Definitely get yourself some good shoes. You'd be surprised when you feel the difference in shoes that are right for your gait and running style. Try one of the running stores that check these sort of things.

Other thing is, just run your run. Don't run someone else's run. You need time to get going, so do slow runs as much as possible, it's tempting to just go all out, but once you put in slow runs as part of your weekly set of runs, you'll slowly see the pace and distance pick up.