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Yellowshark's on the mark. Perhaps you should set your immediate goals on running a 10k or 10 mile. Don't rush your training. If you pump up the mileage too quickly you're bound to get injured and have to go back to square one.
A common recommendation: don't increase your mileage more than 10% a week. Reading between the lines, keep a running log. I, personally, like to set a weekly mileage, say 25, stay there for 3 weeks then move up about 10%, stay there for 3 weeks, etc. It's also advisable to work in a "rest week" every once in a while (month or so). During my rest week I concentrate more on cross training, stretching, and catching up on my sleep. I don't cut our running completely, I just cut quantity. It's a good injury preventer.
You expressed interest in speedwork. After getting a good 6 weeks of just plain mileage, I suggest introducing 100 meter strides. Start with 4 and build to a dozen over a 3 week period. Do them 3 times a week in addition to your regular mileage. Once you're used to that, add a weekly tempo run. Start with 10 minutes at what you think might be your 10 mile race pace (you may have to guess, if you have another time to go from use the calculators on this site to come up with a time). Over time make this tempo run longer. Once you can do a 20 minute tempo, you may consider doing it on a measured course or track and doing mile repeats at the same pace with short 60 second rests between repeats to break the monotony (it'll seem mentally easier, but will provide about the same stress on your body).
That should be a good start. If you can work your way up in mileage and intensity in this manner I believe you should be ready for a good race in mid to late February. At that point I'll have more suggestions...
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