At last! I found my running legs.

It turns out I accidently packed them away when I was getting ready for the Chinook half. I had to do without them that day, and I think they've been sulking ever since. I found them yesterday, dusted them off, gave them a bit of lube, and promised them a run this morning. They were quite anticipatory about it.

I was up a little (only a little) after 4am. Dressed, stretched a bit while nibbling Cliffs bar remnants and energy drink. Reviewed the IGP™ again, trying to remember the complicated instructions. Normally I run some, and walk a bit, and have lost track of that. Now IG has thrown in some hard as well. That's three things to keep track of. That's really hard at 4:20 in the morning. Still dark. Cool, humid, but no rain. Remembered my reflective vest, but forgot my cap.

The plan: R 40-45, 2 min EZ, 1 min hard, and 1 min walk. I seriously considered writing it on my hand, but with lots of effort didn't lose track. Warmed up some more with a brisk walk, then started my normal 5 K loop. Legs felt good running for the first time since before the Half. I was back to my normal pace, or even a little faster than that for the first K. For most of you reading this, that pace would be glacially slow, but I'm still new at this.

Here's the approximate times for the kiloposts:
1 - 6 min almost exactly. I'd love to run at this pace all the time.
2 - ~13 min mark
3 - 20 min almost exactly
4 - ~27 but I'm not really sure
5 - 34 min or so

Actually, now that I think about it, that's pretty good time for me. Walked another 5 minutes as cooldown after the last cycle. If I've done the math right, that's 9 repeats. Stretched about 10 minutes after, then a nice shower. My legs feel a bit tired, especially the left, but aren't aching and sore like they have been. I still can't touch my toes again, but I'm slowly getting closer.

I think I can finally say I'm fully recovered from the Half. Only took a month. But when I consider that if I'd tried this last year I'm sure it would have killed me, and it doesn't seem so bad. I sure hope that recovery after the Alberta Challenge Half doesn't take as long.

That's three really good workouts in a row!! Yahoo! Let's call this .75 hr.