We Run Together - We Heal Together - We Move Forward Together

When I woke up yesterday morning, on the ten month anniversary of the Boston Marathon Bombings, I opened my email and in my inbox I received Christa in New York: Curating a Creative Life Through Ancient Wisdom and Modern Tech's blog post as I do every morning. Her posts are better than a morning cup of coffee to get my energy and creative juices flowing. I wept as I read her post:


Inspired: Don't Just Remember the Boston Marathon: Honor Boston and Its Residents.

The weather forecast was calling for a winter storm warning. L Street Running Club cancelled its Sunday long run. I had done 6.2 miles on the stationery bike with intervals on Friday and I knew that I couldn't do the bike again on Sunday. I knew that even though I "should have" taken a rest day, I had to get outside and get my miles in.

My running and life partner, Tom, told me that he could do his training run at my pace and distance and then do 'cross training' by cleaning off the ice on our walkway and driveway.

We hurried to get ready and map out our route. The energy on Heartbreak Hill was electric. Ten months later, runners were getting their miles in being very mindful of patches of black ice and slush. We saw several people we knew and in truth everybody knew everybody out on the course. There were no strangers. There were charity runners' water stops and they offered water to anyone who ran by. We run together.

There were several runners who were fighting their way through the hills. I knew that look and I smiled, gave them a thumbs up and told them they were looking good. They smiled through the pain. We heal together.

After getting my run in, it was time to head to Brookline Marathon Sports store to promote Singing Boston Strong:Karis' Karaoke for a Kause.



Despite the falling snow outside, customers came into the store and I had the opportunity to talk about Spaulding and Karis' fund raiser. Several people said they would donate on line and two young ladies from the Newton South High School Girls Basketball Team said that they would spread the word and come out to lend their voices to Sing Boston Strong. I talked with the staff at Marathon Sports and we had an opportunity to debrief about that day ten months ago.

When I got home and logged into Facebook, I saw this post from Ellen Gabriel, the manager of the Brookline Marathon Sports store:

Our long-time loyal customer and friend, Mary McManus, is fundraising for Karis Antokal and Spaulding Rehab. Check out her story here: http://www.crowdrise.com/Spaulding2014BostonMarathon/fundraiser/karisantokal

Thursday I will co host the first of two fund raisers to benefit Spaulding Rehab Hospital where I took the first steps on my healing journey over 7 years ago now and continue to find my strength in the Aquatics Therapy classes; and where so many of the Boston Marathon bombing survivors found and continue to find their strength.

In two months, as my friend Christa Rose wrote, the media will turn its attention to the one year anniversary of the Boston Marathon Bombings. We move forward together.

70 Days to Go - Stay Focused and Have Faith - An Inventory of Grace

During this morning's meditation I was recalling two quotes on optimism that recently came to me:

From Gil Hedley:

Optimism isn't merely a disposition. It is a skill, a viewpoint that can be chosen. Genuine optimism doesn't pretend that awful stuff isn't going on. It isn't in denial of all that the pessimist sees. Optimism simply represents a willingness to see the best in a given situation or person, notwithstanding the accompanying hard realities. Worth experimenting with!

And this from Winston Churchill:



My monkey mind was in full force this morning as I jumped from anxiety about two upcoming fund raisers for Singing Boston Strong to feeling the pangs of grief around the 3/4 anniversary of my nephew's suicide 3 years ago and various other items I threw into the mix.

And then I said to myself, be calm - stay focused and have faith and Martin Luther King Jr's quote floated into my mind:



I allowed tears to swell and then I took a grace inventory...I reflected on moments of grace in my life reaching back to when I was 5 and contracted paralytic polio to how fortunate we were on 4/15/13 to escape after the bombings.

I thought about Friday night's Kirtan and how people have been sharing my poem,
"If Only" from Elements of Healing
If Only I could stay in the sacred space of my spirit
to feel the delicious warmth and leaps of joy.
If only I could sweep away all the fear,the doubt
to allow my spirit to take center stage.
If only I could live in love
and allow trust to take the spotlight.
If only I could let peace wash over me
and watch anxiety go out with the tide.
If only I could wholeheartedly believe what i know to be true
and allow my heart to bathe in delight.
If only I could allow myself to experience the magic and wonder that life has to offer.
If only I allow my heart to break wide open
crushing the walls of protection and divine love comes rushing in.
If only I live my truth
and allow me to be my authentic self
when i throw off the shackles of the past.
If only becomes now.


I realized that all I need to do is stay focused and have faith and trust because time after time after time, everything has always worked out. And as one of my dear friends Mandi Monique Bateman posted on facebook:

Sing Strong: Karis' Karaoke for a Kause

THE STORY:

On April 21, 2014, I will be participating in an event that I never thought I could: The Boston Marathon. The tragic events of last year’s race combined with witnessing first-hand the determination that the survivors displayed, has lead me to sign on as a member of Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital’s Race for Rehab Boston Marathon Team.

Many of you know that I was volunteering at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel last year for Spaulding’s Marathon viewing reception, when the bombs went off. Words cannot describe the scene nor the emotions I felt when I saw the second bomb explode. I wanted to run to the streets and help those who had been injured, but I was quickly evacuated and began the unknown journey through the streets of Boston. I was scared, but blessed to be in the company of wonderful friends. The streets were chaotic, no one knew where to go or what to do. As I ran down Huntington Avenue, it began to sink in: Lives have been changed forever.

As a massage therapist at Spaulding, I have had the great privilege of working with individuals who despite their life altering illness and/or injury, are determined to get back to their everyday lives. Those who know me personally know I am not a runner! I have never enjoyed running, but it is the strength and determination of my patients that has inspired me to run the Boston Marathon. The mental, physical, and emotional training that it will take to run this race is only a fraction of what those who I treat experience during rehab and for the rest of their lives. Each and every day I am strengthened by their strength.

Please consider making a donation to support my fundraising efforts as I work to raise $5,000 to benefit Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. Every dollar counts and will directly benefit the facility that gave 33 bombing survivors, and many others, their lives back. I am running the Boston Marathon to honor those survivors and memorialize those who lost their lives last April.

Here is a photo of Karis at work at Spaulding:



I am honored and delighted to be the organizer of Sing Strong: Karis' Karaoke for a Kause

When: Thursday evening
February 20, 2014
8:00pm-10:00Pm

Where: The Limelight Stage and Studio Boston

Why: Because we ARE Boston Strong - We run long and we sing strong

Who: YOU!

What? What you ask?

We have an exciting line up of Silent Auction items including Celtics Tickets, a Cape Getaway Package, autographed books by Lee & Bob Woodruff

AND GET THIS

Included in your donation to attend this phenomenal event, you will be entered to win an autographed Tom Brady Jersey - woo hoo!

So make your donation today by visiting Karis' Fund raising Page and reserve your spot for Sing Strong: Karis' Karaoke for a Kause...Minimum suggested donation is $20 ... put in the comments it's for Karaoke for a Kause and we'll have your name on the guest list!

Warm up those vocal chords ... here is one of my all time favorite karaoke songs:

105 Days To Go...

until 4/21/2014 when many of my dear friends are going to be taking their places at the starting line of what is sure to be a very emotional Boston Marathon.

As I write in my memoir, "Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility,"

"4/12/13
Off to have lunch with Ernst van Dyk at an event organized by Spaulding Rehab, and refresh my Boston Marathon run memories that I had once denied. After I read Matthew Sanford’s book, “Waking”, I somehow got the idea in my head that I needed to deny ever having run the Boston Marathon. I felt embarrassed and uncomfortable after reading Matthew’s book which of course was not his intention but my interpretation of how he talked about not having to do something spectacular like running a marathon when you live with a spinal cord injury. "

Four years after crossing the finish line of the Boston Marathon, I knew it was time to celebrate with the Race for Rehab team at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. As I have repeatedly said, we were so fortunate to not have witnessed the carnage first hand and to have gotten out safely and yet our lives were forever changed on that day.

I feel a strong bond with my friends old and new who are running this year. Tom and I are donating to charities that our friends are running for and I am helping Karis and Greg with their fund raising efforts by helping them to organize fund raisers which will not only raise money but bring the community together. They are running as part of Spaulding's Race for Rehab team this year. We were in the Mandarin together and together we are going to raise some serious money for Spaulding where many of the survivors found their strength and a way to put their lives back together after Marathon Monday.

Tom and I have renewed our membership with L Street Running Club and signed up to volunteer at water stops during long runs. We have signed up with the BAA to volunteer for packet stuffing.

105 days until the Boston Marathon...there's a lot of work to do for runners who will be running long and are Boston Strong. There's a lot of work for fund raising, community building and being a part of support crews as we continue to move forward and heal.

Here's to getting to the starting line healthy....


Ode to Marathon Training - March 22, 2009 from A Celebration of Life available on Amazon
Blisters, black toes, aches and pains, a change in my routine
Long training runs, the hills, the sprints,
running clothes fresh and clean.
Carbo load and plan each meal power gels and gatorade
no matter what the weather no time to be afraid.
Humid - hot or freezing cold snow against the face
wind or sun or raining those running shoes I must lace.
What mile is this how long we been out
check heart rate drink H20
meltdowns joys and triumphs only a few more weeks to go.
Heartbreak Hill won't break my heart this year has been the best
found myself and made new friends I feel incredibly blessed.