[Over a week late is the new norm, and huzzah! For once I vanquished Joe in the race report race.]

The chilly damp went deep, and despite all the Rudolph romping and jingle bell stomping, it was a rather dreary scene as the hundreds amassed before the Solomons Holiday Inn. I finally espied Trent mere minutes before the start, meaning our rematch was a lock --- but, whereas last year the race to win had been solely between me and Herzog, I promptly became aware of a third party asserting himself toward the start line. It was the ghost of Jingle Bell victories past: Jesse Stump! He resolutely ruled the race from 2006-2009 (and maybe prior to that as well … 2006 was my first Jingle and that’s as far back as the results go on the CBRC page), but hadn’t been back since. This allowed Peter Offenbacher, me, and Trent to take top honors over the past three years amidst Jesse’s absence. Stump had been solidly sub-17:00 at Jingle Bell from 2006 to 2008, but he slowed up to 17:10 in 2009, and that was 4 years ago --- so how had the years since treated his speed?

Standing beside him, I actually dared to ask him (though he’d surely have no clue who I am, as I was but a lowly 18:49 finisher in 2009) if he was going to go sub-17:00. “That’s the plan,” he retorted with a somewhat indignant tone that seemed to express the sentiment “Of course I’m going to finish sub-17:00” (it was approximately how I would’ve responded if someone had asked me if I were going to go sub-18:00). I had a hunch that I was probably going to be placing 3OA.

Flying forth, the first thing I became aware of was how numb my toes were, though just a couple minutes into the race I was hot and feeling as though I’d dressed way too heavily (Trent, meanwhile, was dressed for summer running). So, just like last year, Trent and I soon separated from the stampeding masses, until the only footfalls to hear were our own … and those of one other. Who else but Stump? It was a three-man pack --- a dueling trio of Jingle Bell champions past (only Peter Offenbacher was missing, though there’s no way he would’ve been able to keep pace with us that day). I’d surged to seize something of a lead before turning left off the hotel drive onto Rt. 2, but Trent and Jesse remained my drafting wingmen. No one ever said a word.

Passing the plazas and the medical center, I was feeling surreally relaxed considering that my instantaneous pacing was still dipping sub-5:00/mi. And at a few fleeting moments I felt poised to begin pulling ahead of my two tenacious adversaries. Yet as that very slight incline beyond the Marine Museum loomed, the blazing blast off began catching up with and my mental fortitude frayed. As a clear indication of how unaccustomed I’ve become to racing alongside others, the pressure of Trent and Jesse’s point blank pursuit really started getting into my head. With the exception of the LPR10 when Demers and Wardian definitively dropped me, I’ve won every other race I’ve run this year with ease. In fact, the closest anyone came to challenging me at any of those victories was at the Chaptico Classic when Katie Ogden was drawing near by the time I finally got back on course following my delirious dirt road detour. But now I had two formidably fast fiends right on my tail and I almost couldn’t bear the thought of keeping them at bay for another 2 + miles. I was practically prepared to just let them pass by! Nonetheless I still clung to that truly tenuous lead for the entirety of the opening mile, beeping off in 5:07 – my fastest ever.

That unofficial 1-mile PR astounded me (I almost found myself wishing that Jingle Bell had been a 1-mile track race this year, as it could’ve been my chance to go sub-5:00), but it gave me the sense that I was in way over my head with trying to lead this 5k. And sure enough, it was about by the boardwalk gazebo that my dominance disintegrated as first Jesse and then Trent stepped ahead. Now, if there’s one thing in this race I wish I could’ve done differently, it would’ve been fighting to remain competitively relevant until after the U-turn at the island Y. Before that point we were like a string of three Christmas beads --- but at the U-turn it was as though the string snapped, for each of us was only able to blast back the way we’d come after carefully negotiating the 180 degree directional shift in turn. Thus, while I was in the midst of stepping ever so delicately around the cone, Jesse and Trent were already charging back north toward the hotel. The JB champee pack was no more. And of course, as far as pride goes, it would’ve been swell to still look like a contender for victory whilst passing the masses face to face along the stretch from the U-turn to the right turn onto Alexander St (I’ll always have those glorious moments from 2011 when every Jingle Beller I faced after the U-turn hailed me as the destined winner).

After turning right onto Alexander and then left onto Calvert St shortly thereafter, I scored another unofficial PR, this time for 2 miles … barely (though my opening mile was 7 seconds faster this year than last year, my middle mile was 4 seconds slower this time, meaning a net gain of merely 3 seconds for 2 miles). Along Calvert I was still trailing Trent by just a few seconds and, odd as it is to say, it was relieving to watch Jesse pull farther ahead. You see, before the race had even begun I found myself rooting --- in the event that I would finish 3OA --- strongly for Jesse Stump to trump Trent Herzog. For if Trent were to win and Jesse come in 2OA, then I would end up having gone from being top dog in 2011 to a close runner-up in 2012 to …. 2^nd place in the M30-34 age group in 2013. I could scarcely bear the thought of such a hard plummet from grace. But fortunately Jesse was ensuring that I would at least get to claim age group glory. Ah, and it was sadly ironic how, even though I avoided a C St misstep this year, at that point Trent was already as far ahead of me as he was after my momentary detour last year.

Back on the main road, it was noisy again with all the walkers, the increased traffic, and the rushing headwind --- meaning I now had the perfect opportunity to sneak up on Trent and catch him at unawares! Though winning the race was now officially out of either of our hands (nobody was going to catch Stump after mile 2.5), getting revenge on the kid who denied me repeat victory last year sounded like a sweet consolation. And it was right about mile 2.75, approximately when we were passing the Roy Rogers, that I all but pulled abreast with the seemingly unwary Trent. Were we poised to have a neck and neck fight to the bitter end in which only he with the stronger kick would prevail? Nay, as soon he caught wind of my stealthy approach he bolted. I would enjoy no vengeance.

Though Trent made me look old and decrepit in the race’s final push, I came closer than ever to reaching mile 3 <16:20 (16:22) and finished (3OA, indeed) with a time that showcased sub-17:00 legitimacy even if the course measured ever so slightly marginal --- for with a race result of 16:48, there would’ve been time to spare even if my Forerunner had recorded a bit more than 3.09 miles. So, while setting a 5-second PR may seem marginal, I would argue that, once you’re sub-17:00, every second of advancement is supremely significant. It sure felt hard-earned!

I ran so fast today that I averaged a faster pace for my 10 mile race then DR did for 19 mile long run ;-)

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I think many would agree that breaking 17:00 in a 5k is a close equivalent to breaking 5:00 in a 1-mile race (and indeed, the RA race predictor calculator asserts that a 16:57 5k predicts a 4:59 1-mile race). Thus, while over the course of a summer track series you might be disappointed that your mile time progressed from, say, 5:21 to 5:10, you might feel more rewarded if it had improved from merely 4:59 down to 4:55. And by that same token, while over the past couple years I was often left bitter about 5k race results in the 17:s despite gains of signifcant seconds, getting my PR down from 16:53 to 16:48 brought much satisfaction.

Yet! Now that I'm finally feeling like an established sub-17:00 5k runner, how long will it be before I grow restless with results starting with 16? Would it even be humanly possible for me to break 16:00? Am I way too old for such speed? As recently as 2010, when my PR was still stuck around 18:30 and sub-18:00 was the great dream, I do recall thinking to myself that I'm simply not built to go sub-17:00 --- but now that speed prejudice has been defied. Well, maybe shooting for 16:30 would be a solid start.

Phil keeps trying to further and further humble my long runs with his PR 10-milers. Last time he ran 10 miles at a pace 10 seconds a mile faster than that of my 19-mile long run, and this time he ran 10 miles at a pace almost 20 seconds a mile faster than that of my 20-mile long run!

Congrats Phil!

You're not talking about the MCSS race at Ryken, are you? I could swear that I saw Noah post on Friday night that the race was once again being postponed, this time to today (Sunday). But whatever race it was, it sounds like it was a valiant victory.

Hmm, and in Training you said that you "took" Joe on a group run today. Did Joe visit you in VA this weekend??

MTA:

Noah Wood
If anyone was planning to sign-up this morning for the Mother Spalding Frosty 5K today in Leonardtown, you probably didn't get the e-mail, but it was postponed until tomorrow (Sunday, January 12th) due to the weather.
Like · · Yesterday at 7:25am

Ah, looks like Joe missed out on finishing in "the open" by just 10 seconds.