What do you mean I'm not 20 anymore?

So Wednesday came and off I headed on a nice circular route to pick up my car, which I'd left at the pub the previous night, and clock up another seven miles.  I was very mindful of my "leg issues", so started very slowly in an effort to warm up gently.  I even pulled out my long training trousers from the cupboard to give my muscles a bit more protection!  All was going pretty well until about a mile in and that all too familiar dull ache started in my left leg again.  I immediately stopped and gently stretched my legs before continuing on my way.  The stretching seemed to have done the trick and all felt fine for the next five minutes or so, and then the aching started again.  Another stop, another gentle stretch and another five minutes of being alright, before the pain started coming back.  Damn!!!  I was a bit stuck as I had to get my car, which was about the same distance away as my house, so I persevered and carried on with a mixture of running and walking, each time my leg appearing to get better for a few minutes before cramping up again.  This went on for nearly five miles and then the strangest thing happened, the pain seemed to go and I started running freely.  When I got home and checked the Garmin data it showed that whilst I had got increasingly slower as the run went on, "peaking" with mile 5 taking nearly twelve minutes, my last mile (number six) was at 8:37 pace!  Crazy!  I drove home and immediately got my compression leggings on (very sexy!) and put my feet up for the rest of the evening. 
This morning I woke up and swung my legs out of bed with no small amount of trepidation, but actually things weren't too bad.  I have definitely pulled my calf (ahh they cry, so that's what the picture is all about!) so off I toddled to Boots at lunchtime and bought a compression bandage, which of course is nearly as sexy as my Skins leggings!
I'm going to take a few days off now and then see how things are at the weekend, after all it is only just over two weeks until the Fleet Half and I certainly don't want to miss that!  I'm now getting a little taste of Jim's frustration, you want to get out there and run but your body needs you to rest up.  As I'm not a twenty year old anymore (no seriously, I know it's difficult to believe!) it's going to take me longer to heal and recover, but if I'm sensible I may be able to do something this weekend or some time early next week.  Fingers crossed! (S)