My Running Chronicles: Planning for Success

Runners have a saying, "This sh** just got real." That's how I feel about my schedule of upcoming races.

While many couples may kick back and watch TV or a movie after work, Tom and I study course maps and map out our next training run.

Last night we zoomed in on the Bermuda Half Marathon course map:



We wrote out in our training journal the elevation and grade mile by mile. The beginning of the race is a downhill and it's going to be so tempting to go out fast but we are already mentally preparing ourselves for holding back on race day. I know I am going to feel like a filly at the gate standing on Front Street in Hamilton Bermuda just waiting to break free running my first half marathon since 2009 but we are going to be patient and pace ourselves.

The last time I stood on Front Street it was in the winter of 2006/2007. I was sporting black tie shoes with a toe up leg brace, using a cane when I walked and needing a wheelchair as I traveled through the airport:



I'll be standing on Front Street sporting these babies:


Next Saturday we will be running 5 miles. We are going to do an out and back down Beacon Street along part of the Boston Marathon course. We researched the elevation for that part of the Boston Marathon course and it matches the elevation for the Bermuda Half Marathon. The grade of hills may be steeper and there may be more rolling hills than on the Bermuda course so that will hold us in good stead. We are also training for Falmouth in the Fall and need lots of hill training.



We will also use the Spectacle Island run on 9/27th as a great training run for Falmouth in the Fall. It's an over hill over dale kind of course as we hit the dusty trail!

We also tweaked our schedule for workouts and runs. I realized that I was strength training 3 days in a row so we swapped a running day with a strength training day.

I ordered a theraband to increase resistance during clams to strengthen hip flexors and ankle weights to add resistance for straight leg raises in a chair.

Yup this sh** just got real. Six months from today we board that plane to that magical Island where I have many special memories and am excited to create new ones.

We are working out our training plan with diligence, intention and attention to detail. When I trained for the 2009 Boston Marathon, our trainer led us every step of the way because in truth we didn't know what we were doing. We are so blessed to be in the company of elite runners and coaches who can offer us advice and guidance as well as draw from our own experiences figuring out what works and doesn't work along the way. We are indeed planning for success!

Cheers! To life! To success!



I chronicle the first 7 years of my healing journey after being diagnosed with post polio syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease as a survivor of childhood paralytic polio and 9 years of childhood domestic violence in Coming Home:A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility.


Be on the lookout for "Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems," available soon on Amazon


I am writing "Going the Distance," chronicling this miraculous phase of my healing journey on the road to the Bermuda Half and the Newport Marathon 2016.

My Running Chronicles: What's Next - What You Think You Become

After manifesting a day better than imagined at the Finish at the 50, we decided to revisit Team McManus' race calendar.

Spectacle Island was a spectacular day last year. It was my first trail race ever. I received an email about this year's race and put out the word to my dear friend and chiropractor, Ryan Means to see if he'd like to join Team McManus for the race. His reply on Facebook was, "Mary This look so awesome! And registration includes transport and lunch? All we have to do is show up kick butt? I'm IN! How do I register for #TeamMcManus"

I am deeply grateful to Dr. Ryan as he likes to be called for helping me to get back on the roads. His confidence and belief in the body's tremendous healing power, his kinesiotaping technique and his suggestions for cross training exercises were a huge factor in my successful run on Friday.

Before I started working with Dr. Ryan, I was about ready to accept my new baseline of not running, of being afraid of my knee injury, not having confidence in my body and starting to believe myths about aging, and settling to use a cane to walk Spectacle Island with Tom since I wouldn't be able to run anymore.

One of my Facebook friends and Dr. Ryan were each recommending that I read You Are the Placebo by Dr. Joe Dispenza. Reading the book and watching his videos have been a huge game changer in my journey. It reminded me of what I know to be true and turbocharged what I set out to do 8 and a half years ago after receiving the diagnosis of post polio syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease.

Tom and I love Falmouth on Olde Cape Cod. We had thought about doing the Cape Cod Marathon Relay with me doing the first leg of the relay but that's when I was setting limits not goals. Once we decided that I'd be running the Newport Marathon in 2016, we decided to do Falmouth in the Fall. It is the same route as the Falmouth Road Race but without the crowds. It's a time to enjoy the splendor of Cape Cod. It's a 7 mile scenic race that I have always wanted to run. Tom ran it twice and it will feel great to be off of the sidelines and run the race by his side. Back in 2010, we ran along the course together as part of my training for the Tufts 10K. We will be doing a lot of long runs on hills as we train for Falmouth in the Fall.

The Rock 'n Roll Marathon in Washington DC in March was going to be our next race but Spirit has other plans. We are heading to Bermuda in January for the Bermuda Marathon Weekend. We will be doing the Half Marathon! Bermuda holds many special memories for us. There was a legally blind veteran I met when I first started working at the VA as the Visual Impairment Services Team coordinator. He had suffered a massive stroke and was in coma for 3 months. When he emerged from the coma he was at first totally blind and then slowly regained his sight. His brain had difficulty processing information. He had been the Director of Pharmacy for the City of Boston and told me in no uncertain terms that he was sick and tired of being treated like a patient. So I put him to work as a volunteer for the Telefriend program at the VA. He had a gift for counseling that he discovered only after his stroke. Funny how life works sometimes huh? I taught him how to dial a phone with a large print overlay and got very creative in how he could achieve success in his volunteer role to accommodate to his other challenges that were a result of the stroke. We had a lot of fun and he also helped to save lives being a peer support to other legally blind veterans and elder veterans who were housebound and isolated. There were two veterans in particular who told him they were thinking about suicide and we were able to get them hospitalized. One of them is alive and thriving today.

Herb fished with the Sea and Surf Anglers Club of Boston and they competed against the Blue Waters Anglers Club of Bermuda. There was racism in fishing tournaments back in the day and so they started their own fishing tournament alternating between Bermuda and Falmouth. When Herb heard that I hadn't been on a "real" vacation, he brought in a map of Bermuda and said that my family had to take time and spend some money and go there. He would hook us up with his friends on the Island. That was 18 years ago. We took several trips with the Club and hung out on the dock. Here is the link to his obituary that is a tribute to an inspiring man.

The last trip I took to Bermuda was in October 2007. I had my first training session the day before we left with a personal trainer and had muscles I had no idea existed in my body. I could barely walk off of the plane I was so sore and couldn't wait to get into the pool at the Rosedon Hotel. I was still in my leg brace and used a wheelchair when we traveled. How phenomenal to return whole, vibrant, transformed and running a race I said I would run since 2010.

In February we return to Olde Cape Cod this time to Hyannis where Tom will run the Hyannis Half Marathon take two after last year's race was cancelled. I'll be delighted to be support crew and enjoy Camp Hyannis as it is affectionately called.

We want to return to Finish on the 50 next July and make that an annual tradition for Team McManus which will be our last race before toeing the line at the Newport Marathon 2016 next October.

Training has become a top priority for me.

I am enjoying every moment of this fantastic journey now. My heart overflows with gratitude and my Spirit is on fire!

I am going the distance this time because I know in every fiber of my Being that what you think you become, what you feel you attract and what you imagine you create.



Here's to faith, magic and manifestation...

Cheers! To Life! Love yourself well!



I chronicle the first 7 years of my healing journey after being diagnosed with post polio syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease as a survivor of childhood paralytic polio and 9 years of childhood domestic violence in Coming Home:A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility.


I am writing "Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems," and "Going the Distance," chronicling my journey on the road to the Newport Marathon 2016.