My Thoughts on Losing and Gaining Fitness

I wrote this post a while ago about fluctuating fitness. I wrote that post when I was feeling really good about my fitness level, was running 30+ miles a week, and felt strong. Everything I wrote, I believed in, but I was at a different perspective than what I am now. Right now, I am just recovering from this plantar plate strain (finally running around 3 miles without pain) and not in the same place (fitness wise) than I am now. Right now, I am “fine,’ but not where I want to be in my athletic pursuits and not where I was four months ago. And to be honest, I’ve struggled seeing fitness gains (that I worked so hard to gain) lost and feeling like I am back to square one. So, since I am working through this on my own, I thought about how good it would be to share with the rest of the watching world, for two reasons. 1: If you are a runner and have ever been injured before, you have probably felt the same way and 2: I process things better when I write (or talk) them out.

So, here we go, let’s take a little dive into my thoughts on fluctuating fitness from the other side.

Slowly, but surely the Lord is teaching the same old, familiar lesson that body image and fitness and running IS NOT EVERYTHING. Yes a thousand times over, I have big goals and a lot of those include the need for being extremely fit (I know that I can’t run a good marathon without being fit.) But, God in His sweet, grace is teaching me once again, that humbling lesson that being ‘fit,’ isn’t everything and if I am finding my worth in my jean size or how lean I feel, I am missing the point.

I feel like I’ve learned this lesson multiple times throughout the years and now, in this season of not being where I want to be, I am learning it again, in a fresh way. Something else that I’m learning is that patience WILL pay off. I am the type of person that wants to do things asap. I want to rush into things, get things done asap, gain fitness back overnight and run a BQ marathon, tomorrow. And something I am realizing is that good things, usually take time. It really isn’t solely about the hitting that goal, but enjoying the journey in getting to the destination > the ups and downs and all the inbetweens. I know that those long runs and that full marathon and half marathons are going to feel so much sweeter, because of this injury, because I will have to fight back. And I kind of love it. Yes, losing fitness is hard, especially after seeing such great results early this year. But, I am thankful for it, because if I hadn’t gone through this, I wouldn’t have learned these important, sweet lessons.

Fitness isn’t everything. It will come back. And the results will be so much sweeter, because of the struggles, not in spite of them.

So today, I am choosing joy and gratitude. I may not be where I want to be with my running and fitness and overall running goals, but I am able to chase after them, I am hungry to work hard, and Jesus is enough and my worth is found in Him.