Nine and fifty...

I got up at 5:00 this morning. I really wanted to go back to bed. I didn't. I got ready to run instead.

When I was finally dressed and out the door, I had about an hour to run if I wanted to be back at my normal time. I figured I'd get in six or seven miles depending on how good I felt.

I started out with no real plan beyond running as far as I could in the time I had. I ran up to Holly on Lawrence and started my journey west. I ran on Holly to Oak, took Oak a couple of blocks south to Maple, then took Maple west to Main.

At Main Street, I crossed over the railroad tracks and headed west on Simpson. In the dark along the way, I took a brief pit stop, then continued on. I ran to Taylor, took the block south, then took Logan over to Mound and ran straight down Mound, crossed the highway and kept going till Fifth.

Turning onto Fifth, I took another jaunt west, running out to Illinois. I actually enjoyed Illinois today since I was headed south and downhill instead of north and uphill. I turned east at Eighth and ran all the way back to Main.

Since I still had plenty of time to run, I took Main south out of town to Lake Road which I took east up and over the hill by the golf course. I encountered a single car on Lake Road just before turning north on Country Club to run back into town.

It was 6:25 when I got to the intersection of Sixth and Country Club. If I followed my usual plan, I needed to head straight home. If the normal was thrown out the window, I could do whatever I pleased. I did what I pleased and turned east on Sixth to make my run longer.

I ran to the end of Sixth, then took Fincham north up and over the hill and past Wal-Mart to Highway 54. I ran the quarter mile or so from Fincham to Highway 61, then turned and took 61 north.

As I approached Maple, I had another choice to make: to turn on Maple or to run up to NE 10th and circle around by the cemetery. I waffled back and forth in my mind until I reached Maple. I turned. I really don't like NE 10th because more than once and evil dog has been loose on it. I was not in the mood to be bitten, so I ran west on Maple, taking the downhill and the curves in stride before heading up a slight grade to Sunrise.

I turned north on Sunrise and took it to Holly. I took Holly west a couple of blocks then did a little up and back on Welton and Larimer which brought me back to Maple. I took Maple two blocks back to the east, then turned south on Belmont. I'd intended to go to Terrace, but didn't realize I'd turned a block early till I was well on my way south. I shrugged my shoulders and ran on south.

Taking the slight jog west at School, I then continued south Belmont, circled around to Blaine, ran past the liquor store and headed west on Highway 54. I toyed with the idea of making a loop around Dillon's to finish out my journey, but decided against it when I looked at the time. I was barely going to get back by 7:00.

I ran north on Howard to Random, took a left, then a right onto Edgeford. I ran north up Edgeford till I hit 9.5 miles, then stopped my Garmin and my run. I walked the rest of the way home, stepped inside, woke everyone up and headed for the breakfast table. (garmin data)