Running Journal ~ week 8 (I think)

Hello Everybody,

Time for a running update! I am sooooo THANKFUL to God (and my boss) for the bounty He provided this weekend. My boss was doing a book table for a local churches men's conference, so I asked him if he would mind doing a raffle to help me raise money for the Rally Foundation for childhood cancer research (all going to Seattle Children's Hospital) ~ to which he said "Suuuuuurrre!" The guy in charge of the men's conference was super excited about the cause too, so he said it was okay. Darrell came back today with $132!!! God is sooo good! That's is just amazing. Thank you Father!
I decided today that I would take my dog and run down the the big hill by my house. My schedule called for 10 minutes of "easy" running and then 5 minutes of walking. Well, I haven't done that before, so I thought I would give it a try, knowing I would have to take a few short walk breaks within that 10 minute time frame. I think I did pretty well. I walked for the first 5 minutes, then started running. I felt really good for the first 4 minutes or so, then my dog decided he need a potty break. Quick break, and then back to running. I'm sure there was one more little break in there, but we ran almost all of the 10 minutes!! AMAZING!!!! It was time to start running again when I got to the hill. There are no sidewalks, or margins for that matter, going down this hill, so when traffic comes by it is not so "safe" and tonight the first car in a string of four decided to honk ~ as if I couldn't HEAR HIM COMING!!! Then the last car, a pickup full of rude young men decided to let me know how they felt about my presence on their side of the hill. I don't know where they went, but a few minutes later then came back up the hill. By this time I had moved to the on coming side of the road because the margin is wider, but they still thought that I shouldn't be there and had to tell me about it again. I just threw up a quick prayer for God to show them their ignorance, and wondered if they were always so rude to everybody they encountered that wasn't doing what they thought they should be doing. Hmm... Anyway, I ran down the hill for about 2 minutes, and then turned around to head back home. I ran up for about 2 minutes before my thighs started burning from lack of oxygen and decided to walk the rest of the way. Then that crazy cramp I complained about last season came back with a vengeance, causing me to walk slower than I wanted to. I have determined that it comes from dehydration and lack of electrolytes. Thankfully, I had taken a sports drink with me. I had been sipping on it, but when the muscle was telling me that it felt like ripping itself out, I thought it best to just consume the rest of it. Amazingly, it helped almost instantly. PTL! We ran another 10 minute set (mostly) and then walked our 5, which left a meager 2.5 left to reach my door.
I have to say that I feel a great sense of accomplishment. Thanking the Lord for insight into the muscle issue and the stamina to do something I have never done before. One step at a time I will get across the finish line. What an amazing journey.
Night y'all.
Eryn