As incredible as the idea of achieving great endurance on an hour a week might seem, there really is no magic here. There is no special formula or secret technique that allows me (and you) to develop a level of fitness high enough to enjoy success in marathon length events and far beyond. It's simple, hard work. Really hard work. Work that is done consistently, week after week. Couple this work with occasional bigger efforts to keep you believing just how well HIIT translates to extreme endurance and you're in business.

The point is that the sample programs that follow are just samples. The fundamental idea behind the programs--the idea that has driven the creation of both the suggested workouts in the previous sections and the way they go together in this section is just this: If you're going to be as fit as you can in an hour a week, you have to work really, really hard for that hour. Truth be told, unless you're exceptional, you won't actually be spending an hour a week at your actual limits. But most (if not all) of your weekly workouts will certainly approach this maximum. You'll get there quickly, spend a few minutes feeling like you are going to die, and then let your body figure out how to get stronger before your next workout (and give it the time it needs to do so!)

The specifics don't really matter so long as you're busting ass for a short amount of time (trust me, despite what you may think, you can't truly bust ass for anything else) on a consistent basis and making sure you start each workout as fresh as you can. Alright, enough talk. To the workout plans!!!