Re(strain)ing from exercise

ARRRGGGHHHH!!! No, I'm not being a pirate. I'm trying to express the frustration I'm feeling, but wasn't sure how to put it in print.

I finally started working out consistently again. I've run a couple of miles several times a week for the last couple of weeks. When I get out of the habit of exercising, it's hard to get back in it. And it has been a while since I got out of it.

I've been trying to motivate myself to start working out again for a long time now, so it's been feeling great to be doing it again. Once I get started, it's not too hard to motivate myself. I don't run very fast or for very long, but my plan was to build up my endurance and speed for a couple of weeks, then join a gym and start doing other things, too.

Last Tuesday, I started warming up to run, and my ankle started hurting. I was a little worried. But I took a couple of days off, then started running again and everything was fine.

But I think that yesterday, I pulled a muscle. The ironic thing is that I ran a couple of miles in the morning and I felt great. It was later, when I was walking to the bus stop to meet Jill that I felt a sudden pain in my calf. I was walking quickly and uphill, so I guess that's how I pulled it. But I wasn't really sure if I had pulled it at that point. It just hurt. Then is started hurting more. And more. You get the idea.

I still wasn't sure what was wrong with it this morning, so I thought that maybe it would be a good idea to run a little and see if it helped to exercise it. I was wrong. It was a bad idea. I'm pretty sure it's a pull. Now I'm frustrated because I think it takes about a week to heal. That's going to throw off my momentum! What am I supposed to do for exercise between now and then? Not to mention the fact that I have a tango class tonight! What if I can't get back into running after it heals? AAAAHHHH!!!