A New Year - A New Blog!

Follow me to my new blog at Adventures of Runnergirl 1953

My new blog will take you along on my running adventures and my life as a 65 year old thriver of paralytic polio and trauma.

To quote a song from "Mary Poppins Returns":
Let the past take a bow
The forever is now....

I look forward to having you along on the journey!

To your health and wellness
From my heart to yours
Mary

My healing journey using the power of visualization is featured in David R. Hamilton's book, "How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body-Anniversary Edition." It's available on Amazon.


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:


Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance (With a Foreword by Jacqueline Hansen):


***Coming Soon - The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953***

“The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953” takes you on Mary McManus’ healing odyssey from a wheelchair to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond. After the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome in December 2006, Mary got still and asked for Divine Guidance tapping into the powerful connection she experienced to the Divine from an early age. She harnessed the power of her mind to heal her body, feverishly writing poetry in which she imagined herself healthy, whole and free from the shackles of her youth. Mary’s quest to heal her life led her to the sport of running. Her story is one that will leave you cheering for the underdog, discovering the meaning of different ability and experiencing the stunning view from the back of the pack of a race. You will have the privilege of bearing witness to how Mary overcame every challenge that life presented to her. The sport of running provides the backdrop for her journey of transformation from a survivor of childhood paralytic polio and severe trauma at the hands of family members to a woman who embodies faith, grace under fire, courage, determination, endurance and resilience. Running became a way of life for Mary that tested her mettle while forging friendships to last a lifetime. As you’ll discover in “The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953” nothing, not even a serious knee injury in December of 2014 could stop her on the roads or in her life.

Celebrating Ten Years of Running: The Year In Review

There's only one month left to 2018. It's been ten years since I first laced up a pair of running shoes and discovered the sport that transformed my life.



As we wind down the year, I am gearing up to publish "The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953" that chronicles my 12 year healing odyssey, healing the effects of paralytic polio and trauma and celebrating my ten years of running.

The book ends where 2018 began: at the Bermuda Half Marathon. I was almost a DNS (did not start) for the race but with the love and support of my village and my fiery determination, I went the distance for my 3rd Half Marathon in as many years. In December of 2014, after a serious knee injury, I was told I should not run and if I did to cap my distance and to prepare for a total knee replacement in a few years. I double downed on my efforts to heal and found myself crossing the finish line of Bermuda Half Marathon 2018:


I knew I needed to take time off from racing and allow my body to heal and recover from the rigors of 3 half marathons in as many years but I did not let up on my health and fitness regimen of running twice a week, swimming twice a week, and strength training on land once a week.

I incorporated weekly chiropractic treatments into my health and wellness routine.

I increased my meditation time and incorporated a daily 45 minute to an hour afternoon meditation into my day.

My books "Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance" and "Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life" were featured on Books on the T:



I revamped my website and my branding to ensure that I let my story stand on its own without cross promotion, entangling my story with any one else's promotions.

We did a major decluttering of our home and created beautiful office space where Tom and I can work together when he is not at his office.

We let go of people and things that no longer served us and I was in awe of who and what flowed into my life!

I was so blessed to connect with Dr. David Hamilton through a wonderful series of connections. He put out the call for healing stories using visualization to incorporate in the Tenth Edition of his book, "How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body." I was blessed to have my story included in his book:


Through another "coincidence" I was his guest on his October 22 Hay House Radio show; a 6 week series on Hay House UK that complemented his newly released book. It was thrilling to meet on the phone and share my story with his listeners. Through that show we know we touched many lives including one woman in England who is also experiencing the symptoms of Post-Polio Syndrome. She now feels a sense of hope in her healing journey.

There's a time for writing one's story and time to celebrate what has already been written. 2018 was the year for me to celebrate my accomplishments, continue moving forward in my health and wellness journey and to prepare for new goals in 2019.

What will those goals be? I'll be sharing that in my next blog.


To your health and wellness
From my heart to yours
Mary

My healing journey using the power of visualization is featured in David R. Hamilton's book, "How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body-Anniversary Edition." It's available on Amazon.


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:


Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance (With a Foreword by Jacqueline Hansen):


***Coming Soon - The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953***
The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953 takes you on Mary McManus’ healing odyssey from a wheelchair to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond. After the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome in December 2006, Mary got still and asked for Divine Guidance. She harnessed the power of her mind to heal her body, feverishly writing poetry in which she imagined herself healthy, whole and free from the shackles of her youth. Mary’s quest to heal her life led her to the sport of running that tested her mettle while fueling her journey of transformation from a survivor of childhood paralytic polio and severe trauma at the hands of family members to a woman who embodies faith, grace under fire, courage, determination, endurance and resilience. Running became a way of life for Mary. As you’ll discover in “The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953” nothing, not even a serious knee injury in December of 2014 could stop her on the roads or in her life. Mary’s story is one that will leave you cheering for the underdog and discovering the meaning of different ability as Mary overcame every challenge that life presented to her.

Celebrating Ten Years of Running: Running IS My Therapy

While I always put my best foot forward and remain as positive and grateful as I possibly can, I'd recently been struggling with my runs. I even wrote about Taking a Pause. Tom's knee injury last week was both a stressor and a wake up call for me. The stress of watching our daughter struggle and suffer with psychiatric challenges, and a system that lacks resources and talent and that is profoundly broken to help someone find their way out of the darkness was taking a big toll on me, mind, body and soul. Tom's knee injury was a tipping point of stress and I decided it was time for a shift.

After I dropped Tom off at work, I parked the car across the street from the Reservoir, fastened on my water belt and was deeply grateful for a beautiful Autumn day in Boston.

I felt sluggish during my first mile. "What can I do to shift this feeling?" I thought to myself.

I reminded myself of all of the adventures of runner girl 1953 and embodied myself as a runner. I told myself to ditch the stress into the Reservoir and into the Universe. I kicked my own behind. For some reason, my iPhone deleted my running playlist that I titled, "The 12 minute mile" and I shuffled my library to accompany my run. A talk from Dr. Joe Dispenza came on. While I could not hear the specifics of what he was saying I felt his energy and reminded myself that it was time to think greater than my current circumstances and to embody my future self running a 12 minute mile.

I ended up with a 38 second negative split between mile 1 and mile 2 and an 18 second negative split between miles 2 and 3. But more important than the actual pace was how I felt once again pushing myself and visualizing crossing another finish line at some point in the not too distant future.

When I looked to the heavens, I saw an angel in the cloud formation against the backdrop of a beautiful blue sky:


I captured the beauty of Source in these photos:


and drew strength from the beauty and power that surrounded me.

I was sweating from the inside out cleansing the toxins of stress.

I realized that there is nothing more I can do to help my daughter in her recovery but what I can do is to nourish myself and to find ways to feel happy, healthy and enjoy a state of well being.

That run opened my heart and opened my mind to possibility. Rather than contracting into a state of anger, frustration and vigilance I now surround myself with a cascading waterfall of Divine Love.

This morning I put on my new playlist while I cleaned. I danced and I sang feeling gratitude overwhelm me for our beautiful decluttered home and our new office space. This was the first cleaning since we had our clutter removed. It was the culmination of a month of sorting, sifting and letting go.

I had my chiropractic treatment with Dr. Lizzie this afternoon. I felt ripples of energy flow through me melting away all of the stress in my life continuing to facilitate healing from the effects of paralytic polio and trauma. During my afternoon meditation, I integrated the treatment into mind, body and soul listening to the soundtrack from the Heal Documentary.

Running is my therapy, opening the path to problem solving and supporting my resilience in being able to manage stress in my life.

After Tuesday's run, I was renewed mind, body and soul ready to move forward in my life and my adventures as runner girl 1953.

To your health and wellness
From my heart to yours
Mary

My healing journey using the power of visualization is featured in David R. Hamilton's book, "How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body-Anniversary Edition." It's available on Amazon.


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:


Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance (With a Foreword by Jacqueline Hansen):


***Coming Soon - The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953***
The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953 takes you on Mary McManus’ healing odyssey from a wheelchair to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond. After the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome in December 2006, Mary got still and asked for Divine Guidance. She harnessed the power of her mind to heal her body, feverishly writing poetry in which she imagined herself healthy, whole and free from the shackles of her youth. Mary’s quest to heal her life led her to the sport of running that tested her mettle while fueling her journey of transformation from a survivor of childhood paralytic polio and severe trauma at the hands of family members to a woman who embodies faith, grace under fire, courage, determination, endurance and resilience. Running became a way of life for Mary. As you’ll discover in “The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953” nothing, not even a serious knee injury in December of 2014 could stop her on the roads or in her life. Mary’s story is one that will leave you cheering for the underdog and discovering the meaning of different ability as Mary overcame every challenge that life presented to her.

Celebrating Ten Years of Running: Taking a Pause

After ten years of running, challenging myself to the max and doing epic stuff, I've decided it's time to take a pause and celebrate all that I've accomplished. It's also time for me to share my adventures and my story in my next book. What's so awesome is that I am taking a break from racing by choice; not because I am injured. I am thoroughly enjoying running twice a week at the 5K distance playing with improving my time but as important enjoying being outdoors, unplugged, in nature and experiencing all the benefits that running brings. I'm still an integral part of the running community and cheer everyone on in cyberspace during Fall Marathon season. What a thrill to see my friends with their bling, PR's and BQ's. It's energizing and fuels me.

When this morning's alarm went off it was dark and 34 degrees. Well after all what do we expect for late October in New England? Even though there is no race on the horizon, why still get up in the dark and go for a run? Tom will be running the Jingle Bell 5K in December and the Bermuda 10K in January so I could easily let him go off at his own pace but there is something magical, mystical and sacred about our early morning runs regardless of what is on the race calendar.

It is an incredible gift to see the sun rise on a new day. Doing a quick core workout to music, sharing bananas and water and watching the night slowly drift away is a great way to begin a new day and a new week.

There was frost on the grass and as the sun rose higher in the sky, the frost glimmered like diamonds.

The Reservoir was so still that it looked like a painting. In the stillness and silence there is clarity.


We savored all the sensations of our first frosty breaths of the season and the colors that are still vibrant.



Our conversation focused on counting our blessings and gratitude.

We finished our run hungry, ready for breakfast and to experience the warmth of our home:


I'm enjoying this time of taking a pause from running and taking a look back celebrating ten years of running. It's an exciting time for me to share my journey.

Today I was blessed to be a guest on David Hamilton, Ph.D's radio show Hay House Radio.

On Wednesday I'll be dropping my book, "Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life," as part of the Books on the T program.

While I may be taking a pause from the excitement of racing and going for PR's, I am experiencing excitement in sharing the power of my story to inspire others.

To your health and wellness
From my heart to yours
Mary

My healing journey using the power of visualization is featured in David R. Hamilton's book, "How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body-Anniversary Edition." It's available on Amazon.


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:


Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance (With a Foreword by Jacqueline Hansen):


***Coming Soon - The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953***
The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953 takes you on Mary McManus’ healing odyssey from a wheelchair to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond. After the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome in December 2006, Mary got still and asked for Divine Guidance. She harnessed the power of her mind to heal her body, feverishly writing poetry in which she imagined herself healthy, whole and free from the shackles of her youth. Mary’s quest to heal her life led her to the sport of running that tested her mettle while fueling her journey of transformation from a survivor of childhood paralytic polio and severe trauma at the hands of family members to a woman who embodies faith, grace under fire, courage, determination, endurance and resilience. Running became a way of life for Mary. As you’ll discover in “The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953” nothing, not even a serious knee injury in December of 2014 could stop her on the roads or in her life. Mary’s story is one that will leave you cheering for the underdog and discovering the meaning of different ability as Mary overcame every challenge that life presented to her.