Running after time off. Confused?

It seems when you stoped activity your pulse went down and because you were less tired than you were more efficent.

This is a phenominon. There've been many stories of people getting hurt or sick before their races and not being able to run for as long as 10 days and for some reason they have the best race of their lives! There's also people who detrain quickly and feel sluggish after a few days off, so it's hard telling what the deal is. You might be one of the guys that a big taper really helps. Maybe you can use this to your advantage next year.

you tapered your training (obviously moreso than you did prior to your peak race) and you were fully rested for today. You're probably not faster, just fully rested.