What is this thing called 'morning'?

It gets dark too early these days and I can't run after work. So now I have to become *gulp* A Morning Person. I am not the first one to discover this, but man is it tough to get out of bed an hour early to go running.

I used to run in Griffith Park, which is only about a mile away as the crow flies, but the way the freeway exits work it can take me 10-15 minutes to get there with traffic. That's 30 minutes round-trip, time which is much better spent sleeping. Instead, I've started running around town. I do a lot of snaking around side streets, and there pretty much is only 1 major intersection I need to deal with and then I get into a nice area with tree-lined streets, pretty homes, and nice smooth sidewalks.

There is one section I dread every morning. I have to pass 2 schools, and I cross 3 streets with crossing guards. It seems they feel the need to cross the street with me with their little stop sign. Which is great and all, but I'm already halfway across the road by the time they step off the curb. I've tried slowing down as I approach, hoping that they'd see me coming and get a head start crossing the road, but that doesn't work. Am I defying the authority of the Crossing Guard by not waiting for them to stop traffic for me? Am I supposed to wait for them to give me the All Clear? It's just an awkward little social ritual that I go through every time.