Beginners only

In response to Tobe's comment, I'll give my two cents on how a complete beginner should go about becoming a distance runner.

-Disclaimer-
I am not a trainer/coach. My recommendations are based on my personal experience and on things I have read/heard from other runners/coaches. Bottom line, listen to your body.

Success in starting to run, depends mainly on two things. 1) Get the right shoes and 2) Start slow.

First the shoes. These are crucial no matter what level runner you are. For me, getting decent shoes was a night and day difference. The part that makes this so difficult is that everybody's feet are different. My best advice is to go to a specialty running store and have them help you find the right shoe for you. You need to go somewhere that will take the time for you to try on multiple pairs of shoes and where the staff is very knowledgable (you can usually tell if they're just bs'ing answers to your questions). Simply having a treadmill and fancy cameras to analyze your running isn't enough. A computer can model which shoe should be best for you, but until you actually try some on and jog a few steps in them, you won't know if they're any good. In fact, I only trust one store in Orem (The Runners Corner) to fit me properly. Expect to pay around $100 for a good pair of shoes.

The next step is to start running, but to start slowly. My big mistake was thinking I could run with guys that had been running for at least a couple of years. While I may have been fit enough cardiovascularly, my body was not ready for the amount of pounding that level of running presented. I am a big fan of the run/walk program. This is where you take walks at predetermined intervals during your run. If you are really starting running fresh your first week may look like this:
Mon- Run 1 min, walk 1 min repeat 15x
Wed - same
Thurs - same
Sat - Run 2min, walk 2 min repeat 10x

Then the next week make the runs go from 2 to 4 mins keeping the 1 min walks consistent and keeping the total time to 30 mins.

Then just keep building from there making each run 1 min longer then the last, but don't let the runs get over 10-15 mins long. After 6-8 weeks you will get to running 30 mins with only one or two "walk breaks". After that you have built a good enough base to start talking miles. Again, when you start building your weekly miles take it slow. Don't add more than 10-15% of milage week over week i.e. 10 miles this week, don't do more than 11 next week. Also, even when you are building up it's a good idea to have some "easy weeks" built in every 3-4 weeks where you esentially cut your mileage by about 50% to allow your body time to repair itself and avoid "overtraining". Keep with the run/walk as long as you feel like it. Many really good marathon runners use this strategy by taking 1 min walks every 1-3 miles. In fact one prominent running coach named Jeff Galloway strongly promotes this type of training.

It may feel really weak at first, but there is a reason. It has to do with the fact that running puts a lot of strain on joints and tendons that haven't seen that kind of stress before (especially if you are starting out a little overweight). This slow buildup allows for those parts to get accustomed to the added stress without taking them past the breaking point. The other thing I like about this approach is that to a lot of people running for more than 10 mins at a time can be pretty daunting, let alone 30. This slow buildup gives you the mental edge because you are only running for one more minute then you did last time.

The only other thing I might suggest is to sign up for a 5k race. This gives you a goal to train for.

Hope this helps anybody looking to get into running, let me know if you have any questions.

-Justin