Sore Does Feel Good

Deep down inside I knew that even though I had been doing water running (though not for the past month ...), I knew that I was going to be sore after my first run on pavement.  I didn't want to think that I would be sore, because I tend to think that I'm still the runner that I was previously (in my mind, I still can run a 5:00 mile - granted, that was MANY years ago).  Yet reality is that I will soon be 42, and life catches up to us.  So as good as it felt to run for the first time in many months on Monday, I certainly felt it on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning I trudged myself out of bed, and forced myself to go to the gym.  Once again, it's often that first step that is the hardest, and as soon as I stepped out of bed I felt the soreness.  I was sore in places that I had no idea I would have ever been sore in!  But the beautiful thing of the pain was that it was pain that I new that I had a part in causing - that pain was not the result of the surgeon's blade; that pain was not the result of Uncle Arthur (Ritis) coming for a visit; that pain was pure, well earned pain.  And though it may have caused me to walk a little awkwardly, people were used to seeing me walk weird in dealing with my foot healing.  I made it through my circuit in the exercise room, and then I found my way back to my beloved pool.  Though my feet never touched the bottom, I imagined myself running a beautiful trail along a river.  As is always the case, the longer I went the better I felt.  It's so good getting back into a routine.

Yesterday I went the second mile.  Literally.  I ran a mile, which was my second mile of the year.  Mad props, right?  I know it's not big deal, but it means the world to me.  I was able to slow my pace down a little bit - though it was something I wanted to do anyway, the soreness would not allow me to go as fast.  Still, ran that mile in 9:42, and really felt like I could have keep going.  The main thing is for me to build back some sort of core that I can then build upon, so I don't want to do too much too fast.  This is a marathon; not a sprint.  But it sore/sure does feel good to be back on the road.