So Much Gratitude Fills My Heart...

 

By nature, every training cycle is different. I can't help but compare this training cycle on the road to the 2026 Hyannis Marathon Weekend 10K with the training cycle for the 2024 Bermuda Marathon Weekend 10K. One of the striking differences between the two is that I am not training for a specific time limit of the race. As a polio survivor who was then diagnosed with Post-Polio Syndrome, there was this subconscious force driving my training where I was testing my body rather than training my body. Having dropped to the ground in kindergarten class in June 1959, there was a lifelong fear of my body giving out without warning. Fortunately, my body did give out at the 2017 Bermuda Half Marathon and I hobbled to the finish line supported by Tom and an earth angel we had met at mile 12.

I had the epiphany that I had been testing not training during last Saturday's fabulous 4.1 miler along the Harbor in South Boston. It was a beautiful summer's day but the heat and humidity were still high despite an early start. We were grateful for the cloud cover but I started to 'melt' once the sun came out. 

     

I took several water stops and fueled a bit more given the heat and humidity especially as the sun broke the clouds. When I was training for Bermuda, needing to honor my body in this way would have led to serious doubts about whether or not I was going to be able to finish in under 2.5 hours. I know that those doubts and not allowing myself to experience training rather than testing runs contributed to my DNF in Bermuda. On May 4th of last year, as in May the Fourth be with you, I went out and conquered the 10K distance again and under 2.5 hours I'd like to add. A funny story about how we ended up going 4.1 miles instead of 4 miles. After a water stop, I forgot to restart my Garmin. Somehow, Tom and I both thought that we needed to go to 2 miles as it registered on my Garmin before turning around on our out and back run. The only thing that stopped was the time, not the distance. File that under #dothemath which we can never seem to accurately do when we are out on a run. We had a good laugh about it.

 

Gratitude became a theme for this week's training runs and strength training workout. I often post the hashtags Every step is a gift! Every mile is a blessing! This week I felt it in every step and every mile. After Saturday's run, Tom and I sat on the beach refueling with fruit, water and pretzels before heading home for lunch. I was grateful for life's simple pleasures and the incredibly big pleasure of the gift of running in my life with my partner of almost 50 years.

 

Monday morning was another sultry and steamy day in Boston. We really enjoy our early morning runs and workouts getting up at 6am on Monday and Thursdays for runs and 6:30 on Tuesdays for before breakfast strength training workouts.

 

 

With all the rain we've had this summer, it was a joy to savor the greens, blues and colors of the wildflowers. Tom and I begin and end every day with gratitude; being out on an early morning run makes it easy to declare what we are grateful for. One thing I was grateful for was walking into an air conditioned home as  the sweat continued to trickle down the small of my back after our run. I almost forgot to mention that, for some reason, at the end of Monday's run, I felt inspired to sprint to the 'finish.' It's so much fun to visualize what that moment will feel like again to cross the finish line of an in-person race. Tom and I joined hands and then raised our arms high saying out loud what the Race Director will say when we come into the finisher's chute celebrating the Hyannis 10K ten years later. I wasn't testing myself to see what my body could do. I felt the unbridled joy of being free in my body training for another 10K using the power of my imagination to fuel the journey. 

We wrapped up this week's training by going to the Route 9 Reservoir both to change up the scenery and because there would be hills involved.

 

It was a mysterious morning with the sun occasionally breaking through the quickly moving clouds but disappearing again just as quickly. Don't let the flat trail around the Reservoir deceive you. There is a hill from our house to the Reservoir and a v-e-r-y long uphill coming back from the Reservoir. Despite the long uphill coming back, we had a negative split with the second mile.

 

When I wrote "Running the Race" I was sitting in a toe-up leg brace, using a cane and at times a wheelchair for mobility. I'd been told to prepare to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair, expecting an accelerated decline in functioning as I aged. Yet I felt grateful and imagined myself winning a 10K race never having run a day in my life. The runner within me was born in my imagination; "Running the Race" foreshadowed my 2009 Boston Marathon run! Follow this link for the full text of the poem.

 

Now, 18 and a half years after receiving that diagnosis of a progressive neuromuscular disease, so much gratitude fills my heart for my life's journey that continues to call me up to amazing adventures.

  

In health and wellness - Mary

Visit my website to learn how poetry, optimism, gratitude and the mind/body connection helped me to transform my life. After having been told in December 2006 that I should prepare to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair, I went on to cross the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and have many adventures as runnergirl 1953. Be sure to visit the recently updated News and Events Page for links to podcast interviews, speaking engagements and where you can find my incredibly inspirational story.

I was recently the guest on The Optimism Institute Blue Sky Podcast. 
"Mary McManus has never had it easy. As a kindergartner, she was a victim of polio just a short time before the vaccine was introduced. She also faced trauma in her home life but somehow managed to persevere and overcome these and still more obstacles throughout her life. Today, Mary is an inspiring author, poet, motivational speaker, and finisher of the Boston Marathon." Here is the link to the Episode Website. Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and on YouTube.

My books share a powerful message of healing, hope and possibilities; what's possible despite all appearances to the contrary and are available on Bookshop  My 6th book, "Into the Light:Emerging From the 2020 Pandemic" and my 7th book, "A Most Unlikely Runner:Inspiration From The Heart of a Warrior" are selections of the WBZ News Radio Book Club. "Inspiration From The Heart of a Warrior" is also a selection Bill Rodgers Running Center Billy's Bookshelf: Recommended Reads for Every Runner. Visit my Author Page on Amazon for rave reviews.