No Hats, No Gloves, No Problems

Yesterday was an amazing day as the sun shone, the temperatures climbed and the snow is melting. I was thrilled to be able to get outside for a training run although so grateful for the work I've been able to do in yoga, at the BU Fit Rec Center and on my very own recumbent bike.{Glad I didn't chuck it out the window after last winter since that's all I was able to do.} As I talked about in a recent blog post, sometimes it's a challenge to stick to the routine but yesterday it was sheer joy. I started out with a hat and gloves but was able to lose them early on in the run. My initial plan was to run down Boylston Street for 3-4 miles but there were piles of snow everywhere. I headed over to the Rt 9 Reservoir and couldn't get near it - yup more snow piles so.....

I was directed to do a neighborhood run. Three years ago this month I declared to my personal trainer, Janine Hightower of Boston Homebodies that I was going to run the Boston Marathon for Spaulding Rehab Hospital. As I ran up and down the neighborhood streets and hills I was transported back to a time when I could run for only 30 seconds or a minute at a time. My heart rate would skyrocket to over 160. I remember Janine aksing me how I was going to cope out on the marathon course when things became tough for me. She reminded me that we were going to work on not only physical readiness but mental toughness. I thought about Linda Mitchell and Bernie Siegel who knew me in February of 2007 as I was just beginning to emerge from my dark night of the soul; Allison Lamarre Poole, my physical therapist at Spaulding who coaxed me to take a leap of faith and leave the VA.

I ran up and down hills and covered all of the terrain we used to run together with Janine coaxing me, believing in me, telling me every step of the way you can do this. And she was right. Running the Boston Marathon and everything that has happened since has been life changing. I have gone from that fuzzy caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly flying free and feeling so blessed and grateful that yesterday in the middle of February, after an incredibly harsh winter I could run with no hats, no gloves, no problems. I did a little over a 14 minute mile and my heart rate climbed not as a sign of being stressed but a reflection of how I was able to push myself for over 40 minutes.

Flying Free from New World Greetings:Inspirational Poetry and Musings for a New World {20% of book proceeds donated to End Polio Now}
I was a fuzzy caterpillar who inched along through life
Always helping others with their daily strife.

I inched and inched and helping hands to others did I give
And did not stop to sit and think how I wanted to live.

Anxious, fearful, did not show to others how I felt
But deep inside I kept myself, with my own things I dealt.

I wrapped myself in a cocoon so quiet and so dark
And something began to flicker - I felt a little spark.

The spark began to grow and grow, the cocoon no longer there
My wings replaced my tiny legs-I can soar through air.

The butterflies inside of me that signaled fear and doubt
Are now my friends and we fly free to bring world's change about.

I was so blessed to receive this quote on #ff Twitter from Daily Mile team member and great friend Adam: "Although the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming." Helen Keller

God bless, be well and live like you were dyin'
From my heart to yours with love,
Mary