate myself as a runner no longer apologizing for my pace.

Just the fact that I'm running at all is a miracle and the fact that I continue to run and train and strive for my optimal level of health and fitness is a miracle.



It's a miracle that 10 years ago I did not let a diagnosis define or defy me. It's a miracle I found my way to Dr. Ryan J. Means, a healer chiropractor who helped me recover from that serious knee injury in December of 2014, turned me onto the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza and reminded me to set goals not limits. It was a miracle that I found the courage to start and not quit before the miracle happened!

To be continued....

To going the distance with strength and courage,
~Mary


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):


Mary McManus, MSW knew challenges since she was five years old beginning with contracting polio followed by enduring nine years of violence at the hands of family members. Those early challenges prepared her for taking on the challenge of the diagnosis of post polio syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease in December 2006 when she was at the height of her award winning career as a social worker at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Asking for Divine Guidance as she had throughout her trials and tribulations, she discovered the gift of poetry in her soul. Her first poem, “Running the Race,” foreshadowed her 2009 Boston Marathon run. “Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance,” chronicles Mary’s journey as a survivor of paralytic polio and trauma, as a runner and a woman who refused to quit. Eight years after her diagnosis, she was finally led to two healers, a chiropractor and a muscular therapist, who helped her reclaim her life and go the distance, a woman transformed who embodies the power of endurance.