Working out the kinks

I was expecting to feel a bit like the tin man this week as I awaken old movement patterns and workloads that have somehow become foreign to me again. The old familiar feelings of re-starting training after a hiatus were all there, plus a few new observations. My calves and achilles were continually sore despite NSAIDS and icing along with my aggressive return to stretching. My rhythm is still missing. I have terrible posture (as I could tell from looking at my shadow). My hips need to be popped before I start running and then stretched like gumby afterwards. The new developments include: a tightness in my upper back only relieved with neck cracking, and I am requiring an enormous amount of sleep. I feel like 9 hours is enough, but my body doesn't want to get out of bed until I've been out for 10 hours! That's probably the only good part about still being unemployed...

The weather has turned to fall, which makes it beautiful for running. Temps have dipped into the 60's and 70's and even one morning run in the 50's! Sure beats humid and 80's. Towards the end of the week I was starting to feel my body turn too, towards that fluidity I'm seeking. Still, I had to keep it to 5 days of running totalling just 34 miles. Here's the breakdown:

9/1 Rest
9/2 7 miles (49:16)
9/3 6 miles (42:49)
9/4 5 miles (36:18) legs felt pretty heavy...
9/5 9.5 miles (1:07.23) longest run since starting up again!
9/6 6.5 miles (47:12)
9/7 Rest

Now the task is to gradually build over the next few weeks to 50-60mpw by mid-late October while staying healthy. If all goes as planned, I should hit my highest mileage week ever in mid-December (85) and keep on clicking off the miles from there.

So far this week I've been feeling pretty decent with only 2 runs under my belt but I'm feeling more rhythm and the times are showing it. I passed a lady on a bike while circling White Bear Lake this morning. She said it was 'humiliating' and I laughed.

9/8 6 miles (41:57)
9/9 10.5 miles (1:13.46) felt pretty good although only planned to do 6-8.