Manny, I used to run 6.5 miles/day. A friend in college wanted me to jog w/ her one day, only 1.5 miles, but I had to jog at her slow pace. My calf muscles were killing me for days. Change your stride a little and you may take some pressure off of the calf muscles. And FWIW, weights won't prep your legs much for running. Think about how much weight your legs are pushing when you jog (and how many 'reps' they're doing). As for the sticking-with-it part, I found that once I could run long and fast enough to get my 'second-wind', I was rehooked. You can essentially get hooked on the endorphin release.
Manny I have yet to see anyone mention it, but make sure you have good shoes that are appropriate for the "terrain".
are you talking about half-court? i'm talkin full court here. full court should get you into at least some kind of shape, if it's at least somewhat competitive. shouldn't it? i know my a$$ is doubled over gasping for air when i play full court after not playing for a while (weeks maybe).
Find a route you like and time yourself. Then, try to beat your time with each outing. Last summer, I ran around a 3.8 KM lake 3-4 times a week. I would keep a list on the fridge of my times. When I first started, it took me 28 minutes. By the end of the summer, however, I sliced my time down considerably, my best being 18:13 so far. As soon as all the snow melts, I'm going to get back into it. The continuing goal of always trying to beat your last time is a great motivator. Also, I find that you can sometimes get tired of the same route, so it's nice to have another place to go. My secondary route is a trail leading up a mountain. It's shorter (about 1.8 KM) but since it's all uphill, in many ways it's tougher. About half of the total distance is a series of steps (dirt and log -- hard to describe), about 300 in total. It's hell going up, but reaching the top of the mountain is a great feeling. Plus, running back down at top speed is really fun. It feels like you're flying. The mountain trail is fairly isolated and cuts through the woods. Sometimes I run in the evening just before the sun goes down, which is a little creepy in the woods, so I pretend that Jason Vorhees is chasing me down the mountain. It's pretty intense. Another alternative to running is to fill a backpack up with books (40-60 lbs) and do step aerobics. You can buy a cheap stepper at Wal-Mart for about $20. It's a good workout for the legs and will definitely make you sweat. I plan on joining the Navy later this year, so I'm really going to step up (no pun intended) my fitness regime this summer.
Also, if you are bored, you may want to mix in some intervals once you are fit. For instance one minute hard, one minute recovery, two minutes hard, two minutes recovery, etc up to five and back down to one for a hard workout in a short time (Pyramid intervals). Another one I do is four to six minutes max effort sustainable, rest until recovered repeat until you can't do any more. (Start with two repeats, changing number every week, then taking it easy on 4th or 6th week, then changing intensity or length next cycle) Considering mixing up sports for variety, cycling is pretty easy getting started ( but expensive ), if you are in a health club the stepper and cycling trainers would be alternatives. Joining a club for your favorite sport would enforce some discipline on you.
Music can really help too, but you have to get the right kind. Regular pop like you hear on the radio just doesn't do it for me. Call me weird if you want, but I find the best stuff for running is video game music! (e-mail me if you want specific recommendations) Techno/Trance is good too.
