3 Kings 3 Miler Recap

Gus and I woke up really early this morning to drive to Salado for the 3 Kings 3 Miler.

The race was scheduled to begin at 7:30 and they had packet pick-up scheduled from 6-7 so I needed to get there before 7 even though I had registered online.  The temperature was ~40 degrees so I wore the same exact outfit that I wore last month for the Jingle Bun Run.  The drive to Salado takes 15ish minutes.  As we were exiting off I35, we had to share the underpass with several deer who were walking through to get into town.  You have to love small town central Texas.  Those same deer definitely had Gus' attention when we got out of the car, as they were making their way down to Salado Creek through the church property where we were parked.  Lots of deer "statues" and Gus whining for a few minutes. 

It was the first year for this race so it wasn't very big.  It was kind of nice not to have to worry how far back to start to not slow others down and to not get stuck in traffic.  They actually shut down Main Street for the race (again, have to love small towns)!  We started off at a pretty brisk pace - we didn't break any personal jogging distance records, but we moved along pretty fast (except when Gus decided to take a big ol' poo and the first bag I tried to open tore so I had to get another bag, then I had to detour to the trash can at the park).  The route took us down Main Street, then a loop around the park by Salado Creek, a little more Main Street, another loop around a neighborhood and back up Main Street.  I certainly need to do some more exploring of Salado - lots of cute unique looking shops, several Bed & Breakfasts, and fun cafes.  There were a couple pretty decent hills - probably similar to the ones in Dodge City but seemed not too overwhelming this morning.  (maybe that's a good indication for the next time I do the DC Days 5K!)

I was just following the pack and I'm thinking that there was a place during the park loop where we cut off 0.1-0.2 miles that we should have done because when I got to the "finish" line, my Garmin only said 2.9 miles.  I kept going another 0.2 so that I could record a 5K on my Garmin.  Either way, my official time from the timing chip was 43:09.5 (pace - 14:23/mile), calculated for a 3 mile run.  But like I said, I hadn't gone 3 miles at the time I passed the finish line, so I'm not trusting that number.

According to my Garmin, my time for 3.1 miles was 45:20 (pace 14:38/mile).  Moving time was 43:07 with an average moving pace of 13:55 (which is AwEsOmE for me!).  My legs felt good.  I was a little worried about my left calf that's been giving me fits, but while I felt it, it wasn't painful. 

There were only 3 dogs.  People loved Gus' bow tie.  (I ordered him a couple more - they were on sale 1/2 price this week!).  I imagine if they do it again next year that there will be more four-legged participants. 

After we finished, we were watching the awards ceremony and my work cell phone rang.  (I'm on call this weekend.)  And it was something that required I go into the office to take care of.  I wound up spending 3 hours at the office.  This afternoon, I needed to take down my outdoor Christmas lights before the cold front comes through tomorrow.  And I had a few other errands to run so no nap like I'd planned on.