Oh, my quads!

Yesterday I had to skip my Monday run because I was too tired (from long day on Sunday), too sore (from hilly half marathon), and it was too rainy (only a light rain, not really a problem, but it was the third strike, y'know?).

This morning I was less tired (as much as you can be at 5:30 a.m.), less sore (probably, that remained to be seen), and it wasn't raining. No excuses remaining!

I dragged myself out at 6:24 (according to my Garmin stats), and commenced an easy recovery run. My quads quickly let me know that they had not forgiven me for the Langley hills! I wouldn't say that my legs were like lead; boards would be more like it. As in, stiff as.

I could feel the achiness in my quads up through at least seven miles. (Total distance 8.28 miles.) It may have temporarily worn off by the last mile or so, but after I finished running my legs tightened up again. I suspect it could be as much as a week before I stop feeling traces of the Langley Half Marathon. I am trying to walk like a normal person; the fact that I am wearing cork platform heels today is not helping with the Frankenstein walk!

I finally found the Langley results link online and they seem to have cleared up the chip time problem by eliminating gun times altogether. I still don't know if that is completely accurate but it seems okay to me. My Garmin showed 1:58:10 and my "chip time" was 1:58:05. I know there was little delay in crossing the mat so I am happy with this result. Unfortunately, in correcting the times they also dropped me from 4th in age group to 5th. I guess it doesn't really matter because I didn't win an award either way!

There were some interesting things about the results, though. The two people who finished just behind me (35-45 seconds), were also in my AG (6th and 7th). Number 8 in AG was the Half Fanatics woman that I had run with and eventually passed, and spoken with after the race. The woman who passed me in the finish (overall time four seconds faster than me) was 51 and won second in her age group! Finally, in the category of trivia, had this race been after my 45th birthday (in August), I still would have been 5th in AG based on the times of the other finishers!

Oh yeah, I also ran a negative split. :)

Total Time: 1:58:05 (pace 9:01/mile)
First half: 59:29 (pace 9:05/mile)
Second half: 58:35 (pace 8:57/mile)
Overall Place: 69/188
AG 40-44: 5/19