Nice sunny day for a long run. Temps in the upper 30's with occassional wind gusts but nothing brutal. One of the benefits of having a GPS watch is you can run whichever direction you feel like taking. My hubby was marching again today so we told each other our planned routes and neither one of us stuck to our plans. That just reassures me of the importance of carrying a cell phone in case something goes wrong. I started my run by heading toward a familiar route then suddenlty changed my mind. I thought, "why are you going to a route you already know when you have this opportunity to discover new places and new scenery?". Then I thought "probably because you know its safe, there are no dogs, and its familiar." Nothing wrong with being safe but I was feeling a little adventurous. So instead of turning right and going to my regular route, I went left to see what I could see. Well I wish I could talk about these super exciting discoveries but they didn't happen. Shortly after taking my left turn, I ran out of shoulder and was running head on into very close traffic on a turn. I was thinking of QP and keeping a close eye on those truck mirrors. I was also wishing I had my reflective belt on to make me glow a little and I was second guessing my decision. Soon enough the road widened again and I found the opportunity to jump over to a trail running through a new community. The community was quiet and there were other runners out, so I felt at ease and enjoyed the scenery. After just a few minutes, the trail looped around and that was it. I had to make a decision. I could either keep looping, go back on the road with no shoulder, or head back to my safe route...I chose the safe route. Enough adventure for one day. My legs were dead tired by the time I finished. Seemed like the longest run ever. 16 is my goal for next Saturday, guess I better start planning my route. | 