"They said..."

Yesterday my most liked photo from 2016 popped up in my memories!



"They" said I never should have started running as a survivor of paralytic polio and the diagnosis of Post Polio Syndrome even though I crossed the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon. "They" said, after a serious knee injury in December of 2014 that I needed to stop running and prepare for a total knee replacement. "They" were wrong and I went on to run Bermuda Half Marathons 2016, 2017 and 2018. Here I am at mile 11 in 2016.

I feel compassion for physicians and allied health professions who profess what is and is not possible. I was blessed to have had a physical therapist who did not subscribe to the conventional wisdom of "If you use it you will lose it" as a survivor of paralytic polio and the diagnosis of Post Polio Syndrome. She told me through her treatment plan for and with me, in her words and actions that I was not destined to spend my life in a wheelchair as was the message I received from the treatment team at the International Rehab Center for Polio and Post Polio 13 years ago.

In Dr. Joe Dispenza's book, You Are the Placebo, and in Dr. David Hamilton's' book, "How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body" they cite examples of how the power of the mind influences the body. In Dr. Joe's book, he gives numerous examples of how a diagnosis and prognosis were given for a terminal illness and the body responded to their timetable. However upon autopsy there was no disease found! They also share the science behind the power of belief and imagination in being able to heal the body.

After that knee injury in December of 2014, I returned to the physiatrist who treated me initially for Post Polio to see what needed to be healed but quickly asked for Divine Guidance for healing. I was blessed to find my way to a chiropractor who believed as I did in the body's tremendous capacity for healing. We partnered together to get me back on the roads using chiropractic, KT taping to support the knee during healing and in growing a new gastroc muscle that had atrophied during the initial bout of paralytic polio. I learned about the atrophied gastroc muscle from the MRI and while "they said" there was nothing I could do about it, my chiropractor and I said "Let's give it a go."

I understand where those who say with such conviction a diagnosis and prognosis are coming from. Until my nurse at the Brigham and Women's Hospital introduced me to Dr. Bernie Siegel I believed what "they said".



So here's to those who say that they may be able to open their hearts, minds and eyes to see what is possible.

And here's to those who have believed what "they said"...may you be open to healing, hope and possibilities!

To learn more about my inspiring journey and to explore healing resources be sure to visit my website at www.marymcmanus.com

My books are available on Amazon

To your health and wellness
To healing, hope and possibilities
From my heart to yours,
Mary

Used wheelchair to travel...

Our panel, Late Life Running and Whole Life Running for the Virtual Boston Marathon Expo aired yesterday. Boston Marathon Champion 1973 and pioneer of women's running, Jacqueline Hansen took the screen shot and tagged me on Facebook:
Mary, nicely done! Your role on the Boston Expo panel was splendid. You were eloquent and inspiring! I'm so proud and pleased for you! You sure spoke with all your heart :)
💙💛

I am still in awe of how I went from an award winning social work career at the VA, to having been told to prepare to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond. I've met champions such as Jaqi, Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter and they embrace my story making me feel like a champion in my own right.

I emerged from contracting paralytic polio at the age of 5, enduring years of abuse at the hands of family members, becoming High School Valedictorian and going on to an award winning career in social work when I began to plan my retirement in 3 years with a vision of working at Bloomingdale's and being able to read trashy novels and take vacations with my husband who would then also plan to retire in short order.

But the Universe had other plans and I had no idea what they were when my life came to a screeching halt in December of 2006 with the diagnosis of Post Polio Syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease. I was told to quit my job, plan to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair needing all sorts of special equipment to accommodate to the rapid decline in functioning as I aged and to either move to a ranch or adapt our Cape house.

As I'd done throughout my life, I got still and asked for Divine Guidance.

This was the answer I received: {From Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility}

And then I felt a stirring in my second chakra (only then I didn’t know it was my second chakra – I thought it might have been something I ate). I went over to my laptop in the corner of the living room and I wrote this poem:

Running the Race
Early summer 1959 my kindergarten year
Everyone around me filled with nervous fear
Despite the Salk vaccine hope polio would disappear
The polio virus crept right up and knocked me in the rear.
Dancing all around the gym feeling free just like a bird
I dropped to the ground just like a stone
and no one said a word.
The pain it was so searing-the diagnosis even worse
"It's polio" the doctor said...he was abrupt and terse.
Called one of the 'lucky ones' I had a 'mild case'
But with the other athletes I could never keep their pace.
Miss Holly physical therapist,
curly hair and a warm, broad smile
It tempered the pain of being apart - to walk I'd take awhile.

I always wore those 'special' shoes
the kids they poked and teased
With no support and much abuse
with childhood I wasn't pleased.
But put nose to the grindstone and learned all that I could
I couldn't kick a ball but my grades were always good.
Years went by and no more thought to polio did I give
I accepted the limp and everything else
and decided my life I would live.
But symptoms of weakness and muscle pain did grow
I kept a stoic face hoping no one else would know.

Life no longer was my own I struggled through each day
Suffered in silence, isolated from friends-
trying to keep depression at bay.
And with the grace of glorious God my world it opened wide
I discovered there was a Post Polio team
and they were on my side.

Using wheelchair to travel, set limits on what I could do,
Resulted in joy to realize I could live life anew.
Celebrated my body- creaks, groans and need for a brace
While in my mind I focused on winning a 10K race.
Sought out paths for healing and my spirit flew free
For the first time in life, I could truly be me.
The chains are gone and possibilities abound
I'm a tree with my roots planted firmly in ground.
I'm now off the sidelines, no need to sit and whine
So much gratitude fills my heart and love and beauty shine.
After all these years I can join the loving human race
I exceed all expectations and now I set the pace.

I sobbed to write those words. I had never spoken about polio or the abuse I endured. I became curious. Why am I writing about winning a 10K race?

At the time, I had no idea that the poem was a foreshadowing of my 2009 Boston Marathon run!


Poems flowed out of me. As I wrote poems in which I imagined a powerful transformation and a future very different than the ones the doctors predicted for me and healed my past through the power of forgiveness and gratitude, I experienced healing in my body and in February of 2008 started to run.

I landed in the middle of a sport where champions and every day runners mingle and talk about running as a metaphor for life. I landed in the middle of a sport where someone like me was cheered instead of jeered despite finishing last at a race. I landed in the middle of a sport where resilience, strength, community, health, honor, respect and wellness are the themes that weave together the fabric of a very powerful community.

When once I used a wheelchair to travel, I am now a 2009 Boston Marathon finisher, inspirational speaker, runner girl,and poet. There's still time to see our panel on Friday 9/11 at 3pm by following this link.

To be inspired by my journey from a wheelchair to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond be sure to visit my website at www.marymcmanus.com

My books are available on Amazon.

Good luck to all the virtual runners! As Meb said, "Run to win. That doesn't mean being in first place but in getting the best out of yourself."

From my heart to yours
In health and wellness
Mary

It's All So Possible!

Before Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile everyone thought it was impossible. But once he broke the 4 minute mile, others began to do the same because they realized it was, in fact, possible!



When I set out 13 years ago to heal my life from the effects of paralytic polio and having endured years of sexual, emotional and physical abuse at the hands of family members, I had no idea what was possible. I was told that I “had” Post Polio Syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease and told I should prepare to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. I was told that if I used it I would lose it -- yes you read that right and that I needed to conserve my energy. If there were any hope of stabilizing the symptoms where they were, I needed to quit my award winning VA social work career just 3 years shy of ‘retirement.’ I was told that I might need a feeding tube because the left side of my esophagus was sluggish, a sleep apnea machine because my lungs were weak and I aspirated food into my lungs.

I was fitted for a toe up leg brace,


a cane and advised to use a wheelchair if I needed to go shopping or travel. I was advised to eat a semi soft food diet while doing a chin tuck; no talking while eating and use a straw so I didn’t choke on liquids.

I went along with the program for a couple of months. I knew I was at a crossroads in my life and I did what I had done throughout my life when faced with what seemed like insurmountable challenges, I got still and asked for Divine Guidance.

The answer came in the form of a poem, “Running the Race” and then many poems flowed out of me in which I imagined myself healthy, whole and free dancing in the rain and running - yes running although I never ran a day in my life up to that point - expressing, transforming and transcending the pain of my past through gratitude and forgiveness.

I was discharged from Spaulding Rehab in May 2007 during the same week that I took a leap of faith and left my career to heal my life. Fortunately, my physical therapist at Spaulding, Allison Lamarre-Poole believed in the body’s tremendous capacity to heal.

In October of 2007, the Universe connected with me Sierra Ann Hightower, an angel of a personal trainer as described in this video from Channel 7 News.



Together we created possibility out of a seemingly impossible situation. My initial goals were to get off of a low toilet seat, diversify my workouts and build on my home exercise program from Spaulding Rehab Hospital.

From “The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953”:
Shortly after being discharged from outpatient physical therapy I met Janine Hightower through Herb Simmons. He knew Janine through his participation in the Cardiac Rehab program at Boston Medical Center. I was launching my business New World Greeting Cards, original poetry for every occasion. She was a member of BNI, a professional networking group. As we sat in my living room, she talked about BNI and the benefits of being a member of this networking group. As she talked, I wasn’t focused on growing my business. My mind zeroed in on her sharing with us how she used BNI to promote her in home personal training business.

“You know I’m curious,” I said to Janine. “Do you think you could help me? I was just discharged from Spaulding Rehab.”

I went on to tell her about my journey.

“I don’t know,” she said “but I’d certainly be happy to set up an assessment with you.”

I couldn’t even pass the initial fitness assessment.

“You’re way too young to not be able to get off of the toilet seat without holding on to the sink or to not be able to get off of the couch,” she said to me.

It was a statement of fact without judgment. She spoke the truth about my deconditioned physical state. I signed on to work with her once a week in personal training. I had no idea what or why I was doing this. I did know that if I was going to be in pain, I’d prefer to feel the pain of recovery instead of the pain of decline. Janine held enough faith for both of us that I could come out of my leg brace and have a good quality of life despite the diagnosis and prognosis I received.

Janine’s mantra for our work together was a quote from Henry Ford, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right!”

At my six-month evaluation in February, I made dramatic improvements in every area of the assessment. I had come out of my leg brace. I knew I was on a healing path.

“Let’s write down your goals for the next six months,” Janine said feeling proud and satisfied with my progress.

“Well I want to feel free in my body. I want to dance. I want to be able to walk outside and feel unencumbered when I take a walk.”

Janine feverishly wrote down my goals, and we worked out a plan. She gathered up her belongings and had her hand on the door knob.

“Wait. I have one more goal.”

Janine stopped and turned around.

“I want to run the Boston Marathon for Spaulding Rehab Hospital. I know they have a Race for Rehab team and I want to do it next year.”

Did you ever have one of those moments when words fell out of your mouth after rising up from the depths of your soul without going through any thought process?

Janine was non-plussed. I don’t know what kept her from turning tail and getting as far away from me as she could. She came back into my house, set down her things and without missing a beat said, “Well the first thing you are going to need is a pair of running shoes.”


And so began my journey of a lifetime training for the 26.2 journey from Hopkinton to Boston on April 20, 2009.

Appearances can be deceiving. You are not your diagnosis. It’s quite miraculous what happens when we harness the power of our mind to heal our body and surround ourselves with people who believe in us and the body’s innate capacity to heal. Our imagination can create changes in the body and facilitate healing.

I share my story over and over again emphasizing different aspects of the journey so that others know what’s possible. As what happened with Roger Bannister breaking the 4 minute mile, I am hoping others will break through their own belief barriers, harness the power of imagination to visualize different outcomes than ones predicted by others, and open the portal to healing, hope and possibilities!

It’s all so possible!

My story is one of many stories featured in Dr.David Hamilton’s 10th Anniversary Edition of “How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body” available on Amazon. By reading others' healing stories, you will be inspired to set out on your own journey firing up your imagination with how others were able to heal. Dr. David also offers how harnessing the power of your mind through visualization can improve your performance in sports, public speaking and creating a better quality of life for yourself and the world around you.

Visit my website at www.marymcmanus.com to learn more about my journey and to explore healing resources that I have used and continue to use during my healing quest.

My books are available on Amazon.

From my heart to yours
In health, wellness and infinite possibilities,
Mary

It's my Race-iversary!

Twelve years ago today, I toed the starting line of my first race - the Corrib Pub 5K. I had no idea what to expect. I had only begun running in April under the guidance of my personal trainer, Janine Hightower. I set an ambitious first goal for my running career: to run the 2009 Boston Marathon.

From "The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953":

Corrib Pub Run June 1, 2008

It was a hot and humid day. I had incredible butterflies not knowing what to expect from my first 5K. It was a friendly neighborhood race that accepted all paces. Proceeds from the race benefited neighborhood charities. Before the race we stood next to a couple and struck up a conversation. I learned that it’s a common practice to strike up conversations with strangers at a road race. They were inspired by my story and wished us well as we parted ways at the starting line. I had to pinch myself to realize I, Mary McManus, aka “Easy Out Alper” was toeing the starting line for a road race.

As we ran through the streets of West Roxbury, Tom shouted, “First road race ever. She's a polio survivor!”

People cheered and I ran through the hoses that people sprayed the runners with to keep us cool. I experienced a sense of play and freedom that I’d never known before in my life. Each step was a challenge for me especially the last long hill. I hadn't run for more than 40 continuous minutes in my training program. I had only been running outside since late April. But it didn't matter. I was on the road to the Boston Marathon and this was my first time being cheered rather than jeered as I ran. I had to stop and walk after 40 minutes but once I approached the finisher’s chute, Tom and I held hands sprinting together across my first finish line!

It took me just under an hour to finish the race.

There were still plenty of burgers, beers and fruit on the field when we finished despite my slow pace. Some of the people I met pre-race were there to greet me on the field.

It was my first introduction to the wonderful community of people who are runners.

When we returned to the car, Tom took this picture:


Running the Corrib Pub 5K became a tradition for many years.

One year Margo and Julie Feeney wanted to join me to celebrate my race-i-versary. They did not care about my slow time and Margo was quick to say that you really get to enjoy a race from the back of the pack.



We met the Fabulous Feeney sisters when they were running the Boston Marathon for Spaulding Rehab.

I've been blessed to run many miles through many race courses and made friendships to last a lifetime during these past 12 years.

My most cherished memory of any race was that first race on June 1, 2008 when I began the journey from a survivor of paralytic polio and trauma to a woman transformed through the sport of running.

Be sure to visit my website at www.marymcmanus.com to learn more about my journey of transformation.

My books are available on Amazon

From my heart to yours
In health and wellness
Mary

Run for Your Life

Thirteen years ago I was at 10 days and counting until I left my award winning career as a VA social worker to "heal my life." The day had been circled in red on my calendar for 6 weeks in advance of May 25th, 2007. It was almost go time...


I felt as though the Universe was giving me a shove out of the nest of safety of having a full time job with a very good salary into the unknown. It was both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time!

Did I have any idea that just a little less than a year later I would be featured on the cover of "Healthy Brookline" in the Brookline Tab giving an interview about my journey on the road to the 2009 Boston Marathon?



Absolutely not although I had written the poem, "Running the Race".

In early May 2008, I sat with Neal Simpson in a coffee shop in Brookline sharing my journey with him:

Fifty years after polio, a Brookline woman is fighting back
By Neal Simpson/staff writer

Brookline - Since she was a little girl, Mary McManus had rarely moved faster than a walk.

But last month, the former polio patient bought her first pair of running shoes. And now she’s training for a marathon.

Paralyzed by polio at the age of 5, the Brookline mother of two now spends every day fighting back against the crippling effects of the disease that still threatens to rob her of her strength and mobility 50 years later. She said she won’t stop until she runs her first marathon.

“I just know with every fiber in my body that we will,” she said. “It’s all happening.”

McManus faces an uphill battle. Though polio itself has been virtually eradicated from the developed world, McManus is one of more than 440,000 Americans who could see a resurgence of symptoms decades later, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

Scientists believe this resurgence, called post-polio syndrome, is a result of natural aging and stress on the motor neurons that survive an initial polio attack.

Polio survivors learn to depend on these motor neurons as they recover, and can live relatively normal lives before they give out later in life, according to Mary Cole, a senior occupational therapist at the International Center for Polio in Framingham.

“There’s usually a long period of stability,” said Cole. “If not, there’s something else going on.”

Cole teaches post-polio patients how to save their energy, and recommends that many start using the braces and canes they once used as kids. It’s about improving quality of life, she said.

“A lot of people think exercise is what can get you through this, and that’s not the case,” Cole said. “Most of these patients have been overusing these muscles, and we need to find a balance.”

But McManus said she refuses to slow down. She wants to prove that other post-polio patients don’t have to, either.

“I’m here to let them know that that might be true for some people, it doesn’t have to that way,” she said.

‘Everything just gave out’

It was 1958, and McManus was a kindergartner in gym class. She remembers exactly how it happened.

“I was running around, having a great time, and I just dropped,” she remembered. “Everything just gave out.”

Polio left McManus paralyzed on her left side. She was walking again within a couple of months, but her limp would never leave her and she often tired easily.

Unable to play with her classmates, the young McManus turned to academics.

“I became a straight-A student, and I was valedictorian,” she said. “I never thought much about my body. It was an enemy — I hated it.”

All through her childhood, her college years and her career as a veterans’ social worker, McManus suffered from chronic fatigue, a burning sensation in her muscles and a slight limp. But in 1996, things started to get much worse, as McManus often felt short of breath and began having trouble swallowing.

But McManus’ doctors, unfamiliar with post-polio syndrome, blamed the symptoms on menopause, coupled with depression prompted by her twin children’s departure for college.

So McManus soldiered on for another decade as her symptoms became even worse. By the time she got help in 2006, she could barely get out of bed in the morning and had trouble climbing the stairs in her house. Tremors shook her body and her limp became more severe.

“I was beside myself,” she said. “In my private moments, I just wanted to give up.”

In her darkest hour, McManus turned to prayer and poetry to sustain her. As her collection of poems grew, she began compiling it into a book, which she has published under the title “New World Greetings.”

McManus eventually checked into Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, where she was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome after doctors ruled out all other causes. The first thing the doctors told herwas to quit her high-stress job and focus on herself.

It was exactly what she needed, McManus said.

“I needed to hear that I needed to stop everything and conserve my energy,” she said.

McManus quit her job of 18 years in May 2007, and immediately began feeling better. With the stress of life as a social worker gone, McManus felt her body began rebuilding lost muscle.

Starting that summer, doctors at Spaulding treated McManus for a pinched nerve and helped her regain her upper-body strength. She began a regimen of cardiovascular exercise and learned to conserve her energy.

“They got me to the point where I felt a little stronger,” she said. “My pain went almost to nothing.”

More importantly, McManus said, the exercises gave her a sense of control over her body and the confidence to do something about her disease.

‘Let’s see what this body can do’

When she was discharged from Spaulding in October, McManus called up a personal trainer she’d heard of named Janine Hightower.

“Basically, we said, ‘Let’s see what this body can do.’”

At the time, McManus was struggling to climb a 12-inch step in her home. When the two began their exercises, McManus set a low standard for success: All she wanted, she said, was the ability to get off her toilet without help.

Hightower began her on a gentle exercise routine, gradually advancing her from strength training to short jogs.

“When she was first learned she had post-polio syndrome, everyone was telling her to go easy on her body to rest and sit down,” Hightower said. “I sort of took the opposite approach. I told her to challenge her body.”

McManus took the message to heart. When she began reaching the goals they had set earlier this year, Hightower asked McManus what she wanted to do next.

Run a marathon, she responded.

What do you think? Add your comment to article at www.wickedlocal.com/brookline.
Neal Simpson can be reached at nsimpson@cnc.com.

While a few of the facts were incorrect; I was never an inpatient at Spaulding and I was discharged from outpatient care that began in January in May of 2007, Neal eloquently captured the essence of where I was in my journey. The Tab also assigned a photographer for the article.

People did leave comments on the article letting me know how much I inspired them with my journey.

One of the most stunning aspects of my experience is how the physiatrist and therapists at the Post Polio Clinic set themselves up as experts letting me know with great authority that I was destined for a course of rapid decline as I aged. I was blessed to meet a physical therapist at another Spaulding site who did not subscribe to the "if you use it you will lose it" philosophy and then to meet Janine who helped me to go the distance in my quest to heal my life from the once ravaging effects of paralytic polio and enduring years of abuse at the hands of family members.co

I discovered the sport of running that transformed my life and continues to be my source of joy, health and well being and therapy for my mind, body and soul.

I knew with a deep knowing that it was time to run for my life ignoring the warnings of the medical community and tuning in to the Voice within to guide me.

From my heart to yours
To your health and wellness
In love and gratitude
Mary

Be sure to visit my website to learn more about my journey from being told to prepare to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair to the finish line of the Boston Marathon and beyond.

My books are available on Amazon

Memories of Marathon Training

In February of 2008, I declared to my personal trainer that I was going to run the 2009 Boston Marathon for Spaulding Rehab Hospital where I took the first tentative steps on the road back to life after the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome. I had just come out of a toe up short leg brace



and had never run a day in my life yet something deep within my soul stirred as I blurted out that goal to Janine after partnering with her for 6 months.

We trained through one of the worst brutal New England Winters. Two of our favorite spots to train were Heartbreak Hill and Jamaica Pond. The Carriage Road on Heartbreak Hill and the path around Jamaica Pond were usually well treated for runners.

Heavy snow and rain was in the forecast for Monday and Tuesday. We decided to run on both Saturday and Sunday and take to our favorite Boston Marathon training places.

On Saturday we ran on Heartbreak Hill. Despite the frosty air, the sunshine through the bare trees provided enough warmth to inspire our run. There were a few other runners out on the hills and we warmly greeted each other as we passed. Tom and Ruth Anne are getting ready for the Bill Rodgers Somerville Jingle Bell 5K happening on December 15th. I am running for the joy, health and well being that running gives me.



The temperatures continued to plummet on Sunday and the skies looked ominous. Ruth Anne suggested we go to Jamaica Pond to change things up a bit. They had been renovating Jamaica Pond and as good fortune would have it reopened on 11/23! Our breath caught as we saw all the work they had done to create a new space worthy of Frederick Law Olmstead who originally designed The Emerald Necklace. Jamaica Pond is one of the gems in the necklace. Since Tom and Ruth Anne did their tempo run on Saturday, we decided to stay together enjoying our time together outdoors savoring the sights and sounds of nature.

As we ran by the rock wall, I remembered a poem I was inspired to write early on in our Boston Marathon training:

Courage

The fear of ice and snow and slush embedded in my soul
a training run in winter - the path to Being whole.
A winter scene - Jamaica Pond - a feast for eyes' delight
to witness nature's splendor and behold this glorious sight.

A leaf - a tiny dancer - skating free without a sound
God's breath directs her movements as She guides her twirling 'round.
Families of ducks decide to walk or take a dip
a comedy of errors into icy water slip.

Branches now bejeweled though bare bend with loving Grace
sparkling diamonds' anchor water's surface hold in place.
God's hand a glove of glistening snow hugs rocks along the wall
their heads peek out reminding me I'm answering God's call.

I had been warned by physical therapists and several physicians to avoid going out in the snow and ice. I "had" osteoporosis and was at risk for fractures if I fell. When I was training for the 2016 Bermuda Half Marathon, I had a major fall and the only thing that broke was a piece off of my front tooth. I've had a few falls since then and I am strong and resilient!

We enjoyed sharing memories of our Jamaica Pond training runs like this one from "Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance" with a Foreword by Jacqueline Hansen:
Something happens to me when I run around Jamaica Pond. Perhaps it is feeling the energy of Bill Rodgers. When we trained for Boston in 2009, I didn't know that’s where he trained. Our trainer would take us to Jamaica Pond for speed work and hills. We would do our long runs around Jamaica Pond because it was one of the few places with a clear path during winter. We have many fond memories of our Jamaica Pond training runs like the day that Tom lost me on our training run:

And who could EVER forget us losing each other around, emphasize the word a-round Jamaica Pond. Tom had stopped at the car to fill up the water bottles and get some snacks. He had his iPod on really loud. I was in the zone and ran by him. I saw him looking for me in the opposite direction and yelled to him that I was over here. I felt so great and the weather was wonderful that I did not want to interrupt my rhythm. Tom thought that since I had to go to the bathroom (and the bathrooms were not open yet) that I went off the trail and went to pee in the woods. We finally caught up with each other and laughed so hard at the irony of losing each other around Jamaica Pond.

While the trees were bare and the sky was grey foreboding the coming snowstorm, there was a beauty and majesty to our run that Tom captured in these photos including a selfie in front of the Boat House:


After twice around the Pond, we blasted the heater in the car for our drive home. I fondly recalled how I used to imagine warm lava flowing through my extremities when we trained for the 2009 Boston Marathon.

It's a warm and wonderful feeling to return to the places where we ran our miles leading up to our arrival at Hopkinton on 4/20/2009



to begin our 26.2 mile run to the finish line on Boylston Street.



Give the gift of inspiration this season with my Trilogy of Transformation books and "Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life" available on Amazon.

To your health and wellness
From my heart to yours,
Mary

You can read all about my journey of transformation from the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond in my Trilogy of Transformation available on Amazon and feel the heal in my anthology of inspirational poetry.

I was featured in a Wellness Warrior blog by Meghan Khalei of Lovely Bones Physical Therapy. To read the blog follow this link.

Be sure to visit my website at www.marymcmanus.com to learn more about my inspirational journey and for healing resources.

Kendra Petrone and I talked about my healing journey before the 2019 Boston Marathon on her award winning Exceptional Women Show. Listen by following this link.

Celebrating 13 Years of Healing....Part I ... Receiving the Diagnosis

It's intriguing for me to think that I chose October, when World Polio Day happens, to take the first tentative steps on my healing quest.

The symptoms began ten years before I decided to do anything about them. In the summer of 2006, I realized that mind, body and soul were screaming for attention. I could no longer ignore the symptoms of a profound decline in functioning, chronic pain, having the limp from polio return and a myriad of physical symptoms that at times were quite alarming. I often wondered if I was having a heart attack or stroke. But then the symptoms abated and I would go on serving those who served in my role as a VA social worker.

I told my primary care provider about the symptoms. He dismissed them as empty nest syndrome even though my twins were still at home and PTSD. While my history of severe childhood trauma played a role in my physical symptoms, I knew the physical symptoms needed intervention.

I had known about Post-Polio Syndrome from the wife of one of my veterans. I googled it and discovered there was the Spaulding Rehab International Center for Polio and Post Polio Syndrome in Framingham, a thirty minute drive from my house.

I remember the day I made the call and an earth angel by the name of Anna Rubin answered the phone even though that was not her role at the clinic.

From "Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility":
As I sat in my office in between clients experiencing difficulty swallowing, my heart racing, pain and tingling down my right arm, pain in my neck, extreme fatigue and exhaustion and dragging my body around with me, I wondered whether or not I needed to go to an emergency room. Was I having a stroke or maybe a heart attack … but the symptoms would pass and I knew there was nothing acute happening with me. I would meet with my patients focusing on their needs. I allowed the members of my team to ventilate and provided them with emotional support. On one level I was functioning as a clinical social worker, an exemplary team member and being the most productive social worker in my department. On the inside, I was withering away dying a slow physical, emotional and spiritual death. I would pray to God that She take me home. I couldn’t bear the pain of this existence any longer. Guilt set in. How could I leave my family, my patients? But I was suffering and wanted a way out. I never thought about suicide. I knew all too well the pain that suicide leaves. My father had killed himself when I was 17 years old.

I finally decided I needed to pray and ask for help. The answer came to me. “Google post polio syndrome.”

Spaulding Rehab Hospital’s Outpatient Clinic in Framingham, just 30 minutes from my house came up in my search. Trembling I picked up the phone in October of 2006 to take the first step on my journey back into life.

“Post polio clinic Spaulding Framingham, how may I help you?” asked a warm voice on the other end of the line.

“Um I think I may have post polio syndrome,” I said as my voice broke.

After ruling out other possible causes for my symptoms through extensive diagnostic testing, the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome was made sitting around a table in a conference room at the Spaulding Framingham Outpatient Clinic.

I was prescribed a short toe up leg brace:


along with a cane and told to use a wheelchair if I were going to be walking any long distances. Occupational Therapy gave me suggestions for energy conservation and wrist splints for carpel tunnel syndrome. Physical Therapy gave me suggestions to stay warm in winter given that one of the symptoms of Post-Polio Syndrome is cold intolerance. I was told that if I used it I would lose it and should prepare to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. I needed to either adapt our Cape house or move to a ranch. Speech and Language Therapy taught me techniques to avoid food aspiration and informed me that a feeding tube might be in my future. The left side of my esophagus was very weak.

I was told that if I had any hope whatsoever of stabilizing the symptoms where they were that I needed to quit my career as a VA social worker.

I sobbed with the OT begging her to help me find a way to stay at my job until I was eligible to retire in 3 years.

In January I was referred to a spine doctor who I call my master magician. Many of the "alarming" symptoms were taken care of as a "slam dunk" with cervical spine injections.

Because Spaulding Rehab downtown was closer to the VA than Framingham, Dr. El Abd referred me to an earth angel of a physical therapist who believed that I was not destined to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. Allison Lamarre Poole would be my guide back to my mind/body connection while encouraging me to figure out a way to leave my career to allow the benefits of rehab to fully take root.

I did what I had always done when faced with a crisis in my life (which was quite often given the environment I grew up in). I got still and asked for Divine Guidance. On a cold dark day in February during the dark night of my mind, body and soul, a poem flowed out of me called "Running the Race."

It was as though a spigot turned on in my soul and poems poured out of me. I wrote poems about gratitude, running unencumbered and free, imagining myself coming out of my leg brace and splashing in puddles and leaving my past behind.

I shared my newfound passion with Allison and realized there would be a life for me after the VA. I began to plan my exit strategy.

The Universe let me know that I was dragging my feet with my plan when:

I vacillated back and forth with my decision to leave the VA. I was planning to leave in October of 2007. In April I went for a routine mammogram. I spoke to the Universe, “I know that I cannot have an abnormal mammogram right now because I have enough on my plate.” I was all too aware of my risk for breast cancer given that my mother, her mother and my father’s sister all had breast cancer. My father’s sister died from breast cancer. “This is not going to happen to me,” I vowed.

The red light was blinking on my office phone indicating I had a voicemail message.

“Hello this message is for Mary McManus. It’s the Breast Center at Mass. General Hospital. Please call us at your earliest convenience.”

“Oh no – this isn’t happening, “ I thought to myself.

I felt the all too familiar clutch in my stomach and my sympathetic nervous system went into high gear. As a trauma survivor, I would vacillate between states of exhaustion and states of high alert. Years later I would learn from Peter A. Levine in his book, “In An Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness” that I was unable to regulate going from my sympathetic nervous system responsible for fight/flight and the parasympathetic nervous system which helps the body to return to a state of equanimity and calm.

With hands trembling, I dialed Mass. General. Even though Allison had taught me about breathing and the importance of taking deep breaths, my breaths were shallow. My hands sweaty. I had no control over what was happening to me.

“Hi. This is Mary McManus I received a call from your office.”
“One moment please – I’ll transfer you.”

“Hello is this Mrs. McManus?” a polite voice on the other end of the line asked me.

“Um yes well it seems that there is an abnormality on your mammogram. It looks like you have a mass of some kind. We need you to come in next week for a repeat mammogram.”

Okay Universe. What are you trying to tell me here? I examined my left breast and sure enough, I could feel a mass. I remembered the power of visualization from Bernie Siegel’s work and I figured I had nothing to lose and everything to gain by harnessing the power of visualization. I was on a mission – to heal whatever was going on in my left breast.

When I returned a week later, the tumor was gone and I set my date to leave the VA to heal my life although at the time I didn't understand the enormity of what that meant.

On May 25, 2007, I went through the VA's clearing out process and returned home to sit in the warm sunshine in my yard wondering, "What had I just done?"

To be continued....

To your health and wellness
From my heart to yours
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.

The 10 Day Running Photo Challenge - Part I

Running changed my life! I came to the sport quite by accident. As Dave McGillivray said in his book review of "The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953," I am "a most unlikely runner:"
“A most unlikely runner stood to my right as I gave the oral command for the mobility impaired start of the 113th Boston Marathon on April 20, 2009. That most unlikely runner was Mary McManus. She overcame the childhood challenges of paralytic polio and years of childhood trauma to become a runner at the age of 53 years old and take on the challenge of the Boston Marathon at 55 years old. In “The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953” you’ll be inspired as I have been by her courage, resilience and determination to overcome whatever obstacles life put in her path. Mary’s life story set against the backdrop of running in “The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953” will leave you asking the question, “If Mary was able to accomplish all that in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds, what’s stopping me from being the best I can be?” Dave McGillivray Race Director – B.A.A. Boston Marathon


The other day on Facebook, Steve Jones


posted a challenge:

Every day I select a day from a life of running that has had an impact on me, or has been a memorable moment and post it without a single explanation (except for the above !!)
I then nominate someone else to take up the challenge.


Be active, be positive, be passionate.....

Grow the sport!

I took on the challenge that took me back through my adventures as runnergirl 1953.

Day 1: Hyannis February 2016 Tom and I celebrating my 10K run on a glorious day in Hyannis, Massachusetts. I had suffered a serious knee injury in December of 2014. I was told to stop running or cap my distance at a 5K and prepare for a total knee replacement in a few years. My left knee had blown out after running 9 races in 9 months without any cross training; not smart! But I found my way to a chiropractor who prescribed a new strength training regimen for me (that I still use today and continue to challenge myself by up-leveling the workout), chiropractic care, KT tape and harnessing the power of the mind/body connection that had taken me out of a wheelchair to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond. In January 2016, I ran the Bermuda Half Marathon, the longest distance since my Boston Marathon.



Day 2: A PR at the Bill Rodgers 5K to Benefit Prostate Cancer August 2014.





Day 3: Marathon Sports 5 Miler 2008 It was my first 5 mile road race on the road to the 2009 Boston Marathon. It was hot and an evening race and it was only my 2nd road race ever. I cried and I poured sweat and couldn't tell where the tears ended and the sweat began. I wanted to quit as memories of being "Easy Out Alper" and the taunting and teasing from my peers as I lugged a leg brace echoed in my ears. But Tom wouldn't let me quit and when I came across the finish line as the last runner of the race, I was celebrated as though I had been the one to break the finisher's tape.



Day 4: "Wait. I have one more goal," I proudly told my personal trainer Janine Hightower in February of 2008. When I first started working with her after being discharged from outpatient care at Spaulding Rehab, I could not pass the initial fitness test. She told me that I was way too young to not be able to get off of the sofa or a toilet seat by myself. I asked her if she thought I could get a little stronger and build on the program from Spaulding. "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right," she said quoting Henry Ford. She held enough faith for the two of us that I could get a little stronger but neither one of us could anticipate this moment coming into Cleveland Circle where our son Autumn waited for Team McManus (my husband, daughter and me) after Janine met us on Heartbreak Hill to run to the finish line with us. To this day I have no idea why Janine didn't turn tail and say, "That's not possible" when I told her my one more goal was to run the 2009 Boston Marathon for Spaulding Rehab.



Day 5: A photojournalism student from Boston University College of Communications asked Marathon Sports if they knew of anyone they could follow on Marathon Monday for their final project. They recommended Team McManus. We were blessed to have our journey from Hopkinton to Boston captured in photos. You can feel the joy I experienced coming into Kenmore Square knowing that the finish line was in sight. We raised $10,535 for Spaulding Rehab where I took the first tentative steps on my healing journey after the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome.



To be continued....

To your health and wellness
From my heart to yours
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.

Gratitude and the Gift of Polio

While I have always had a deep appreciation for life and for all my body is able to do, that awareness and appreciation has been magnified in the wake of an accident that left Kevin LaCoste, friend and Team Big Heart Teammate, with a spinal cord injury.

The members of Team Big Heart and Kevin and Ali's Army of supporters have been dedicating our runs, walks and workouts to him to lend our strength, our prayers, our Love and to set the intention for the day when he will be joining us all again on the roads.

Yesterday morning's run gave us the gift of witnessing the sun breaking through the clouds and sending angel slides over Boston:


I end my Facebook posts dedicating our runs to #lacostestrong with "Every step is a gift. Every mile is a blessing."



After yesterday's run, I remembered one of the first poems I wrote after the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome called, "The Gift of Polio":

The Gift of Polio from "Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life"
Thank you God for the gift of polio that brought me so close to you
while paralyzed I saw your face no matter what I’d do
Many wonderful healers you sent them to me at age 5
perseverance and triumph life’s lessons learned
but my Spirit could not yet thrive.

At age 53 the gift was sent to me a second time
having time to sit and feel to heal I started to rhyme.
The second time felt worse than the first
yet your love and wisdom I found
out of pain and weakness and fatigue a remarkable spirit rebound.

Reliving all the trauma of special shoes and such
I discovered remarkable healers who brought a loving touch.
I had no clue I had such strength and the ability to grow
no matter what the outcome deep gratitude I show.

This gift so precious I live a new life gratitude flows from me
my heart and soul are filled with grace each day’s a gift from thee.

I learned about the importance of gratitude from the works of Bernie Siegel, MD,, and the "new age" thinkers who drew from the wisdom of the ages.

Shortly after the diagnosis of a progressive neuromuscular disease as a result of childhood trauma and paralytic polio, I felt outraged, scared, overwhelmed, depressed and anxious. Once I got still and asked for Divine Guidance, the path opened before me for healing, hope and possibility. My pen became my divining rod for healing and poetry poured out of my soul inspiring mind, body and soul to heal!

I am humbled, blessed and grateful that I am able to share this journey from a wheelchair, leg brace, cane and the prognosis of a grim future to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond!



To your health and wellness
From my heart to yours
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.

Adventures of Runnergirl Race Spotlight: The 2014 Bill Rodgers 5K to Benefit Prostate Cancer

Yesterday was the 5 year anniversary of when I PR'ed the Bill Rodgers 5K to benefit Prostate Cancer. Photos popped up in my memory feed on Facebook. I thought it would be fun to provide photos and a video to accompany the narration from "The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953":

One Moment in Time: Race Report Bill Rodgers 5K Run/Walk to Benefit Prostate Cancer August 10, 2014

I was open to whatever my body was going to be able to do today. My mantra for today's race was light and joy. I wanted to thoroughly enjoy the day. I slept well and didn’t have the usual pre-race jitters. I had a good breakfast of a bagel, oatmeal, banana and orange juice. What a luxury to be able to get up at 6:45am on a race day and drive 10 minutes to the start of the race.

I had a sense of trust that this was going to be a good day.

When we arrived, race director Alain Ferry whom you may recall was also the organizer of the OneRun greeted us. He had been following my blog posts about my intention to PR for the race. He gave me a big bear hug and asked me to remind him what my goal was for today's race.

“I hope we see 47:00 minutes or less on the clock when you cross that finish line. Remind me again of your name?” Alain asked extending his hand to Tom.

“It’s Tom.”

“We met at the Heartbreak Hill Marathon weekend. I remember you.”

He warmly shook Tom’s hand and said, “Well I’ve got about a million things to do. See you back here.”

I reconnected with Bill Rodgers at his table while he sold copies of his book, “Marathon Man: My 26.2 Mile Journey From Unknown Grad Student to the Top of the Running World.” He remembered me and my story from Hyannis.

“How did you like the book?” Bill asked me.

“I loved it Bill,” I answered with a big smile. I shared with him parts of the book that resonated with me.

“Life is hard,” he said to me. “That’s why we run. If we can tough it out on the roads, we know we can tough it out in life.”

Bill turned and introduced us to his girlfriend Karen.

“I overheard your conversation with Billy. You’ve had an amazing journey. I’m a breast cancer survivor and started running in my 40’s after the diagnosis.”

We instinctively hugged even though we just met each other.

“Let’s get everyone over to the starting line,” Alain commanded through his bullhorn.

Pre-race announcements talked about the importance of supporting research, early detection and treatment for Prostate Cancer. Alain asked for a show of hands of those running affected by cancer. There was an astounding number of hands raised in the crowd. Alain handed Bill Rodgers the mic. He shared how he is a prostate cancer survivor.

“It is the #2 leading cause of cancer deaths among American men. We need to pay as much attention to prostate cancer for men as we do for breast cancer for women.”

Bill Rodgers went on in his pre-race remarks. “Running and walking is a simple little sport but we as Americans can use it to change the world.”

And then it was gun time and time for me to write another chapter of my story.
We started at the front of the pack with Bill Rodgers off to our left. I went out running fast through the campus of Boston College. Thirty years ago I received my Masters in Social Work degree and spent many many hours on that beautiful campus. The field took off and I adhered to my race plan. We'd run the downhill and I'd run for as long as I could and then move into race walking. When we got to the rolling hills of Commonwealth Avenue, I race walked. The sun was bright and the day heated up fast. We were grateful there was no humidity and we could go on the sidewalk for shade. We brought frozen water bottles that I used for hydration and to keep cool.

Mile 1 - 14:33 pace. I was blown away by my time but I knew that anything could happen over the next two point one miles.

Tom kept checking in with me. How was I feeling? Did anything hurt? I didn't talk much which is very unusual for me and I was breathing hard. I had a single-minded goal but I was running from the inside out.

In my training runs I had stopped to take a "water break.” At times I slowed my pace, but kept moving forward. We stopped for about 30 seconds at the water stop before it was time to tackle the hill with a 221' elevation.

Mile 2 - time was almost 30 minutes.

Okay I think I can. I think I can. I've got this. I can do this.

Tom said to me "What do we do with hills?"

"We eat them for breakfast," I managed to get out.

To the top of Beacon Street and a right onto College Road.

A right onto Commonwealth Avenue heading toward the finish.

Alain came out on his bike, "Oh there you are. "Come on you're almost there."

I was hot and my tank was close to empty.

As we headed toward the finish Alain told me I had less than a minute for my PR.

People gathered to cheer me on.

Alain was just on the other side of the finish line.

I sprinted to the finish and the finish clock read 46:57 gun time!

I knew in my heart and soul that I crossed more than a finish line. As I told Alain, I reclaimed my life. The essence of who I am took center stage. It was another moment of redemption achieved through running. I wrung out the grief from my nephew’s death. I ran as Boston Strong rinsing out the trauma of 4/15/13 with sweat and tears.

It's been one hell of a journey back since Charlie Louis Alper tragically and violently died on March 4th of 2011. Thanks to Alain and the OneRun, I knew I had to come back to the sport that had transformed my life. I realized it was more than coming back to running. It was setting a goal and once again challenging myself. It was opening up to see what my body could do leaving nothing on the roads. It was about testing my mettle and letting go of fear.

Alain shared with me that he didn't expect to find us as far up on Commonwealth Avenue as close to the finish line as he did. He was concerned about the heat and was coming to provide support regardless of the time on the clock. When he saw how close we were to the finish, he wanted that PR for me as much as I did. I felt as though I was being pulled into the vortex of the finish line by his loving energy and all those cheering me on.

"I saw you start to cry and then I saw a look come across your face. You dug deep during that sprint,” he said to me. “It was quite a moving moment for me as a Race Director to watch you come across that finish line with such visible fierce determination.”

During that final sprint, Tom let me set the pace. He could tell I was in the zone. Tom wept with me when we crossed the finish line. We both knew that I left pain, fear and doubt out on the course and in its wake, strength, courage, confidence, and healing surged.

Gratitude filled my heart for Facebook friends who I met for the first time who cheered me on and took photos, and to Alain who was there to celebrate and tend to me post race.
“Here is an ice water for you. Go get in the shade and here’s a couple of oranges for you and Tom. I’m so proud of you!”

Today was one moment in time - many moments in time that I will always cherish when I look back on my adventures as runner girl.

Pre-race photo with Alain:


Meeting Kathleen Healy Fencil, Facebook friend, in real life:


Pre-race photos with Bill Rodgers:


Phil Lipof, Boston News Anchor and Bill pre-race:


At start:


Coming down Chestnut Hill Avenue Photo Credit Kathleen and husband Tom:


Coming into the final stretch:


Hustling for a PR:


I did it!


Post race hug:


Post race celebration:




Official time:




To your health and wellness
From my heart to yours
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.