"In theory I've known that trusting God and giving my whole self to him is the only way in which you can feel that peace and joy and satisfaction that he offers. But it's another thing to experience that and to be caught up in a situation where what you believe is exposed."
"The depths of injuries, for me, exposed what's in my heart," she said.
After her injuries, the feelings of loneliness and loss of self-assurance have made her examine whether she really relies on God and really aims to give God control and glorify him through sport.
The runner also spoke of her spiritual life. She uses her prayer time to reflect on "what God has done in my life." She will listen to worship music, read Scripture, and write in her journal.
"It brings me to a place of humility, where I'm acknowledging my place before God," D'Agostino told Hanlon.
When she runs, she thinks that reliance on God and the presence of the Holy Spirit will "fuel me either consciously or subconsciously."
D'Agostino also spoke of her fears about speaking about her faith in a public way.
"I don't want to feel that I'm proselytizing and shoving it in people's faces. But at the same time it's authentic, when I do speak of it," she said. "That's been a real journey for me in the past year. How do I find my own voice within the social media realm and really just own it?"
"I think people feel like I'm trying to sell it," she added. "That's my fear. I wouldn't want to be sold Christianity. That's not what it's about. God's truth can stand on its own. It doesn't need to be sold, it's true in my mind."
"But it's hard to present your beliefs in a way that is inspiring and encouraging and gentle, and that's how I would want to receive it. That's how I did receive it."
In a December 2013 interview with GaryCohenRunning.com, D'Agostino answered a hypothetical question about who she'd meet if she had a time machine.
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"I would love to meet Mother Teresa. That would be it," she said. "That would be special to talk to her."
Kevin J. Jones is a senior staff writer with Catholic News Agency. He was a recipient of a 2014 Catholic Relief Services' Egan Journalism Fellowship.