Salmon Days Rotary Run 10k - Issaquah, WA

http://www.salmondays.org

10/2/2005

The Course:

• Mostly flat with gentle sloping - The course ran mostly through various areas of the downtown with occasional slopes the were slight. I thought it was fairly ideal. A portion of approximately 0.5 to 0.75 miles took us through a wooded area on a paved trail.
• Invigorating - Perhaps one of the most exciting things about a race is the presence of spectators. I loved that the course ran through a town preparing for one of the state's largest festivals of the year - plenty of vendors cheered us on and we enjoyed the aromas of grilled salmon, fresh honey, and chocolate-dipped strawberries. Mmmmm...
• Weather - Temperatures in the high 40s; it had been raining earlier in the morning, but stopped before the race. The cool (but not cold) temperature provided for a refreshing morning run. The rain resumed following the event and with the cooler temperatures it became quite chilly.

**Photos of Rotary Run courtesy of Evan Dodds**

	This is me! Just before the race begins, I await the gun for my first 10k in over two years. How exciting!
	Evan catches my attention just before the race begins. I'm listening to Jamiroquai's "Canned Heat" to get me fired up.
	Ready to start!
	Coming in to the finish - six-plus miles down, a small fraction of a mile remaining. Still feeling pretty good, about to pick up the pace to sprint across the finish line.
	Nearly finished!
	Me with Scott and Arika Dickens, friends of ours we knew back in the Carolinas. Evan and Scott are colleagues.
	Click on the picture for a larger view - check out the size of this salmon trying to "jump" upstream to reach the hatchery!

I decided to run the Salmon Days Rotary Run 10k in order to assess where I stood physically as I begin to more seriously train for the Seattle Half Marathon (November 27th). After returning from time off following an injury in February, I began running three mile distances regularly about a month ago. Over the past two weeks I have been running four miles a couple of times a week, and then I completed a five mile run the week prior to the race, just so 6.2 miles would not be a big shock to my system.

I thought the cool weather was going to be a problem, but Evan reminded me that it was similar to the weather in Duluth during Grandma's Marathon, and I thrived during that race. So I stuck with the shorts and long-sleeved shirt attire rather than wearing heavy warm clothing. This was also the first race where I kept my mp3 player with me, which was HUGELY beneficial. VanHalen's "Jump" was what I needed at the beginning of that sixth mile.

I felt great throughout the race. In fact, I was surprised that my second mile split was 8:04 because I was not experiencing any difficulty, which I would have imagined as 8:04 is a very quick pace for me. Then, the third mile at 9:21 was also a surprise, because I did not think I was running that slowly, so perhaps the second mile marker came a bit early in the race. Nonetheless, I started to feel my breathing quickening during the fifth mile, but I turned my music up, went into auto-pilot on the slight downward slopes, and continued to take deep, deliberate breaths.

I crossed the finish line in a sprint, a big smile on my face. It was just a great race experience, very much worthwhile.

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