RAPID CITY - Rapid City Christian's Alida Oegema knows bittersweet. She lives with it every day when she does one of the things she loves the most.

Oegema won the South Dakota Class A state cross country championship as a sophomore in 2005. She hasn't been able to run much since.

"It's been hard," Oegema said. "Some days are better than others."

Oegema has suffered from a somewhat mysterious pain in her left hip since winning that title as a sophomore. Her doctors believe the pain stems from an open growth plate that was damaged or irritated as a result of over-training. No matter what it is, the pain has forced Oegema to the sidelines for most all of her junior season. She will be back today for the Belle Fourche Invitational, her first competition since the region meet last year.

"That's been the hardest thing," Oegema said. "Just that I love to run so much, that I love to get out and spend that time by myself with God."

Getting back to it has been harder than it might seem. Oegema can still run - she finished 20th at the region meet for St. Thomas More-Rapid City Christian's cooperative team last season. While that's certainly not a bad finish, especially for someone running in their first meet of a season, it's not a result that Oegema has grown used to after dominating much of the running competition in her region in both track and cross country as a freshman and sophomore.

"That's probably been the hardest part of all of this for her," More-Christian head coach Kim Richardson said. "She's used to running certain times and trying to improve on those. When she goes out and can't run as fast as she wants to because she just can't train like she's used to training, that's hard on her. She's a competitor, and she's used to competing at a level that she's just not been able to get back to yet."

While Oegema yearns for a day when she'll be able to get back out and run pain-free, she also holds a deep personal faith and conviction that allows her to see something else at work.

"It's up and down," Oegema said. "It has definitely taught me to have patience and to trust in God and His will. He has a plan in everything. Even though this isn't how I want it to be, I trust that He has a plan."

But she wouldn't mind it a bit if God's plan involved a little more running.

"I'm a trail runner at heart and it just becomes a part of you," she said. "I miss that, the adventure, the time on the trail, the one-on-one time with God and just the exploration of it all. It's hard because I love doing it. It's a passion, and it's just really hard to not be able to do it."

But it would be a mistake to think Oegema sits around feeling sorry for herself all day. She doesn't.

"Some days are better than others," she said. "But I realize that even if I never run again as long as I live that I'm still incredibly blessed. I hope and pray that I can run again, it's my goal to be able to pursue trail running at a semi-professional or professonal level.

"And I think I will."