Running when SORE?

I don't think running 15 will hurt anything, but I question the idea of bumping up from 15 right to 30 right to 45. Assuming say 7:30 miles (for simplicity) you go from 14, to 28, to 42 miles just like that. And if you are feeling sore already, you may want to slow it down, because if you are sore after 45 minutes of running spread over three days, I can imagine jumping that quick will hurt a lot more.

Well, I'm running more like 9 minute pace (maybe I'm getting sore because I'm running too slow?) and not breathing much at all. But, yeah, I see your point. Even at that pace my plan would have me be up to 35 mpw in 3 weeks after virtually nothing for 10 years.

Actually, today despite the stiffness at first, I felt better by the end and I went a whopping 18 minutes.

But, my main question remains: Will it do damage to my muscles to run on them when they are sore/dead?

Well you're also running three days in a row. You should first try and just run every other day. Your body isn't used to the shock anymore.

I'm sure when you were running 60 mpw you were running a lot faster than you are now, but that was 11 years ago. Even if you're 33-34, it's not just going to come back instantaneously. Keep at it though. I'd suggest running every other day slowly bumping up the time you run. Then try and add in a few back to back days.

Not so easy after all wrote:

But, my main question remains: Will it do damage to my muscles to run on them when they are sore/dead?

NO. Damage in the acute sense will not occur. This is a phenomenon that just about all ultrarunners go through. The tiredness/deadness/soreness in your legs will be there for a while. Train through and come out the other side.

I was in the same boat. I stopped running and got back into it before my son was born. About 10 years had gone by without any serious training. I had gained over 100 lbs. etc...

To get back into it, I started out slow. I ran every other day until my body got use to it. I had felt like I was walking like Frankenstein for a couple of days until my legs got back into it. 15 minutes every other day should be fine. Let your body get use to it. Once your body adapts to the stress, you can add more time. Think long term.

i've done the same as you before, though my layoff period was only months, and i've done the whole get-back-into-it thing more than once. i usually give myself at least three weeks before i start doing anything that can be considered strenuous - in the starting phase, i care more about fitness than how far/long i can run. so i start of with running 3 days a week, with ample rest, and the runs are short, 15-25 mins. then the next week, it's four or five days a week, and so on. but the second week, the workout type will be the SAME, just more of it. and feel free to substitute the running for say something like swimming in the first couple of weeks just to rebuild some fitness and endurance. you're sore cos you're unfit, simple as that. TAKE IT EASY. you just bump it up as you become more comfortable. alot of people make the mistake of thinking they're trolling and then doing too much too quickly. i can say with quite some experience of doing the get-back-into-it thing that the gradual build-up of number of workouts as opposed to length of workouts works better.

hope that helps.