Back from Injury and Ready to Go!

     Yes, I've failed at giving the scoop on where I'm at with running, but I'm happy to report: God has healed and is restoring.  Interested in what else God has been doing in my life lately?  Click HERE            Basically, my stress fracture has been healed up for a while, but I couldn't start doing hard, speed workouts until my ferritin went up.  It was at 12, which is super low for a runner-- coach wants me up in the 60s.  For a  month or so, I prayed and took iron supplements and ate lots of iron rich foods.  Although I was doing all that, it was still a little nerve-wracking to go and test my blood during the first week of the semester.  My running for indoor and outdoor basically depended on that level going up to at least 30.  I had been feeling MUCH better though, so I was very hopeful it had gone up.  It was just a question of how much, and would it be high enough?  My head was flooded with worries: Would I get to race indoor at all?  What if my iron actually went down?  What if this period of waiting never ends like I believed?  What if God isn't for me?  

Here's a super-blurry picture of me wearing
my flats to do strides.  Haven't worn them since
the second day of xc practice!  It felt so good
to slip them on! 

     I've never been depressed but I've heard depression described as a slow slide into deep sadness.  I would compare that to having low iron.  My iron had been low for so long, that I didn't remember what it felt like to have energy.  All I knew was running was no fun and I was constantly worried during runs that I would just konk out.  Sometimes, in the fall, I would just be running and suddenly stop because my body had absolutely nothing left.
     So I was already praising God that I felt like a completely different person.  And then: He surprised me even more.  My ferretin level went up to 36.8!  Praise the Lord!
     So where does that leave me now?  I am enjoying running-- thrilled with it-- for the first time in a year.  I am running better than I have and feeling better than I have in almost two years.  I was able to start doing moderately-hard workouts two weeks ago and have felt great and confident.  It is so fun to get some speed-work under my belt and let my legs fly again.  Granted, I've lost a the quick turnover that comes from doing hard workouts, but God has granted me so much grace in that I have not only maintained, but improved my aerobic fitness.  I am doing recovery runs faster than ever and with less effort.  In the words of Grant Taylor from Facing the Giants: "Tell me: What is impossible with God?"
     To that, I would tell you: Nothing.  Nothing is impossible with God.  Perhaps you think that is a bit presumptuous because I'm not racing yet and my iron still needs to go up and I still have a lot of work to do.  But I would say it is not presumptuous in the least.  When I look at all God has done in my life and all He has brought me from, that answer does not even seem to suffice.
     I am excited for all His promises to come, excited to be living freely and using the talent He has given me and I'm excited to keep growing closer and closer to Him.
     What Satan intended for evil, God has used (and is using) for good.  So tell me: What is impossible with God?

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     Read more about what God has been doing in my life the past few weeks by clicking HERE!