the reason that your initial torrent file took so long to download is that there were probably no people seeding it so for most of the two days it wasnt as such downloading. ideally the best torrents to go for are ones that have lots of seeders.
torrent downloading works because you download while uploading, so if u upload more than u are helping to keep the download speeds fast.
best sites are www.btjunkie.org , www.torrentspy.com and http://thepiratebay.org/