In Weakness, Strength

I was blessed with flat feet. When swim season would come, my wet footprints looked like duck webbed prints and served as a constant reminder that I would need a bit of help to overcome flat feet weaknesses if I were to be a runner. Then, the aha moment came in college - maybe with the help of insoles, I could jog past 10 driveways out and back. Soon 10 driveways became 20, then 50, then 100. Soon, it was easier to measure distance in miles - that was until the next physical hurdles came in the form of toenail loss, shin splint pain, arch tightness, and hip tightness to name a few. Through numerous rounds of rehab, I was able to return to running, but with age, the recovery seemed to take longer and longer and be an all too familiar story: perhaps I was just not meant to be a runner. One of the biggest hurdles came was when I badly sprained my ankle on a seemingly "easy" trail a couple years back. The injury made even walking one step painful, and it would take about a year to fully heal.

I wondered if it was just time to throw in the towel for running - particularly on trails - as each trail would bring replays in my mind of how I fell that fateful day and how I was just not a natural-born runner. I was then encouraged that in weakness, there can be strength. With prayers and the right support team, I could transform the fear of falling (and failing) into opportunities to overcome. Why not just go big and do Rim to Rim in the Grand Canyon as a step in the overcoming journey? Seems a bit wild and maybe slightly audacious, but with the cooler temps this year, the amazing opportunity came to do just that. Last week, I had in my mind how long it would take to traverse the canyon. I was super blessed not only to complete Rim to Rim hours sooner than expected, but also injury free and with renewed humility and strength that with help from Above, all things are possible. While Rim to Rim seems like an unattainable dream years ago, I am now looking forward to the next stretch goal in the overcoming journey.

What is your overcoming story? Are there things you thought impossible, improbable, or just frankly are about to give up on? We all have hills and valleys to traverse. In weakness, you can also be strong with help from Above. Looking forward to hearing your overcoming story!

Pictures:

The beautiful Bright Angel Creek in the foreground and the Bright Angel Campground in the background. From here, it's a mostly uphill 14 miles to go.

While battling quad lock up (frozen muscle challenges), the trail was very technical as well do to numerous rock avalanches from snow season earlier in the year. Here is a view from North Kaibab trail, not far from the end, but with a lot of vertical gain to go. A helpful reminder is every stride gets you closer to the finish line.