This past Saturday, June 6, 2015, I participated in the Idyllwild 5k/10k run in Idyllwild, CA. Idyllwild is a small mountain community in the San Bernardino Mountains just above the valley where I live and is a place that me and my family have enjoyed visiting pretty much as long as I can remember. This is the sixth consecutive year that I've participated in this race doing the 10k five of those times, and the 5k once while I was still recovering from my knee disaster and illness. This race is small and challenging, but I absolutely LOVE it and look forward to it every year. Last year's race recap can be found
here.
One of the most exciting parts of this year's race was that my daughter, Michelle, was running her very first 5k! She had begun with Couch to 5k and then kind of winged it on her own running a couple times a week. She hadn't necessarily "trained" for the race, but she was excited to participate in one and was ready as she was going to be at that point in time. My sister also had one of her daughters running the 5k race as her first as well! Now, I should point out that my daughter is 21, and her daughter is 8 and had done the kids races previously but had aged out of them this year. My sister also had her other daughter Kaylie participating for the second year in a row, and her husband, Stephen. My running friend, Sally, was also running the 10k and on top of that, my Mom was also doing the 5k and I had a couple of coworkers that would be running the 5k or 10k. In other words, we had a pretty good group up there participating in some fashion this year!!
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| Me & My Daughter, Michelle at the Subaru Selfie Station before the race! |
It was a pretty chilly morning up in the mountains, but standing in the sunshine before the race started made it bearable. Me & Chellie rode up with Sally and met my family there. Check-in was super easy and quick as this is such a small, local race. It was nice to see a Subaru selfie station and tent set up as this race really doesn't have any extra frills at all. So seeing any group there handing out goodies was a nice surprise. Another local company was handing out trail mix samples as well.
The 5k race starts 45 minutes before the 10k as there are multiple runners that compete in both distances, so after warming up in the sun for a bit I was able to send Michelle and my family off on their 5k races!
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| Off and Running! |
I actually really enjoy that the 10k starts after the 5 because it allows me to see the early 5k runners returning and it is always so amazing and inspiring as this race attracts some serious competitors, many from local track teams. And this year did not disappoint as the first runner came in at just under 15 minutes! Keep in mind that this race is at over 5,000 ft elevation and has some hills. There were also some older runners and little itty bitty tykes coming in at around 20 minutes. These people are crazy fast, yo!! My daughter had anticipated that it would take her around 45 minutes, so I was anxiously hoping I would get to see her come in before having to take off for my race start, so imagine my surprise when my coworker ran over and pointed out that my daughter had just passed me while I wasn't paying attention because I wasn't expecting her for several more minutes! She finished in 37 minutes and some change and was super proud of that - as she should be!!! She totally rocked it and did even better than she expected. And her first comment to me once she could breathe again - when can we do another one?!? HUZZAH!!!!
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| Another pre-race selfie...Sally on the left, me in the middle, Michelle on the right. |
It was finally time for me & Sally to get started...I mentioned before that I had co-workers that would also be running the race; Jennifer from the Business Office and Brian from Information Technology. Well, it turns out that Jennifer overslept and never made it, but Brian did fabulous for such a challenging 10k! He and Jennifer are both currently training for their first half marathons. Hers is the Disneyland in September and his is in October in Temecula. So finally all the 10k runners got started and were off in a flash! It's a downhill start and runners always take off super fast in this one. I always seem to get caught up in it and then pay for it about a mile in with tight shins. This year I really restrained myself and just enjoyed falling into an easy pace with Sally. We were definitely towards the back of the pack though.
The first several miles went super smooth and passed quickly. I really feel bad that I hold Sally back because she's a little speedster, but boy do I enjoy running with her!! It sure does make the miles fly. I did get a little tight around Mile 2.5 but not enough to require stretching. Taking some walk breaks was enough to loosen me up. Around mile 3.5 Sally asked if we had gone past 2 miles yet and I couldn't help laughing because we were at mile 3.6!! That's how smooth the early miles went. LOL
We eventually made it to "the hill" that is such a freaking killer in this race. Seriously, it is a hike and I know people run it, but there's no way at my current level that I could. I would surely die!!
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| Course Elevation Profile |
But you know what? This year was much easier than previous years and I think I owe it all to Sally! Having someone beside me talking when I could barely breathe made a world of difference. I could just focus on what she was saying instead of the fact that I wanted to die or quit, or maybe both.
Once we tackled the hill we put it into gear and enjoyed the heck out of the downhill portion! That's one thing I love about this race - you totally EARN that downhill! Another bonus was finding some Ca$hMoneyYeahYeah on the ground!!! $20!!!! That's the second time (in 6 years whomp-whomp) that I've found a Jackson while running!
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| Blurry, but you get the idea... |
We kept up a fairly nice pace until the final hill, walked that little bad boy, and then kicked it into high gear for the finish!! I crossed the line at 1:19 which is better than last year, but not a PR (current 10k PR is 1:16). But I am totally okay with that because, honestly, this race felt pretty darn good. I know I could do even better if I actually put in the training. My coworker finished in about 1:05 which is fabulous!! I will note that the road traffic seemed to be more than usual this year. We started about 15 minutes behind schedule due to an accident at the bottom of the hill that was delaying participants. They do have the two roads where you have to actually cross the street manned by crossing guards that stop traffic, but while you're out on the other roads traffic is wide open and there were lots of cars out there. Several large diesel trucks spewed their nasty exhaust as they went by which was less than enjoyable especially when you're already sucking wind. Minor complaint there - if this race gets any bigger they should consider closing roads entirely IMHO.
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| Co-worker's friend, Kenny on the left, me in the center sporting my SkirtSports Jaguar Skirt, and Brian on the right. |
We double checked the times that were posted and found out that my daughter only had three people in her age group, so she actually came away with a 3rd place AG finish!! We walked over to the award ceremony so she could pick up her "trophy" which is a glass mug etched with the design. Interesting side story here: This race doesn't have medals, but it does have a long sleeve shirt with an artist's drawing of various woodland creatures/trees/etc. The artist is a local and she does an awesome job each year. I don't usually have much cause to wear the shirts since they are long sleeve, but they are so unique and I treasure all of them that I have. My previous ones are all in the quilt my sister is making for me!! This year was a fox on a black shirt. You can kind of see it on several people in the picture above of my daughter off and running at the start of the 5k.
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| 3rd Place Age Group Finish! Not bad for her first race...Next one she wants a beer garden! hahaha |
After touching base with everyone and picking up that awesome mug we stopped in at the little coffee shop, Higher Grounds, and I used my found Jackson to get me, Sally, and Chellie a coffee and Veggie Muffin to split that was absolutely delicious!! Well, Michelle might have thought it was a little too "earthy or fresh"...hahaha. I would probably say it was more of a Frittata in a muffin paper, but I don't even care - it was so yummy they can call it whatever they want! I actually want to find a recipe and make it myself. It had mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, red onion, spinach, cheese, eggs and probably some other stuff that I can't remember. We sat for a few and just enjoyed our accomplishments before heading back down the hill.
All in all, I love this race. It is definitely one of my favorites and I love that it is so challenging, I love that it is a gorgeous location, and I love that it supports a great cause (local PE programs). There isn't a doubt that I will be back again next year!! One area that they could improve upon though is the timing. It's not chip timed and results aren't always accurate. I was listed as 21 years old on the finishing results which made my time 2/2 in that age group. HA! Sally was listed as 53 which is nowhere close to accurate and even though she was right behind me coming into the finish, they have her time listed as two minutes after mine. Don't think that's correct...LOL But really, for me as a non-competitor, it is a non-issue. It is simply something that could be improved, but won't keep me from going back again next year. This is definitely a race I can recommend especially if you're looking for a challenge and enjoy fresh mountain air.
What I Wore:
