Often runners will give helpful advice to other runners before their big races. One piece that stands out to me is “Just remember — one foot in front of the other.” That sounds easy until you get to mile 23 and your feet don’t move like they used to and the ditch filled with dead leaves starts looking real comfy. Endurance running is a form of discipline (or punishment) and while we can plan to run through fatigue, you can’t control your injuries as well and they can be very discouraging.

One of the worst injuries I’ve had was knee pain. It was the reason I quit running after high school. Eighteen years later, it was the reason it took me almost four years to train for my first marathon. Some might have thought it was time to give up but I kept dreaming about the marathon. Literally. I’d dream at night about crossing a marathon finish line and wake up a bit sad but also wanting to find some way to make that dream real.

I didn’t pray about it at first because it seemed a bit selfish to pray for a hobby. It wasn’t like I was running for my life or for a great cause. But a wise friend told me that if God put that desire in my heart it’s worthy of prayer. So I prayed that this desire to overcome my knee pain and finish a marathon would not be just my will but God’s will too.

I went to a few doctors and one said I should never run anything over a half marathon. Another said I needed meniscus surgery. Even though many said it was one of the easiest of knee surgeries, I wasn’t ready for surgery. My pain was on the outside of my knee. When I stopped running for a few days or a week, the pain would go away and I could start running again but on my next run, pain could strike at any time or not at all. Four miles, twelve miles — I wouldn’t know how far I could run on any given day before the knee pain might flare up and I had to limp home.

Years of running on a bum knee may look like God closed the door on the marathon but I hadn’t tried everything yet. Sometimes I think God closes a door so we can find a key and I wanted to keep searching. By this time, I’d seen two medical doctors, gone through two rounds of physical therapy, and three chiropractors. But the perseverance paid off and the key was found in the form of ART therapy. Active Release Therapy or ART is where a Dr. applies pressure to a damaged muscle and then has you move the muscle as they maintain the pressure. They also hooked my knee up to electric therapy at each session. It worked quickly to quell my knee pain and allowed me to finish that first marathon just six weeks after starting treatment.

It was amazing and I’m so thankful I didn’t give up or get the knee surgery. You can’t always avoid surgery but if your pain sounds similar to what mine was, you might try finding a doctor who does ART therapy for athletes. That way they can evaluate you to let you know whether or not it’s OK to keep running and also coach you through recovery.

The searching was worth it. Keep the faith. Dream your dreams. Finishing that marathon was also a breakthrough in figuring out how to deal with mobility issues. As I age, I feel I have a new tool to deal with pain so I can keep moving.

Hebrews 12:11-13
All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

While these verses are about how your spirit can be strengthened through trials and discipline, it’s encouraging to know that difficult times can be very profitable for both your spirit and body.

Happy Running!