HIIT running, maybe an app?

[lurkingfromhome]

I'm running around 5k nearly every day now, having got back to fitness after 6 months of not running at all. I'm a bit stuck in that I'd eventually like to progress to a 10k but I don't feel my speed and stamina are quite there yet (I used to do a 5k in 28 mins but it's taking me 35 at the moment and it's quite a struggle - I really don't think I could run any further if I tried...). Also, I know that going out and doing the same run 6 days a week is going to lead to boredom and then giving up. And finally, I'm trying to lose a stone and those couple of hundred calories burned by running every day are really helping the cause. So that's where I'm at now.

I've been reading bits about HIIT being a great calorie burner and also a good way to get speed up so I'm thinking about alternating my 5k runs with some HIIT running, which should help me consolidate the 5ks before I move on. Would it make sense to do this every other day?

I'm also looking for an app to help me along the way. There are hundreds of them, it seems, but most are just interval timers where you programme it to tell you when to run fast and when to slow down. I think I'm looking for something that actually involves a programme, or at least where the best fast/slow intervals are worked out for me in the same sort of way as C25K, as I honestly don't know where to start with this.

Can anybody help?

[IdkickJilliansAss]

I think the original HIIT running technique is called Fartlek (not sure if i've spelt that right) try googling that

[LottaMarten]

I did some of the NHS Audio Fuel Couch to 5k PLUS ones - there are three podcasts

I would like to find a good app though. I found '5k forever' but i am not sure it is any good