This won't be what you want to hear, but running fast/speed leads to injuries plain and simple.  Dr. Ted Corbitt was the father of American long distance running and he said if you want to run for life, LSD, long, slow, distance.  That does not mean runners can never compete or race, but especially getting older (I turn 60 on July 16th), we need to really determine how serious we want to be.  Best wishes.

Just a few more things to consider. How is your weight? if your carrying ten or even five extra pounds it will adversly effect your time. Especially on a long race. Do you have the right shoes? have you been properly fitted for shoe? A good shoe fit can effect your injury situation.  I don't really subscibe to the LSD aproach. I started doing one long run a week (8.25 miles today)  which I ran at a brisk 8:03 pace. Enough to be a challenge but not as taxing as a race pace. I also do three five mile runs/ week , one six mile trail run and a club track workout. The speed workouts are best in a group format (most local running clubs offer one).  The big benefit of the speed workout is getting your body used to running at a faster pace. Also make sure you do a lot of core work. I do 100 situps and 50 pushups daily.-Bill

Have you ran hills with wieghts? Also run in country and every other telephone pole sprint, after you sprint to the next telephone pole return back to your pace.

Hi njnitehawk, I more or less ran my first half without having followed a specific training plan, but I'd say the same thing others have - look for a variety of different training plans and perhaps try something different. There are usually levels, a beginner one, an intermediate, and an advanced one. After running two halfs, you could probably do the advanced training plan but reduce your intensity if you have concerns about injuries.

As far as a strength training program, I don't know if this will help you or not but generally for runners, we just need something for cross training that includes core strengthening and some sort of weights for toning. I am not - or haven't been - good at doing any cross training activities BUT my friend introduced me to jazzercise and now I go to jazz almost daily. Other things could be subbed in for that, a circuit or sculpt (weights) class at the gym, strength training exercises on a wii fit, yoga or pilates, etc. Strength training actually refers to your whole body, but it doesn't require heavy weights or reps and sets to failure. You can use 5-8 lb dumbells, exercise bands, or just your own body weight. TRX classes are a great option if you have them in your area, they use your body weight and balance and definitely make you stronger.

Interval runs are just that - running intervals. Say you want to do a speed workout, on a track you'd run a comfortable lap or two and then run one at more of a sprint pace. I'm not sure what your pace is like, I'd probably aim for 1:40ish. Then I'd recover with a lap, then repeat. I've done most of my tempo runs on a treadmill with an incline, I'd say outside would be more fun lol. Pace runs are when you plan to do a workout at your typical race pace, so say you went out to run a 10K as a training run, you'd aim for your time to be roughly what you've clocked a 10K race at, or your best speed/pace to date. Good luck, there are a ton of knowledgeable runners here, I probably need to get back to reading too.