11 miles and halfway there.

So I had a nice birthday but a very late night. By the time I got to bed it was around 1:30. I slept pretty good until early morning...when kitty started being kitty. It makes me feel a little better because she seems to be acting normal but it did not help my state of mind. I dragged myself up at 8 and piddled around until I finally got out the door a little after 9. It was chilly, but not nearly as cold as yesterday. That pleased me immensely. I was able to run without my balaclava and it feels like Spring is almost in the air. Of course in Wyoming that doesn't really mean anything....but it would be nice to not have to layer up like a Sherpa to go out an run. Anyway...



I would be lying if I said my left knee didn't hurt. The good news is that the pain was more tolerable than the last few runs I had. I hope that is a good sign. The right one started hurting about midway through this run, but it was minimal and barely hurts now.



The weather really could not have been much better for me...I do like to be cool when I run and the sun was out and there was very little wind. It took me awhile to find any real type of groove and I can really tell that my pace is not what it was 4 weeks ago. The run up the bridge that goes into west Laramie was really nice today. If any of you are in this area, I highly suggest jogging up it...at least once. The view of the mountains is truly something. It definitely gets the hammies and the calves but it is still nice.



I was hoping to see the gentlemen out with his dog out on Welsh St. but no such luck today. The dirt roads are so grated with the washboard that it doesn't feel great to be on it...but for some reason there is something that feels natural about running on it. The highlight of my time on the dirt road was a herd of deer (I believe...could have been Elk...but I am just not sure...not use to seeing them in that big of numbers) I was able to watch them jump over two sets of fences and across the dirt road in front of me. It was very inspiring.



The last two miles I wanted to get my pace up, so I kicked it up a couple of notches the rest of the way home. I still felt like I had something in the tank...I just need to get the groove back earlier in the run to get my time back to where they should be. I am hoping that the decline of the Colorado will bode well for my time....if not my quads! My time today was 1 hr. 46 min and 32 secs....definitely subpar....but I will still take it.



My route:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=E+Harney+St&daddr=S+30th+St+to:Welsh+Ln+to:Reynolds+St+to:41.318882,-105.578699+to:E+Gibbon+St&hl=en&geocode=Fap4dgIdhAW1-Q%3BFahXdgIdGFK1-Q%3BFQiHdgId6CW0-Q%3BFa6SdgIdrvO0-Q%3B%3BFWR1dgIdMf60-Q&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=4&sz=15&via=1,2,3,4&sll=41.325393,-105.576982&sspn=0.016436,0.038452&ie=UTF8&ll=41.323427,-105.588741&spn=0.065747,0.153809&z=13