Training advice-my run bites

Firstly, relax.  It takes a while.  Years, even.

Secondly, you need more miles.  Try to run 4 times a week.  Get your weekly mileage up to around 30.  Keep the runs nice and easy, no need to get fancy.

Also keep in mind that training paces may not change much.  My easy training pace is the pretty constant, yet my race times still drop. 

As Scout said, patience, consistency and volume (without getting hurt).  I started a couple yers back and hated running, never did it, was never good at it.  It's taken me a while, and I was very frustrated at first as well.  But the more you do it, the more consistent you are, the changes will come.

And it's funny, when I was running 11 minute miles I was in awe of people running 9 minute miles (in a race).  When I ran 9 (in a race), i was in awe of people running 8.... and so it goes

And my training runs are nowhere near 8, much much slower.

Just to echo what ChrisM said.  Build the miles slowly and no need to run fast during training.  The majority of my running miles are at a 9:00/mi pace.  Yet, I run a 7:22 open 1/2-marathon. 

Edited to add:  Use the off-season to focus on running.  It's tough to build running miles while you're also swimming and biking.  I used Dec-Mar this past winter to train for and race a 1/2-marathon.

I'm terrible on the run too.  Don't know about Sprint to Oly but earlier this year I used the 12 week Heart Rate Oly plan and the varied run workouts really made a difference, track workouts at 10K pace, etc.  Now the 10 week Oly "speed" plan I'm using incorporates sprints, etc., interesting workouts like 1:30 total - 20 min warmup, 20 at 10K, 5 min easy, 20 min @ 10K, 5 easy, 10 min at sprint tri then cool down. I really liked that workout.....

I was so used to "just logging miles" that it seemed counterintuitive to spend, say, 40 minutes and not cover a lot of ground.

BUT that said, in my first tri of the season I saw a really nice improvement from lsat year, so I'm guessing there must be something to it

Good luck!

As others have said, you're not doing enough running to see much of an improvement. Your log indicates you ran about 10 miles per week last month. That is nowhere near enough to have solid improvements. It's really not even enough to be able to do any speedwork.

So basically, if you want to improve your run, you've got to run. 10 miles/week isn't going to do anything. It will take some time, but build up to the 30 miles/week as already suggested just through easy running. Keep that going for several months, then introduce some speedwork. If all goes well, by next year you should have some decent numbers to talk about.

Frequency is key. Here are my 2 cents.  Have you ever tried interval training?  It sucks....I mean this type of training sucks for various reasons.  However, I must say that interval training has worked wonders for my run.  Basically intervals are short sprints coupled with a rest period.  I will post some articles from mens health, love that magazine!  I hope this helps.  I know it did for me.  The more I use this type of training the more I notice my results.  I am not as tired and can run for longer times!  Luck!

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=weight.loss&category=abs.diet&conitem=265a99edbbbd201099edbbbd2010cfe793cd____

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=fitness&category=cardio.activities&conitem=3d812c4d88ee9110VgnVCM10000013281eac____

The second article is better and if you look at the message board you will find a table that you can use for training purposes. 

I would not recommend incorporating intervals for a new runner.  In fact, I would state that the primary method of making gains while running is total weekly volume.  Mixture of runs, intensity, those are secondary.

Intervals are great, and they have their place in the training schedule.  But you shouldn't do them too often, and you should keep the period relatively short.  Throwing yourself into intervals too soon is a good way to get injured. 

Thanks everyone. The cool thing about triathlon (besides the awesome people) is that you have three things to work on.  I couldn't swim 25M in the pool Jan 07, but I swam 3000M in the river last week and liked it, a lot.   I've always liked to ride bikes, but was told the other day by a guy I've been training with (an IM) that I'm as good or better rider than most of the guys he usually rides with. SO I have two sports that are going REALLY well. 

Now it's time to get focused on the run. I appreciate the clear and simple advice.  My TP has me running 4 days a week, but since I'm so slow, the time in the plan doesn't give me the mile volume. If I focus on distance instead of time then I can make sure to get the distance volume that I need. Makes so much sense. Thanks guys.

I know running will be like swimming (next year); I'll do a 10k next summer and like it, a lot. Thanks!

Here's my take on the whole speedwork issue:

You should primarily focus on building weekly total mileage.  The focus should be on frequency, volume, and consistency.  There is no exact number here.

Speedwork is used for a period of time, not year-round.  There are no exact amounts, and different people respond better to different types of workouts.  If you're someone who has some talent for speed, shorter intervals work better.  If you're someone who has the ability to go forever, but not real fast, then tempo runs are probably going to be your key speed workout.

When do you start to focus on speed?  I would say about 8-12 weeks out from the race you want to peak for.  If you've never done speedwork before, I suggest learning as much about it as you can, and not creating your own schedule to incorporate it.  Go off a plan from somewhere.

I've seen people be able to jump into interval training with no problem.  I've seen people get injured just by running past the track.  It's all an experiment of one.  That being said, I think the majority of people (myself included) are better served by not worrying about doing much more than a tempo run once a week, especially for the first few years.  I also think that most triathletes should probably not worry about getting fancy, as run volume tends to be low, and just getting miles in is a better way to spend time.

ever done strides after your runs? You can do them after EVERY run if you wish they will not hurt you.

start off with like 4x20s or 100m strides the first few weeks and build up from there to about 10. Yeah and it wouldn't hurt to run 4-5x a week.