Every year there is something called the Vancouver Sun run up here. It is a 10k (about 6.2miles) run in April. Last December I decided I was going to do this even though I could not run more than 5 mins without huffing real bad.
This is what I started off with and I highly recomend it:
http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml
Finished the 10k in under an hour too.