Running Once Again

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In mid-November I stopped running. My left knee started clicking every time it would bend and/or extend: while running, walking down stairs, squatting or even extending my legs at the desk. Some days I felt a dull pain but most of the time I just felt my knee grinding. Thankfully a friend of mine works in the physical therapy field and she helped me identify it was a problem with my knee cap getting off track. She gave me tips for strengthening my knee and its supporting muscles, and I have been working on that ever since.

Within the past couple months, I could feel my leg muscles getting stronger and the difference it makes in supporting the knees. But I could tell I wasn’t ready to run. I would do cardio workouts on the elliptical, stationary bike, even walking and my knee still felt weak. 

I have been praying and believing for healing in my knee ever since the injury occurred. My husband has prayed for it, friends prayed for it…and even though the pain resided the problem remained. I settled for the fact that I would just have to keeping working at it with my “rehab” exercises and eventually I would be able to run again.

A couple of weeks ago our church had a healing service, which we do every month. In the past, I shied away from asking for prayer during these services perhaps because I had already resigned to just keep working at it myself….maybe because I didn’t want to risk the “what if”. But this time I felt like I needed to take a step of faith and just ask.

Nothing seemed to change during the service, but I resolved in my heart to trust God’s will rather than follow my own resignation. Since this all took place in the middle of a very busy time for me, I had not been exercising. No strength training, no walking. But day by day I noticed my knee felt…different.

Yesterday I had the day off work and finally time to get back into my routine. I prayed about it and decided to try a short jog. It was almost as if God was encouraging me to prove Him faithful. 

He is. 

I ran for the first time since November without clicking or grinding in my knee; it felt stronger than it has in a long time. I ran slow and for only eight minutes, but long enough to prove that healing is taking place. And today, I do not feel any residual pain in my knee like I usually do after cardio workouts. I’m amazed that I could do it after not working out (at all) for three weeks. God always amazes me. 

I am so thankful God has given me this extra boost to recovery. While I know I will have to continue to be wise and diligent in my training, I approach it with a new attitude. I am not to strive to strengthen my knee myself – I am simply to be a good steward of the healing He provides.