2 weeks on, no improvement

I've lost a lot of hope now. There is ZERO improvement in the pain. I haven't been stretching every day, that's true but then I have read that you shouldn't stretch cold muscles anyway. I cant run to warm them up so vicious circle.

Internet advice is completely conflicting. Run through it / Don't run through it. Put Ice on it / Put Heat on it. Do Walking / Rest it.

My GP doesn't know his arse from his elbow so little point in seeing him.

I can't swim more that about 1 length, and I can't afford swimming so that's out. Besides, I hate swimming. I could stretch to a bike and it's slightly appealing but at the end of the day, running is not just about running for fitness for me, that's only part of it. I want to constantly challenge and improve myself, perhaps run in some races. With long working hours, a long commute and two young kids, my time for exercise is short. When running at the moment, I can be fully knackered within 20-30 minutes. With a bike, that time would represent a warmup period only. I'm not going to compete in bikes races either.

What to do now!