I asked yesterday for advice on whether to go for a PR today (http://www.runningahead.com/groups/BF_and_Beyond/forum/b75433ebbc084c128262bcb1c345f5fe/resume#focus) and everyone said go for it!  So that was my plan - try to lower my PR of 24:33, even if only by a few seconds.

This is a nice 5k that loops around a local park.  It's the first in a four-race series here in central NJ (the others are in the fall though), and if you do all four you get a pint glass.  Great weather - upper 50s, only a few high clouds.  The start was *really* crowded and people of all speeds were mixed together, so it took about half a mile before we got a little better sorted.  I'd forgotten about the fact that the whole race is on a crushed gravel path though!!  It seems like it takes more energy to run on that than it does on asphalt.  I had a sinking feeling that this was not going to bode well for getting a PR.

I finished the first mile in 7:39, which was right about where I wanted to be.  But I could tell my effort level was way too high to be able to sustain that unfortunately.  I slowed down just a tad and focused hard on trying to hold the new pace, and my second mile took 8:00 flat (ok, so it was more than just a tad, apparently).  I thought I might still be able to *just* squeeze out a PR with a strong third mile.  I tried my hardest but the third mile was 8:04 and the last 0.19 was a pace of 7:54 (1 minute and 30 seconds).  Yeah, my watch measured long again.  My chip time was 25:10, so 37 seconds slower than last week.  Meanwhile my watch called it 25:13 for 3.19.

I think the crushed gravel affected everybody a little; my two friends who came along today were also both 40-60 seconds slower than their times last week (and the three of us are far apart from each other on the speed spectrum; I'm the middle one. :P ).  I heard some other people talking about it too.  But I was proud of my effort in this one; I was totally exhausted running this but mostly held it together.  I wish I hadn't had the positive splits, but even so, I felt like it was a strong race from a mental standpoint, and I probably couldn't have squeezed out much more today.  I am glad that I fought for the PR even though I came up short.

I did manage to snag 3rd out of 19 in my age group, so that was my first respectable age group placing at least!  (I've placed two other times, but those were 1st of 2, and 3rd of 4, so I'm not overly proud of those, haha).

Thanks for reading!

Not the best surface for pure speed but still a good showing by you.  Moving forward, you will be better for the effort.

Sorry you did not get the new PR, but congrats on the 3rd place!  Nice race for you!  I think you 'crushed' the gravel!

Congrats on your AG placement. Crushed gravel can definitely slow your pace. I do some hill work on a crushed trail and feel like a gazelle when I get back on the pavement. That PR will come soon!

Congrats on the AG 3rd place! Very good mid-race adjustment even if it seemed too slow at the time. With your third mile being only a few seconds slower, it shows you made the right adjustment. With you and your friends all showing a similar slowdown from last week, I would suspect one or both courses being slightly off. Gravel shouldn't make that much difference. In any case your subjective judgment that you ran about as well as you could that day is more important than the time. Coming away satisfied that you ran as hard as you could is the measure of a great race.