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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, I would recommend that you stop focusing on speed and distance.  Just focus on time.  Try to run for 20 minutes.  If you can't run for that long, then you are going too fast. Slow down. Go just barely faster than a walk.  Once you can go for 20 minutes, try to go for 30.  Running faster gives minimal cardiovascular benefit.  Focus on your time.  You are also expecting too much improvement too soon.  Do this type of very slow timed running for 6 months.  THEN, you can focus on upping speed/distance.  You won't be running at all if you injure yourself trying to go too fast too soon.[/quote]

This is the best advice on this thread so far.  Your body needs to get used to running before you try to do speedwork, otherwise you're really likely to get injured.

As a former track and XC coach, the one exception to the "no speedwork" rule for new runners that I would make is to say that you can safely do a few strides at the end of your run.  Strides are short periods of faster running where you focus 100% on running relaxed but faster.  What you are going for is the feeling of running like a little kid running for fun -- not grinding out speed but rather running faster than normal in a way that feels good and loose.   To do a stride, start at a slow jog for about 10 seconds, then over about 20 seconds accelerate until you feel like you are going really fast, then decelerate for 10 seconds.  Note that the feel of strides should absolutely be the opposite of track intervals (which when done right are borderline soul crushing) or HIIT or hill intervals.  The feel is that you're running for the joy of running and as a form of play.  They are best done on grass.

I know that this sounds kinda woo-woo and silly, but there is science behind it.  Strides are all about having your body learn running form for running faster, and a key part of that is learning to run relaxed and loose.  When newer runners try to sprint (of experienced runners try to sprint faster), they tend to tighten their shoulders, ball their fists, grimace and basically run really tight.  This is the opposite of how you want to learn form for going faster. It's really important to focus on smoothly accelerating when you do strides and not on trying to maintain your top speed for more than 5-10 seconds.  This is not about conditioning, it's 100% about learning form.  When you learn to run relaxed and fast, you run with much less effort at slower speeds and you become much more capable of running at faster speeds for longer.

I really can't stress enough, though, that you really want the vast majority of your runs (80%) to be easy, conversational pace runs.  When I was trying to get my 10K under 40 minutes, the best advice I got was to run most of my runs slower -- like 2:30 per mile slower than my 10K race pace.  
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