it's a peach.

It was another early morning.

5:15 a.m. to be exact.

It was another morning to count our blessings and to don our tank-tops and running pants.

We ate our breakfast of crunchy peanut butter and banana, threw on our Mary Kay, and put the hair in a ponytail.

We were ready for this day.

Daddy was supposed to go with us on this trip too to participate in the 5k, but found out that he had a job to do that morning.

So, we girls loaded up and headed out to the peach county.

As we were pulling out of our rustic gate, I glanced out of my side mirror and sat stunned.

God is so amazing.

On this early morning, He had blessed us with one of the most magnificant sunrises.

We arrived at our destination 30 minutes early to make our before-the-race preparations.

God had given us a perfect morning.

Pinning on our bibs and walking/jogging around the parking lot, we were warmed up and ready for the Peach Run 5k/10k.

Before the race, we took our traditional "before" picture of the three of us girls.

The team.

(minus daddy)

The team that has run and encouraged one another for the past 7 months in our running endeavors.

The team that has stuck together for the past nine 5ks.

The team that was about to stick together once again and cheer each other on for their second 10k.

Finding our spots at the starting line, we were ready.

The running course was perfect.

Running through city and country, the scenery was magnificent.

The shade and breeze were perfect.

Settling in for the 6.2 miles, I was pushing on towards the goal at hand.

When it came to the part of the course to continue straight on the 5k course or take the right for the 10k road, it was tempting to make the choice to go straight.

(haha!)

But, choosing to take the right, I settled in for the remaining 3.2 miles.

Making it up and down the rather large hills on the last part of the course, I could see the end in sight.

I was counting all my blessings while running....

good health.

police to direct traffic.

a hill tackled.

a burst of energy.

a 10k accomplished.

Turning the curve in the neighborhood, I saw it.

The starting (and also the ending ;P) line.

I saved the remainder of my energy until I had about 50 yards left.

I started my ending-the-race sprint.

With my mom right there to cheer me on.

Crossing the finish line, I had broken my PR for 10k.

My last 10k: 1:16:38

This 10k: 1:05:40

Crossing the finish line, mom and sis came up and congratulated me and we then proceeded to discuss our times, and the course, and expressing our joy to have another one "in the books."

Oh, how I love our runs together.

And then the awards ceremony began.

And, of course, without fail, we found mom on the winners stand.

The sis won second in her age group.

(they only gave out first place awards for each age category)

And we won't even start on the guy who won first in overall men's.

A 31:36 10k? Yeah, that's just not even fair.

Avg pace: 5:05.

Unbelievable.

Oh, and you know what mom's prize ended up being?

A basket of peaches.

Yup, we'll take a basket of peaches over a trophy any day. ;)

Stats for the Peach Run 10k:

Chip Time: 1:05:40

Gun Time: 1:05:44

Age Division: 21-30

Place: 5th out of the 5 in my age group.

Overall Place: 56 out of 61

Pace: 10:33