Crack of Dawn 8k!

This morning I got up at 3:45 and headed over to pick up my mom and dad for the Crack of Dawn 8k.

We got their before the sun was coming up over the mountain and drove up to the start in the Mill Creek Canyon. We were the first ones up there and we waited for a good 30 minutes before the buses came up with all the other runners.

It was a little chilly up there, I think it was around 45, but we figured that once we started moving we'd warm up. The weather was perfect, it had rained the night before and the roads were all drying and it had that really yummy rain smell up in the canyon. I love that smell.

The race was about to start at 6:00 and we were standing in the potty line. It's a good thing we had timing chips for this race cause we were about 1.06 late crossing the start line. We started out and the down hill started killing my IT band. I don't think I was warmed up enough, so I told my mom to go ahead of me and that I'd catch up to her when it leveled off, if it did. I walked/ran the first mile and ended up doing the first 2 miles at a 12:45 pace. After that my leg warmed up and I started rocking it. My next mile was in the 10s, the next was in the 9s, and the last mile (or .94) was in the 8s!!

Here's my attempt at taking a picture with my iPhone while running. :) I think it looks cool! My leg felt awesome the last 3 miles. At the end there was a little itty bitty hill and after running almost 5 all down hills your legs say, "Oh wait...I just ran 4+...I think I'm tired now." I pushed through and my last mile was at a 8.33 pace.

I crossed the line around 55.20, but my watch said 54.14. Not bad, not bad!

This is us right after finishing. I really love running races with my momma.

Running is a family thing!