Almost 17 miles (Googlemaps hath led me astray)

I was kind of dreading how I was going to feel Saturday morning. I wanted to be up early. I decided to experiment with gel before I ran. For the non-runners that check this, gel is this substance you take that is really high in calories and supposedly works into your body quickly. It is meant to be taken before you ran and during your run, depending on the time spent running. My stomach gets so sour while I run I decided to just try at the beginning to see how the stuff would sit. Its consistency is like the name says....gel-like. It is very sweet. I am sure I could not get it down without water. I will be the first to admit that I felt like I had more energy starting at about mile 2. I am not sure this translated into me moving any faster...but I liked having the extra oomph. I will try again this week and try halfway through to see what that does for me. On to the run itself....

I had made my map earlier in the week so I thought I was good to go for 17. The first 9-10 went ok. It was cold but that is how I like to run. When my muscles stay cool it helps with the pain. The knee started acting up around mile 8 but it was not too bad. My big problem with this run is that I was supposed to go up one street....go across another...and then back down in essence just bumping up the mileage....the problem was that I never saw the road that dissected the two. I just kept going and then the road I was on turned into a new road...and I knew I wasn't right. I took the last turn that I saw and ended up on this dirt road that felt like it was going on for forever. I could not get any sense of where I was as compared to some of the landmarks (dorms, art museum) that would have helped me. I finally got desperate and just took this right and it ended up taking me back into town on 30th(which is where I wanted to be...but not that way). The dirt road killed my knees and my ankles and the frustration took away the positive feeling I usually have when I run. To get over to the street I cut through this neighborhood and ran up the steepest hill I have ever seen. It was truly humbling. I found my way back onto my path and got home. I did my little walk around the block and the pain in the knees(specifically the left) really kicked in. I did a bit more stretching than usual...but it did not seem to help.

I did get a little ego boost when I came back in and my roommate (who was awake when I left and still awake when I got home) said: "Where you running that whole time?" Kind of made it all feel worth it.

Looking back, I did not miss the route by that much...but once you get to mile 12-13 the ability to reason isn't as strong as it is pre-run. But I am still proud of making it as far as I did. This next week is the longest total mileage of the whole schedule (5 Tuesday, 8 Wednesday, 5 Thursday, 18 Saturday) so I am excited to get down to it. If I can make it through this week I will really feel like I got this. On a side note...yay Daylight Savings!

Route I wanted to take:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=E+Harney+St.+Laramie,+WY&daddr=S+30th+St+to:Spring+Creek+Dr+to:Russell+St+to:Ord+St+to:N+3rd+St%2FBusiness+I+80%2FUS-287%2FUS-30+to:Snowy+Range+Rd%2FWY-230+to:Snowy+Range+Rd%2FWY-130+to:Reynolds+St+to:Unknown+road+to:Ve+Trail+to:N+15th+St+to:Reynolds+St+to:Reynolds+St+to:Reynolds+St+to:Ve+Trail+to:Inca+Dr+to:Inca+Dr+to:Grays+Gable+Rd+to:41.317657,-105.579128&geocode=%3BFaFWdgIdGFK1-Q%3BFa87dgIdwwi1-Q%3BFbo9dgIdvMO0-Q%3BFYJBdgIdHMK0-Q%3BFfppdgIdkMa0-Q%3BFaZWdgIdQ4m0-Q%3BFfpudgIdKjK0-Q%3BFVqTdgIdmOm0-Q%3BFfy3dgId4uy0-Q%3BFUqzdgIdNge1-Q%3BFaCRdgIdjAa1-Q%3BFZaRdgIdmwq1-Q%3BFaCRdgIdMBK1-Q%3BFbuRdgIdVk-1-Q%3BFU6sdgIdTF21-Q%3BFdaNdgId8HS1-Q%3BFSSBdgId8HS1-Q%3BFRWBdgIdZ1q1-Q%3B&hl=en&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=19&sz=15&via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18&sll=41.321009,-105.564365&sspn=0.016437,0.038452&ie=UTF8&ll=41.332805,-105.557928&spn=0.016435,0.038452&z=15

Route I actually took (more or less...stupid Googlemaps):
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=E+Harney+St&daddr=N+30th+St+to:S+26th+St+to:Russell+St+to:N+3rd+St%2FBusiness+I+80%2FUS-287%2FUS-30+to:Snowy+Range+Rd%2FWY-130+to:Reynolds+St+to:Unknown+road+to:Reynolds+St+to:Reynolds+St+to:N+14th+St+to:N+14th+St+to:E+Gibbon+St+to:Unknown+road+to:41.317754,-105.579042&geocode=Fap4dgIdvwW1-Q%3BFZ16dgIdbFG1-Q%3BFZpCdgIdFEe1-Q%3BFZg9dgIdvcW0-Q%3BFfppdgIdkMa0-Q%3BFTt2dgId1CS0-Q%3BFVmTdgIduum0-Q%3BFcC7dgId1061-Q%3BFQORdgIdvV61-Q%3BFfaQdgIdiXG1-Q%3BFVx3dgIdegC1-Q%3BFVt3dgIdeQC1-Q%3BFXN1dgIdMf20-Q%3BFaRzdgIdRP20-Q%3B&hl=en&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=14&sz=16&via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13&sll=41.318753,-105.572884&sspn=0.008219,0.019226&ie=UTF8&ll=41.327713,-105.554581&spn=0.032872,0.076904&z=14