Tempo Tantrums

I tried my hand - or should I say feet, at a tempo run today. After researching a variety of sites and articles on what a tempo run is, I was still confused. Everyone has a different opinion on how one should run a tempo, and what the correct pacing should be. I know that I want to get faster, particularly for my 5k races. I can't seem to come in under 28 minutes. A 26 something would be nice, I'd even take a 27:58.
To make a long story short, I did not understand the reasoning of running 30 seconds slower then my 5k pace if I wanted to get faster.. so I made up my own tempo rules, like the petulant child I am, and felt like I accomplished nothing but getting tired real fast, and not going nearly as far as I would have liked. As I understand it, you're supposed to do the first mile at an easy pace, which for me, is 9:30-9:45. Then, I'm supposed to run the next mile 30 seconds slower than my 5k pace, which was a 9:05. Doesn't that bring me back to my easy pace? I think I prefer fartleks and telephone poles. I've done those, and I didn't have to think too hard about them. The last few long runs I've done seem to have helped with me sustaining a decent pace (slower than my 5k pace) - and I found that I' m able to tolerate a faster pace for short periods of time during an average LR. That may be all I need for now. I've only been running 7 months. There is plenty of time to figure the rest out. I think for now I'll just run.
TPP