Run Bermuda! Run Happy! Feeling Accomplished

The Bermuda Marathon Weekend website tells me it's 114 days until Race Weekend. The countdown doesn't really begin until we hit 100 days but I am feeling the excitement of training for Bermuda Half Marathon III.

Having a goal to train for a Half Marathon is what I am using to motivate me to achieve my health and fitness best leaving the effects of paralytic polio and trauma in the rearview mirror of my life. Last year, running my second CONSECUTIVE Bermuda Half Marathon was THE goal for me. This year I am savoring each and every accomplishment along the way.



On Saturday we conquered 9 miles! I reflected on why running a half is a whole big deal for me feeling so grateful for the healing that has happened in my life.

Team McManus did core work early Sunday morning and then we headed to Martha's Vineyard for a wonderful day trip. It's so vital to keep a balance during training. We walked 4.5 miles and enjoyed a change of pace on our cross training day.

Given the uncertain forecast, we decided to get our run on Monday morning. What an awesome way to start the week.

I'd been having this nagging feeling that I wished I could run faster. A year ago I wrote a blog about how harnessing the power of Imagination was a powerful tool in my healing journey. I cast fear aside and decided to run from the inside out seeing just what this body could do. It was a Magical Monday morning run.

Boston Sports Club offered an all access pass to use at any of their Clubs. I've been wanting to go to the Wellesley Club and check out their facilities. Talk about going outside of my comfort zone! I'm not one to put on Siri and Google Maps and just go but I did. The Club is spacious and had my Cybex Arc Trainer and Bike just waiting for me! Despite having pushed my pace on Monday, I continued to see what my body wanted to do on Tuesday's cross training day. Last week I had done 5.7 miles on the Arc Trainer and Bike during my 50 minute cardio workout. This week -- 6.2 miles! Tom and Ruth Anne had gone out for their early morning tempo run for 5 miles at a 12 minute/mile pace.

This morning we woke up at 6:30am, did our meditation and once again did our circuit of strength training in our home gym.


We encouraged and cheered each other on as we brought the sweat, grit and determination to our workout.

We high fived each other as we completed Day 5/5 on the road to Bermuda.

We celebrated another week of training and how accomplished we feel for the miles, the pace, the strength and endurance we experienced this week.

It's time for two days of rest and recovery for me; Tom and Ruth Anne will do an easy shake out run on Friday.

I'm tired and I'm sore - exactly how I would expect to feel after 5 days of training.

Yet I am also feeling incredibly accomplished celebrating all the milestones and successes achieved this week on the road to Bermuda Half Marathon III.

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):

Finding My Own Strength and Reflections on Solitude

I was so blessed to discover the Spaulding Rehab Aquatics Therapy Program in August of 2013. I went faithfully on Tuesdays and Wednesdays finding my strength in the healing waters of the heated pool. I met some wonderful, inspiring people during classes and I know that I inspired many with whom I crossed paths. My husband Tom started work in Charlestown at MGH in January of 2014. We'd commute together on Tuesday morning and Wednesday afternoon. We are so fortunate that he is now working at Boston College, a mere 40 minute commute from coat on to coat off, as Tom timed it.

Last week I commuted alone to and from my classes at Spaulding. I was exhausted. I also realized that the conversations happening during class and the energy of the class were no longer inspiring me. The people who attend the class are lovely and each on their own journey but I knew there was a change happening within me and I needed to make a change.

Interestingly enough, yesterday's morning class was cancelled.

I had done my research about the Brookline Town Pool and yesterday I went during open swim.

I did the exercises that we had been doing in class and then I got still and listened to what my body wanted and needed to do. I was all alone in the lesson pool which is heated to 80-85 degrees using a noodle and a kick board building quad and core strength and thoroughly enjoying the freedom and the solitude figuring out what would best serve ME. Without the distraction of talking with other people, I could use the time in the pool as a moving meditation. I realize what a huge shift it is for me to not put out energy to take care of others; to try to bring them over to the "light" and experience the power of infinite possibilities but rather live by example sharing my journey in my blog.

It was definitely time for me to find my own strength, building on the base that Spaulding gave me. While I love running with others and enjoy the camarderie of a group workout, there is a lot to be said for the benefits of solitude. I'm never alone. There are angels all around me and I embrace the joy of what I discover when I experience solitude.

I'm doing more on land workouts under the guidance of Dr. Ryan at Elevate Health Cambridge.

I'm feeling strong and today, under the guidance of Dr. Joseph Stetz an angel who I know is watching over me, I am going to do laps.

My hope is to return to running 3 days/week. I visualize the healing of my knees. This morning I did 3, 40/20 intervals of holding plank and then doing crunches followed by upper body strength training, icing and stretching. For right now, I'll stick to two days of running, two days of pool cross training, and one day of circuit strength training on land.

The Town pool is a 10 minute car drive away and I pay $45 as a senior for 16 swims. As I get older, I realize how important it is for me to discern how I spend my time, talent and treasures.

I am deeply grateful for the time I spent and all I learned at Spaulding.

I no longer embody being a survivor of paralytic polio. I contracted polio at the age of 5 and had my fair share of challenges but that's all it was and is. I no longer believe that I live with the late effects of paralytic polio. My laser focus is on finding my own strength and living as well as I possibly can for as long as I am meant to be in this form.

Journey well!

My latest book, "Journey Well" is now available on Amazon along with all of my inspirational books. 50% of book proceeds are donated to the Massachusetts Resiliency Center, a safe, welcoming space for survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing to heal and stay in touch with one another; a virtual hub for a widely dispersed community whose lives have been impacted by the tragic events of April 15th and the events that followed.

When terror struck the world's oldest and most beloved marathon on April 15, 2013, it was a defining moment in Mary McManus’ life and the lives of all those in Boston and around the world. It was her wake up call to return to the sport and community that have been medicine and a lifeline for her throughout her marathon of healing the late effects of paralytic polio and experiencing 9 years of domestic violence as a child and adolescent. Mary captures the essence of Boston Strong through her experience of the 2014 Boston Marathon and as she profiles the people who are Boston Stronger. Through her blog posts, poems and journal entries woven together with excerpts from her memoir, “Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility,” you will experience, through one woman’s journey of transformation and healing, that no matter what happens to us, we can all learn to journey well.

The Healing Power of Music

"Nothing activates the brain as extensively as music." - Oliver Sacks, MD



In yesterday's post I shared with you how the soundtrack of my life with the music of Broadway and Carole King opened up the door to wonderful childhood memories that trump the memories of trauma and pain from my childhood. Music has a wonderful way of evoking memories, emotions, transporting us to other times and places, fueling us for a grueling workout or an intense run and making the marathon of life so much more enjoyable. I choose a song a day to accompany my plank and the music and the lyrics strengthen me. Couples have "our song".

Back in 2011, I watched a NOVA special, "A Mind for Music," presented by Dr. Oliver Sacks. You may know him best through the movie, "Awakenings" with Robert De Niro and Robin Williams. In A Mind for Music Dr. Sacks undergoes MRI as different kinds of music are played. The music that he loved as a child lit up different parts of his brain. When music that did not have an emotional connection for him was played, it did not have an effect on the imaging.

Music can heal not only our hearts and souls but also our brains. There was an ABC News Story with Diane Sawyer and Bob Woodruff sharing how after Gabby Giffords' brain injury from a gunshot wound, she was able to access language through music therapy. Music therapy helped to rewire her brain.

I had a soundtrack for healing when I was going through intensive outpatient treatment through Spaulding Rehab and one of those songs was Dancing Through Life from Wicked. It uplifted me, gave me hope and helped me to realize that no matter the outcome, I would be able to experience joy and love and find a way to be dancing through life.



I listen to A Chorus Line and imagine myself dancing again. Rocky and Chariots of Fire bring out my marathon runner and I create a playlist to entertain me when I cross train on the stationery bike as I rehab my knee injury. Kate, the Aqautics Therapy aide at Spaulding creates a playlist to keep us moving each week. Last Wednesday she created a 70's disco playlist and compiled a list of oldies but goodies as the soundtrack to our Tuesday morning Joint Integrity Class.

As Oliver Sacks said, "Nothing activates the brain as extensively as music." I would add that nothing heals like the power of music.

Journey well!


"Journey Well" and all of my inspirational books are available on Amazon.

"Journey Well" is a book about resilience, strength, courage and how we are able to journey well no matter what conditions life hands to us. I profile the people who are Boston Stronger and share how 4/15/13 was a wake up call to me to return to my healing path from contracting paralytic polio at age 5 and 9 years of domestic violence as a child and adolescent.