<human>: I've been running intermittently for a little over a year now and the amount of distance I can run without stopping has improved greatly. I started out not being able to run even .25 miles but last week I ran a 10k without stopping at all. That was a first and it was amazing!

However, my pace is dismally slow. Its at a 13min/mi pace. I live in Austin and there are a lot of runner's groups that run together throughout the week. I want to join but I feel like i need to improve my pace first. Every time i've tried to get faster, i have gotten injured (slight stress fracture last august) or i'll end up getting shin splints. 

How do I improve my pace without injury and is there a way to improve my pace and distance at the same time? I am signed up for a half marathon in September so I know i need to work on distance for sure. I'd just like to get to improve my pace along the way too.

Can you succinctly summarize the text in 1-3 sentences?
<bot>: I can run a lot now but my pace is slow. Any way to improve pace and distance at the same time without injury?