Runner Insight

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Mary McManus, who we featured on this blog post in January (From Polio To Post Polio Syndrome to the Boston Marathon) and has been one of the biggest supporters of RunnerInsight.com left a comment on our last blog post “Needle Nose and Manifesting“. She’s training for the upcoming (less than two weeks away) Boston Marathon. She has an incredible story of her own on overcoming her own obstacles (polio and post polio syndrome) which you’ll have to check out on her video at YouTube. To follow her in her 26.2 mile marathon fund-raising quest for Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital go to www.firstgiving.com/teammcmanus.

Anyway, the story she tells in her comment on Monday about one of her recent marathon training schedule runs was so special that we wanted to share it with you as an actual blog post.

Here’s what she had to say:

“Fabulous post!

I love Wayne Dyer’s gentle, down to earth approach to life and creating the life we want. Thank you so much for sharing your needle nose plier story.

I love when we are able to feel God’s love through signs all around us. During our last ‘long’ 10.5 mile training run for the Boston Marathon, I saw a penny in the street at Cleveland Circle – there were a lot of runners right behind us and I knew if I stooped to pick it up, I’d get trampled so instead I felt God’s presence and we ran on.

While on Heartbreak Hill, my daughter stopped dead in her tracks and said, wait hold on and out of the crack on the sidewalk, she found a quarter – and not just any quarter – it had Helen Keller on the back – a sure sign that God was telling us we can overcome any of life’s challenges to do great things. And then, we found a penny and then another penny – for a total of 27 cents – not 26 but 27 – we have more than enough to go the distance on Marathon Monday!

Thanks for continuing to fan the flames of faith and love in my heart with your beautiful posts. God bless! Here’s to beautiful creations!”            – Mary McManus

I love all of the signs in this story: the Heartbreak Hill, the Helen Keller quarter, but two especially hit home for me….first off, the significance of the 27 cents - symbolizing enough to go the 26.2 and even beyond. I love that.

But the thing I like even more is the significance of letting the first penny go. She acknowledged it, conected with her spiritual self, and rather than fight the “current” to pick it up, she surrendered it to let it be what it was without getting too stressed about the fact that she couldn’t “get” it, and by doing so, allowed room for the even greater bounty that was still out there waiting for them. There’s always plenty if we are open, believe and don’t resist by putting more obstacles in our own way.

It totally exemplifies T’s mantra of “Be Here, Be Open, Surrender and Allow.”

Thanks Mary! You’re an inspiration.

And Good Luck at the Boston Marathon! We’ll be thinking of you!

How ’bout it?

-Vision Runner

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I’m not sure why, but about two weeks ago a highly unexpected thought entered my head.  “Maybe I should start training for the Missoula Marathon in July.” 

What?  Not the half-marathon that I had already planned on shooting for, but the full 26.2 mile run.

I’m not quite sure what got into me.  I dunno. Maybe it was the beautiful spring day, or the fact that my sciatica seems to be on the mend, and I’m feeling like I’m getting back to my old self again?  But I just couldn’t shake the thought. 

To test my resolve, I told T I was maybe thinking about running the full marathon.  Her reaction was one of surprise and confusion.  “What has gotten into you?” she asked.  After all, I had barely started running again, and only 3 miles at that. Not one to discourage me, she just let me sort out my thoughts on the matter, supportive of my decision, either way.

If I could get my weekly mileage up by April 15^th, I could start the marathon training schedule.  It would be hard, and a lot would depend on the weather and my sciatica, but I was seriously thinking about it, and getting excited about it, too.

The next day, enthusiastic about my new plan to run the marathon, I was determined not to let a mini-blizzard stand in my way.  So as I dressed in my spandex shorts and heavier running tights, along with my long sleeve running shirt, and new warmer running jacket, I nestled my fleece hat onto my head and took the plunge into the cold, wind-chilled day.  It only took me, oh about a minute I’d say, to come to my senses!  It was freaking cold out there!  The wind was blowing the fallen snow, and I couldn’t see a thing!  I went back inside, a bit dejected, but glad I was wiser than years past.

The next day was cold again, but the sun was out and the wind had stopped for the most part.  Again, I dressed warmly.  Zipped up, I once again headed out the door, this time relieved to find my body was responding nicely to the 10 days of inactivity.  My right leg felt pretty good, and my lower back did not hurt at all.  I was only able to run about 3 ½ miles. I was feeling heavy on my right side and had to stop and walk a few times. 

Later that day, my thighs hurt from the run, but that was just normal aches and pains from not having run in a while.  But my right calf was very tight, like when I first started running again about 4 weeks ago.

Knowing the tightness was from the sciatica, I was disappointed.

Don’t get me wrong.  I was very happy about how my body was reacting to my running, but I knew there was no way I could do the mileage necessary to get me up to where I needed to be to start the longer marathon training runs by April.

I truly hadn’t been planning on running the full marathon this year, anyway. I just got struck by a whim that took a few days to wear off. So I gave myself permission to take it easy on myself.  After all I was making good progress with my back and sciatic nerve.

I have come to realize that getting myself aligned and healthy will allow me many more years of running.  I need not hurry the process and take the risk of re-injuring myself just because I want to prove something to myself:  That I could come off a debilitating back injury and run a full marathon in the same year. 

Well the heck with that noise.  I’m proud of me right now for not allowing the pain and fear of re-injuring my back keep me from running, like it does so many other people.  Even if it’s only a few miles at a time, I will keep running and continue to listen to my body. 

The most important thing for me to remember is: I run for me.  And me says, “Be gentle with yourself; I want to keep running for many more years to come!”

How ‘bout it?

-Vision Runner

P.S. Special Happy Birthday message to T’s mom!!! Hope it was a Great One!!

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