In December of 2014, after having run 9 races in 9 months with several PR's along the way, my left knee just couldn't take anymore. It started with pain and the pain led to not being able to put any weight on the leg. It was after the Miss Santa Holiday 5K 2014. Tom and I debated about whether or not to go to the Emergency Room but opted instead to harness the power of my mind/body connection, ice and Advil and then a cane.
I was surrounded by nay sayers. The massage therapist and the team of therapists at the practice I had been going to all said it was time to hang up my running shoes. The Team and fellow Aquatics Therapy class members at Spaulding Rehab Aquatics Therapy told me "We told you so." I had shared my racing triumphs with them and then they saw I was injured.
Since May 2007, I dedicated myself to healing the effects of childhood paralytic polio and trauma mind, body and soul. I hadn't come that far to only go that far.
From "The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953":
While Tom was at work I focused all of my attention and intention on healing my knee. After the second day, I asked him to buy a cane at CVS on his way home from work. Like a dog with its tail between its legs I reluctantly made an appointment with Dr. Rosenberg. I was no longer a survivor of paralytic polio but a runner who wanted to get back to the sport that had given me so much. Unfortunately, Dr. Rosenberg still saw me as a polio survivor. He did a physical exam and suspected that I had a badly torn meniscus.
“Let’s order an MRI and go from there but in the meantime absolutely no running!”
I agreed.
While waiting for the MRI results and a follow up appointment with Dr. Rosenberg, I agonized about my fate. I had forgotten, for the moment, that I had the power to heal.
“Be who you were created to be and you will set the world on fire.” ~St. Catherine of Sienna
I went on line to get my MRI results before my appointment with Dr. Rosenberg in early January of 2015. The report indicated that I did indeed have a very badly torn meniscus and degenerative joint changes, bone spurs, a fatty lipoma, joint changes from multiple surgeries and fatty infiltrates into the left medial gastroc muscle as a result of denervation. That didn’t sound good but I know how appearances can and are deceiving. I remembered how I dissolved a breast tumor and rewired my entire body
through the power of visualization. I transcended my past. I transformed from a survivor of paralytic polio to a woman who goes the distance on the roads and in my life.
Tom came with me for me follow up appointment. I didn’t betray to Dr. Rosenberg that I had already read my report. I listened as he told me the findings.
“Well we already knew you had an atrophied gastroc muscle from the polio. There’s nothing you can do about that. There is not enough cartilage to repair if you have arthroscopic surgery. I can tell you in all likelihood you are going to need a total knee replacement in a few years. You know my thoughts about running. I think you know my recommendation Mary. You really shouldn’t be running but if you are going to run please cap your distance. No more than a 5K. I am going to give you a prescription for physical therapy. I’d like to also highly recommend that you please come back to the Post-Polio clinic for a new evaluation. You know it’s only a matter of time before things start to progress again. Don’t overdo it!”
As I left the clinic with my prescription in hand, I watched myself making a follow up appointment for a re-evaluation with “the team.” I wasn’t sure that’s what I really needed.
I encountered the physical therapist from hell but all I set into motion with my powerful intentions and my pen, my Divining Rod for healing led me to Ryan J. Means, a chiropractor who just happened to be renting office space at the massage therapy practice I was going to yet no one had suggested I see him. We met at my book launch party for a book that I have since rewritten!
Dr. Ryan urged me to read Dr. Joe Dispenza's "You Are the Placebo" and directed me to the works of other mind/body luminaries. He helped me to build on the foundation of healing I set in motion and go the distance in my healing and on the roads.
With KT tape, Graston technique, affirmations, meditation, chiropractic care and a balanced training program, I entered a new phase of my quest to heal my life from the effects of paralytic polio and trauma!
My comeback race was The Finish at the 50 5K on July 3rd, 2015.
Anthony Raynor and Clarence Smith had me at hello at the Bermuda Marathon Weekend Booth at the Finish at the 50 Expo. Tom started chatting with Clarence "Stoker" Smith. I hung back but cocked an ear to the conversation. I gingerly eyed the pink Bermuda wrist bands, the bling from Bermuda Marathon Weekend races and the samples of pink sand. I glanced at Tom and felt we each had a tug at our souls. The tug got stronger with each moment we talked with Clarence and Anthony. We reminisced about when we went to Bermuda. I felt goosebumps and a warm feeling come over me, while a part of me was wondering why was I even having this conversation about running in Bermuda. Several months ago I was told to cap my distance and prepare for a total knee replacement.
“If you can get up to the Half Marathon distance, you’ll be better off than running the 10K with all of its steep hills,” Anthony said in his delicious Bermudian accent.
“The last time I was in Bermuda I was in a leg brace using a cane and a wheelchair.”
Clarence's wife said, "Look at you now girl."
There was no stopping me now. We exchanged information. Clarence told us he'd pick us up at the airport. I chatted with Anthony about the weather in January.
"Look," he said with a deep warm laugh, "I was told you people still have piles of snow near the Seaport Hotel from this past winter. I can guarantee you this. You will have no snow in Bermuda in January."
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.” ~Mark Twain
It was time to sail away from safe harbor and go the distance again. This time on the magical Island of Bermuda.
After 3 consecutive Bermuda Half Marathons, I had to take time off to heal and to take a break from training for any races. But my soul got fired up and I decided it was time to come full circle and run The Finish at the 50 5K. First I checked in with Dave McGillivray to make sure there was no time limit. Then I worked on speed on flat surfaces and endurance on the hills since we run the ramps at Gillette Stadium.
Here's a flashback Friday to our 2015 race:
Tomorrow will be my final training run before we toe the starting line at Finish at the 50 on July 3rd.
It's going to be a fabulously fun time where Tom and I will be running as part of Team Big Heart.
While I do not run "fast" I sure do run with heart! My heart of a champion is full as I come full circle back to the race that signaled the beginning of new chapters in my healing journey inspiring others with what is possible when we harness our strength, our will, our determination, our mind/body connection and run with the heart of a champion!
From my heart to yours
In Health and Wellness,
Mary
Be sure to visit my website at www.marymcmanus.com
Hear my interview with Kendra Petrone on Magic 106.7's Exceptional Women Show by following this link
My books are available on Amazon and "Feel the Heal" and "The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953" are available in Natick Center Cultural District at Paula Romero Dunbar's Celebration Boutique Paper Fiesta coincidentally located on Mile 10 of the Boston Marathon Route. Proceeds from the sale of books for June and July are being donated to The Joseph Middlemiss Big Heart Foundation to support Tom's Falmouth Road Race. You can also donate directly by following this link.
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