Going the Distance: Countdown to Bermuda: I've Got This! Embracing Taper Madness!

My body needs a run ... a long run of 13.1 miles but I know this time of rest, hydration and fueling is so important as I countdown to my second CONSECUTIVE Bermuda Half Marathon. I'm so blessed with a village that is supporting me, reminding me that I've got this. I am so well trained and there is no need to fret over any little twinges that happen in my body.


Going on a race-cation adds an extra umph to taper madness as I obsess over packing and getting to the airport on time. A mind that has been tampered with by trauma is especially vulnerable to worry and feeling angst and anxiety fearing the worst. Without my medicine, and running is my medicine, I work a little harder to remember who I am; a woman transformed - factory new free from the shackles of the past. I replay that last 12 mile long run in torrential rain with a cold wind. It was an incredible confidence booster since it's going to be at least 30 degrees warmer and even if it rains (there's only a 40% chance of rain - yes - incessantly checking weather forecast - guilty) it will only add to the sense of adventure.

Two more sleeps and we will be heading to Logan International Airport. I've got a checklist for Wednesday night and Thursday morning. I am giddy as a school girl one minute and the next minute I am overwhelmed with emotion. I feel anxious and tight one minute and then relaxed, content and at ease. Fortunately I have a steadfast partner in Tom who reminds me that I cannot add any more clothes to the clothes I've already set aside to pack, that everything will go smoothly and that I will run that Half Marathon on Sunday. Of course he has his version of taper madness going on since he is running the Bermuda Half Challenge! But after 40 years of being together, we complement each other well.

Two more sleeps until Bermuda. Five more sleeps until Team McManus toes the starting line of their second CONSECUTIVE Bermuda Half Marathon. Ten years since the diagnosis of post polio syndrome and two years since the diagnosis of a knee that was going to need a total knee replacement and no more running!

What a journey! So blessed to be able to heal my life in the wake of the one two punch of paralytic polio and trauma and be Bermudaful bound!

To your health and wellness,
~Mary

Countdown to Bermuda: Let the Taper Madness Begin

It's wonderful to have this time with Tom to get ready for Bermuda. He is on vacation this week and today we enjoyed cross training in the pool at Wave Health and Fitness. He kicks my butt out on the roads and I get to return the favor when we cross train and strength train!

My dear friend Stephanie who ran the Bermuda Half in January of 2015 was there and she vicariously lived through us remembering her training and counting down to Bermuda last year. We talked about the itchiness of taper time and how wonderful it is to enjoy every moment leading up to and then during the race. She told me we have to stop and take pictures!

I feel incredibly accomplished and deeply grateful to Ryan Means, DC that I am able to go the distance again. I remember taper madness from the 2009 Boston Marathon. I focused all of my anxiety of whether or not we were going to make it to the bus on time and terrified the roads would be closed before we got there.

With a runcation you have a whole different set of things to focus on for taper madness time. I dismiss each one and replace it with creating in my mind's eye exactly what I want to have happen knowing that God has blessed this journey from the start. I rewrote one of the poems I wrote on our road to the Boston Marathon to fit this most wonderful occasion:

Half Marathon Sunday

It's Half Marathon Sunday, it's our day to shine
on Front Street Bermuda Team McManus poised at starting line.
I know I can do this - there's no way to fail
tethered to God through this race I can sail.

For over six months, we've trained from our heart
mind, body, and spirit - we're ready to start.
We know the course and we know the terrain
we're primed for the challenge - so much we will gain.

The glory's far greater than what we may face
we're living examples of God's shining Grace.
Shake out all the nerves - there's nothing to fear
let in all the love from the crowds as they cheer.

With prayers and angels our feet feel so light
joy overflowing the finish in sight.
We'll conquer the course fueled by love in our heart
the race had been won blessed by God from the start.