Going the Distance: 9.5 Miles in the Bank of Bermuda..I wonder what normal people do on a Saturday morning?

When I woke up yesterday morning, a part of me did not want to begin another 5 day training cycle and go out and run 9.5 miles. As I was looking for something to inspire me, I found this:



What do so called normal people do on a Saturday morning? I went from experiencing chronic illness, pain and fatigue to training for the Boston Marathon in 2009. Ever since then, running and training and working so hard to achieve healing, health and wellness has been a part of my life.

I can't imagine a Saturday without getting out for a run.

Tom and I couldn't quite figure out where we wanted to run yesterday. We went through various routes and locations and finally settled on heading out the door, and doing an out and back route going along the Boston Marathon route. It was the same route we did last year for my first 10 mile run since having run the 2009 Boston Marathon. We thought we might make it to the finish line but our halfway point for 9.5 took us just shy of the finish line. We did get to take that left on Hereford and right on Boylston though.

When I looked at our Nike+ for the run, our elevation ascent was 420 feet!

Our pace was around a 17:30 on the hills! For 9.5 miles! That accounts for these smiles along with knowing that we deposited another 9.5 miles in the Bank of Bermuda. I felt I could have gone the 3.6 miles needed to complete a half marathon yesterday.



I usually take an ice bath as part of my post run recovery but my low back was feeling very sore. I decided a warm Epsom Salts bath was in order. After my hot shower I let ice cold water run on my legs and hips.

I stretched and visualized and repeated my mantra, "My body recovers quickly and with ease from the rigors of training for the Bermuda Half Marathon."

When I woke up this morning my right knee was barking at me. I iced, stretched and after a few moments of panic, I reminded myself that there are going to be all sorts of sensations as I train to go 13.1 miles again. I waited until this afternoon to do my strength training to give my body a little extra time to recover from the run.

I felt surprisingly strong during my strength training work out with a renewed confidence that I am going to run my SECOND CONSECUTIVE Bermuda Half Marathon in 74 days.

It's the first time on my health and wellness journey that I am able to maintain positive momentum.

It's the first time that I can unequivocally say I am healing the effects of paralytic polio and violence.

What do normal people do on a Saturday morning? I wonder - I only know that you'll find me building miles and counting down to the Bermuda Half Marathon from now until January 13th!

To your health and wellness,
Mary

Going the Distance: The last time I was in New York...

was in December of 2009.

A dear friend messaged me on Facebook and said he was coming to the States and would be in New York over Thanksgiving weekend. Without missing a beat I said we could come meet him in New York City.

Tom and I tried to remember the last time we were in New York. It took some time to remember...It was for the End Polio Now concert in December of 2009; a fundraiser by Rotary International where Itzhak Perlman, a polio survivor performed with the NY Philharmonic.



I wrote a blog post, "Shoes," talking about the fact that, despite going to Lincoln Center, I was going to be wearing black tie polio shoes with an AFO, ankle foot arthosis.



Here's an excerpt from that blog:
When I trained for the Boston Marathon and did a lot of strength training, I was able to relinquish the AFO - as if the AFO was something to be relinquished. I realize now that I probably would have been a lot more comfortable running the Marathon in the AFO but old habits die hard. The 'polio' mentality was one of coming out of braces and orthotics as soon as possible and to lose any outward signs of having been affected by the polio virus. As Katherine Ott said in a video about "Polio:Forgotten But Not Gone" it was the AIDS of its day.

I could not shed my identity as a polio survivor and at that early part of my healing journey was not yet aware of how much my history of trauma was affecting my ability to find a steady path of health and wellness.

After 8 plus years of being on a healing quest, I was led to Dr. Ryan Means, a chiropractor healer who reminded me of the power of the mind to heal using the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza.

I am training for my second consecutive Bermuda Half Marathon.

I work out 5 days a week.

As I continue to imprint the healing work I did with Dr. Ryan and use meditation, the power of intention and effective action through training, the effects of paralytic polio and trauma are transformed.



The last time I was in New York I was constricted, living and embodying the effects of paralytic polio and trauma. We enjoyed the beautiful concert and I enjoyed being back in my hometown, New York City sampling what the City has to offer as best I could.

This year is going to be rather epic! We are planning to sight see on foot and take a horse drawn carriage ride through Central Park on Friday. We are staying in mid town near Times Square and see where our feet take us. We have tickets to see "The Front Page" on Saturday.

I am going to feel like Mary Tyler Moore (even though her show was set in Minneapolis)


Love is all around no need to waste it...you can have the Town why don't you take it...You're gonna make it after all!

Yes I am ...going the distance and 7 years later I am taking NYC by storm!

To your health and wellness!
~Mary

Going the Distance: We Shine with Nine - Miles in the Bank of Bermuda

With each training run for the Bermuda Half Marathon, I feel that I am conquering the world!

I was feeling sad about not going to Cape Cod for the weekend of the Marathon this year so Team McManus created our own staycation this weekend. We had glorious weather for our training run. I was having a hard time getting myself together. Things with our daughter's psychiatric condition had been rapidly deteriorating and Tom said, "Come on...Let's head over to Southie." There are no excuses for me to not train.

I am so glad he did! We started at M Street, ran to Castle Island and looped around the Castle. We ran around Pleasure Bay and out to beyond U Mass Boston and the JFK Library. I remembered how different this year's run felt from last year when I was still finding the endurance runner within me. Here is Team McManus with a shine after our divine 9 miles:



It feels incredible to be training again for the Bermuda Half Marathon. What makes the journey even sweeter is that Nicole, one of my dear runner friends in cyberspace is training for the Houston Marathon again that takes place on the same day as Bermuda. Houston was her first Marathon and we are on the same training cycle again supporting each other while we relish training for these races the 2nd time around.

After our training run we had lunch, went into the pool at our Health Club to stretch and recover from the run and I took a hot shower with an ice cold water flush.

Yesterday Tom and I went for retail therapy. I must admit that I like the way I look and feel in clothes now. Shopping used to be such drudgery for me - especially for dress shoes and clothes other than running gear. It was a dreary rainy day so it was perfect weather to head to the mall. I tried on one suit and ordinarily I would settle but not yesterday. I found a fabulous Calvin Klein suit on sale with a gorgeous sleeveless top to wear underneath it. Shoe shopping was at first a little frustrating and then I said, "I find the shoes that I need with ease." I found these adorable Lucky Brand flats that reminded me of the Capezio ballet shoes I wore before I contracted paralytic polio.

We had to go out Route 9 West in order to turn around to come back into Boston. We passed by Spaulding Rehab's International Rehab Center for Polio and Post Polio where, 10 years ago, I was told to prepare to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair, possibly needing a feeding tube, definitely needing a sleep apnea machine and facing a grim prognosis.

Instead I was heading home after having 9 miles in the Bank of Bermuda on Saturday, having strength trained Sunday morning and coming home with a new outfit and new shoes to shine the way I was always meant to shine!

To your health and wellness!
Mary

Going the Distance: Never tell me the odds...

As I am editing "Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance," I realize how the odds were stacked against me since I was 5 years old having contracted paralytic polio and enduring unthinkable acts of horror. At age 53 when I was diagnosed with a progressive neuromuscular disease, I was told odds were I'd spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair, needing a sleep apnea machine, possibly a feeding tube. The odds of me being able to reclaim my life were not in my favor ... that is until I met Ryan J. Means DC, a healer chiropractor and now a dear friend!



In some ways my life was like an adventure movie where I had brushes with death at every turn. I've faced evil and violence and would not wish the horrors I experienced on another living soul. Yet now that I am blessed with the grace of healing, I can look back on it all as one wild adventure in which good triumphed over evil and my light, my love, my joy prevail. We can now polish and restore the treasures of my body, my mind and my Soul and make everything factory new restoring everything to my original settings before polio and before trauma.

Saturday Tom and I ran 8.5 miles on our road to the Bermuda Half Marathon. Sunday I did a strength training work out in the pool. Since there is rain in the forecast for the next several days, Tom and I decided to get our 5K run in this morning. It was a cool, clear Autumn New England morning and I loved the sound of my footsteps around the path of the Reservoir. We had a delightful run as I picked up the pace doing negative splits and experienced the dawn of a new day and a new week. We debated about whether or not we were going to watch tonight's Presidential Debate and decided we are going to watch "The Office." We played "The Office" trivial pursuit as we ran and during breakfast googled our answers.

You can see our radiant smiles and the splendor of an Autumn morning in our post run selfie:



It will be ten years in December since the odds were that I'd be withering away in a wheelchair by now but as Han Solo and I like to say - never tell me the odds.

To your health and wellness,
Mary

Going the Distance: Just Imagine!!!

In editing my next book, "Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance," I'm realizing how I harnessed the power of my imagination to create my life today. After receiving the diagnosis of post polio syndrome in December 2006, I harnessed the power of my imagination through my pen, my divining rod for healing and imagined myself winning a 10K race.

I imagined myself running and running free, dancing in the rain without a leg brace, celebrating my life, expressing gratitude in spite of all the pain and suffering I lived through seeing my life as a gift rather than a burden. When I suffered a serious knee injury in December of 2014, I once again took to my imagination to help my body heal and affirmed the type of healer that I was worthy to have partner with me. I asked the question how would I ever reclaim my life and affirmed running free and unencumbered.

I imagined healing hands and healing hearts and was so blessed to meet Dr. Ryan Means. As I edit sharing the work I did with Dr. Ryan, I can feel the heal in my body once more. After a fall a few weeks ago, my left knee was swollen and I had pain. I would imagine Dr. Ryan taping me and using his hands and heart to support my body's natural ability to heal.

After a wasp sting, I imagined my thumb factory new as though the sting never happened.

Now here's the thing. Many people have said to me that they don't have that kind of imagination or that I must have some special powers that they don't have. That's just not true. Have you ever seen a commercial on TV for a juicy steak or a delicious dessert or a food you absolutely love? What happens? You can feel the desire to have that food and you might even start salivating AT THE THOUGHT OF HAVING IT!

Research is now documenting the power of the mind in affecting the body. Dr. Joe Dispenza's book, 'You Are the Placebo' is filled with anecdotes about his own healing and the healing of others; and changing the body by thought alone. There have also been examples cited by Dr. Joe and Dr. Bernie Siegel where negative messages about a diagnosis and research on a drug led to the death of patients. It was Dr. Ryan who led me to Dr. Joe Dispenza's work that expounds on the work of Bernie who pioneered the power of the mind/body connection back in the 70's.

Recently Dr. Joe shared this article from Scientific American about the power of the mind to build muscle.

Athletes visualize their races. I love a story Meb shares is 'Run to Overcome.' He visualized his race before he went to sleep the night before the race. He woke up sweaty and exhausted. His body felt as though it had in fact already run the race and his performance was compromised that day.

What do you need to conjure up in your life? It takes intention, attention, focus and action to manifest a positive outcome in your life. I could have easily listened to the naysayers and the doomsdayers in my life beginning with the messages I received being traumatized as a child and then from Western Medicine and even the body workers I worked with. But rather than set limits I allowed my imagination to run wild and free. Just imagine that!

You'll be able to read all about it in 'Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance.'

To your health and wellness,
Mary

Going the Distance: 8 Bermudaful Miles

Last week's 8 mile training run was filled with struggles and challenges yet Team McManus felt a sense of triumph after those 8 miles.

When we woke up this morning to another glorious sunny day we decided to head over to South Boston to get in our 8 mile training run for Bermuda Marathon Weekend. The weather is reminiscent of Bermuda in January and while there is nowhere in the world that has the blue waters of Bermuda, the water hugging the coast in South Boston was a radiant blue.

Rather than run our typical out and back course from Castle Island to U Mass, I suggested we park at Carson Beach, run to Castle Island, circle the Castle and then head out to U Mass. It's always important to give your body something new and interesting out on those long runs.



The miles seemed to fly by! There was ease, laughter and joy in this run as we relished a day that was a true gift from the Universe on 9/17 in Boston. We talked about our jobs, our dreams (yes you better believe you still have dreams in your 60's!) and healing.

I realized there are still some things in my life that reflected my old behavior patterns and on the run was able to get clarity on what I needed to release. Tom and I formulated my exit strategy. There is no time to waste and as Christopher Walken posted on Facebook:
"None of us are getting out of here alive, so please stop treating yourself like an after thought. Eat the delicious food. Walk in the sunshine. Jump in the ocean. Say the truth that you’re carrying in your heart like hidden treasure. Be silly. Be kind. Be weird. There’s no time for anything else."

I really had to push through the last mile and wondered what was going on. Tom realized that we had not stuck to our hydration and fueling plan on our run. We were so caught up in how good we felt and the beautiful day that we lost track of our hydration and fueling plan. I cramped up at the end of our run; fortunately it was at the end of our run. I have total confidence in my body's ability to recover from our long runs, even if we mess up a little. This runfie captures the joy of the day:


Tom and I shared a grapefruit and I drank a lot of water. I stretched and we went into the ocean for an ice bath to encourage our bodies to begin their recovery.

We had a fantastic lunch at 75 on Liberty. I had their Salmon BLT with a side salad and we indulged in a dessert following Christopher Walken's advice.

We felt as though we had a wonderful vacation day together. As we pulled into the driveway, for a moment, I was wondering why I was feeling so sore... and then I remembered ... it was because we ran 8 Bermudaful miles together preparing for our return to Bermuda Marathon Weekend in January.

To your health and wellness,
~Mary

Fundraising Friday: Jess Lanzoni and Back on My Feet Boston

Jess Lanzoni at the Tufts 10K with the ladies from Back on My Feet Boston:

"Homelessness can happen to anybody," Jess Lanzoni shared with me when asked about her upcoming marathons in Berlin and Chicago to raise money for Back on My Feet Boston. (BoMF)

Operating in 11 major cities coast-to-coast, Back on My Feet uses running and community to motivate and support individuals every step of the way from homelessness to independence. Our success is measured not only by the health impact of miles run, but also by how many individuals obtain education, employment and housing.

Back on My Feet recruits members (individuals experiencing homelessness) at homeless and residential facilities around the country and begins with a commitment to run three days a week in the early morning. After 30 days in the program, members with 90% attendance earn the opportunity to move into the second phase of the program called Next Steps, which provides educational support, job training programs, employment partnership referrals and housing resources. Almost 80% of individuals who start the program move into Next Steps.

Three years ago, one of Jess's friends invited her to volunteer and run with the ladies at Rosie's Place. While Jess thought she was going to volunteer and give back, she said that she receives way more than she ever gives by running with these inspiring women. "They will be in my life forever," she says from deep in her heart.

Jess already ran the Boston Marathon in 2015 through pelting rain and driving winds to raise money for Back on My Feet.

She is a woman dedicating her life to social justice and philanthropy. In addition to running with the ladies each week, she is on the Young Professionals Advisory Board to explore program improvement, and creative and effective ways to fund raise.

I asked Jess why two back to back marathons? "I've done back to back marathons before. I'm already trained so it's not a big deal and I am so passionate about supporting Back on My Feet."

And when the miles get tough? Jess thinks of the women she runs with and all they have had to overcome on their journeys. "I'll think about the ladies and their stories and know I can always run a little farther."

Let's help Jess exceed her fund raising goal. Please donate to her Back on My Feet Fundraising Page.

Safe travels Jess! Run strong, happy, healthy and with ease!