Night Run (I think I stepped on a snake!!!!)

I have been trying my best to continue my training for the 5K that is looming in my future.  This week has been absolute chaos.   The goal of the From Couch to 5K app is to get you prepared to run a 5K when you have had no experience.  This sounded perfect for me, but it does come at a cost.  You have to dedicate 3 days to train a week.  No big deal, right?  I struggled to find times to run.  On Monday, I had to work at a benefit as a waitress for a fundraiser for our church.  Tuesday was volleyball.  Wednesday was church.  We had a special team from ASU-Jonesboro coming in to talk about dealing with depression with our youth group.  I thought it was now or never, so I ran the parking lot of the school next to our church.  A couple of teens from my youth group were so kind as to keep me company by skipping behind me for half of my run.  Yay!  I had to face 6 college girls in sweaty jogging clothes, but I got my run in.  Thursday was the next chance I had since I knew I wouldn't be able to run on Friday.  It was the kick-off of my son's basketball season.  I wasn't able to make it home until 8:00pm on Thursday.  I don't like running in the park alone after dark, so that left me with one option- to run in my yard at night.  I thought, "What could possibly go wrong?"  The first thing I noticed was that it was so dark that I couldn't include my unlit backyard into the run.  Another thing I noticed as I started my run was that my neighbors across the street noticed my run and decided to sit on their front porch and watch.  I believe they even went in and brought out refreshments.  They probably thought I was some sort of crazy lady that had finally lost her last grasp on reality and was running around aimlessly in her yard.  I am thankful that they never called the cops, though.  I've learned to look for the blessings in these kind of situations.  So under the surveillance of my neighbors, I ran my rectangle path that went down my driveway, turned across the half of my yard closest to my house lights, up the side of my yard that bordered some downright spooky woods at night, and back to my house.  It wasn't even a half an acre, but it was a run.  The first few laps started out well until I look down at my socks.  I saw tiny black dots all over my socks.  Seed ticks!!!  I ran under the lights and started to panic until I noticed the dots didn't move. It was seeds from those purple weeds that look like grain.  Disaster averted.  I continued to the entertainment of my neighbors.  Then my foot made contact with something long, round, and squishy.  I held in the scream that was threatening to escape.  Remember?  Neighbors and screams equal cops, which I do not want to add to my run.  I slowly pull my foot off what I know is a snake, only to find the garden hose my kids forgot to roll back up.  Errrgggg!  I continue, but honestly, I was seriously rethinking this whole late night run thing.  When I finish, as I run by the spooky woods, I notice the one thing you never want to hear when running by spooky woods.  It's in all the horror movies.  If you guessed a rustling sound coming from the woods, then you guessed correctly.  Now, this may be no big deal to you, but I happen to know that in my neighborhood there lives a family of skunks that like to wander from house to house through my neck of the woods.  Any rustling could mean a stinky disaster.  The rustling gets louder as I try to convince my exhausted limbs to move it.  When I think I've cleared the woods, out pops a small creature in my path.  This would be the dramatic point where I would tell you I was staring down a frightened momma skunk, but in actuality, it was my cat.  Whew!  I can't tell you how relieved I was when I heard my robotic lady from the app say, "You've finished!"  At that point, I determined that I would not repeat this training circuit.  I wasn't able to run again until Sunday afternoon.  Once again, I had to run in my yard, but this time, I used the front and back, and it was daylight.  It wasn't so bad, except for the fact that our pet goat lives in a fenced in area in the back yard.  Every time I ran by the back yard, I was assaulted by smelly goat.  By the way, did I mention the neighbors were out in their front yard watching me run again.  Maybe it's like watching the Olympics for them, only with much less talented athletes, at much slower times.  This brings me to my point.  This week was much harder to continue.  The newness started to fade and determination had to keep me going.  It makes me think of our walk as a Christian.  When we first become a Christian, the newness is there.  We're excited and people are on board to cheer for us, but after a while, the newness fades and trials come.  We face hard times, and it becomes so easy to want to give up.  This is where the determination comes in.  Even though it can be hard at times, you have to keep putting one foot in front of the other.  You aren't running alone.  Christ runs that race right beside you, and just like my neighbors witnessing my calamities, there are so many standing around in Heaven cheering you on to the finish line.  Don't give up, the finish line is not that far away!  

So my running continues into next week.  I only have two weeks until the big 5K day.  My app says I'm right on track.   The problem is that the track is for another 22 sessions, not the 14 days that I have available.  But I am not giving up!  Cheer me on as I keep enduring and running the race!  Have a great week high-heeled warriors!