On Saturday I ran the inaugural CanLake25k and finished in 2:32:48 quick enough for fourth place. The previous three years I ran the 50k, but after not feeling great after Wineglass I decided to drop down to the new shorter distance.
In order to share the course with the ultramarathoners the race had an odd 1:00 start which was fortuitous as it allowed me to miss the early morning rain. I wanted to treat the race like a half marathon and really go after it, but instead mostly kept to a comfortable pace.
I felt good off the start. No part of this course is flat, but there was a certain joy in being able to take in a course I know well at a quicker pace. I felt a bit guilty passing the 50k runners with my fresh legs, but honestly without them on the course at the same time it would have been a bit quiet.
Bare Hill is the largest climb on the course. While reaching the hill after 30km it was an obvious place to walk, but after just 5k I felt that running up the hill would be a good plan. About a third of the way up I realized that I was draining myself for no reason and that it would be best to just power walk to the summit and move on from there. It really is a bear.
My 9:50 per mile pace was a minute slower than I ran the rochester half, so I probably should have gone a bit quicker, but the miles flew by compared to seeing the same landmarks when running the 50k in years past. Given the shorter distance and the fact that there were some water stops along the way I decided not to carry any water. Still not sure if that was the right decision or not.
I finally got passed about two miles from the finish. For a little while I kept up the idea of fighting for that position, but he had pulled a bit ahead of me before the final downhill and I didn’t have any sprint left in me anyhow.
My next race will be the Brick City 5k at my alma mater of RIT.