Hurt, too sore, or just the right amount of sore..I need your wisdom

I suppose it depends what you are looking to do while feeling this way.

Just the right amount - after a workout, tired, relaxed, content - next day - after some light stretching and warming up, I am ready for another workout, maybe not a super intense session or race rested.

Too sore - performance suffers, just ran the twin cities marathon this sunday, and tried to bike last night, could not physically move my legs fast enough to get cadence and speed up to my regular levels, (This was supposed to be a recovery ride, but i wanted to push for a few minutes to see how my new bike ran on the trainer since this was the first real time spent on it.)

Hurt - Painful, not muscle fatigue, the point where failure of muscle or joint is imminent.  I have never pulled a muscle so I am not sure how to explain that.  Look for swelling in the area usually an indicator of something not being quite right.