Woot Woot! Here we go!
Here's the plan--three workouts a week, repeating the shorter key ones as Baseline Workouts every two weeks. Pick and choose from the workouts listed in the previous sections--it's that easy. The Baseline Workouts are the most critical--if you're struggling to run that third longer workout, feel free to replace it with a bike ride or skip it altogether. Once you get use to the HIT efforts (BWs) then add back in the longer runs as you can because remember, you'll want to build a bit of mental fitness for greater durations as well. Remember too the ideas detailed in Guide #1 and be sure and leave a full day's rest between workouts!
Here is a sample two week program:
After the two weeks, repeat! The first two workouts each week are BWs, so keep track of pacing, rest periods, etc and aim to improve at least one of the metrics. Aim for speed/pace/incline first, and interval time once you're at a speed you're happy with and you feel is near your limit. The third workout each week is more flexible. If you want to 'run longer', then shorten the tempo run in week 1 and lengthen it in week 2. You can take this as far as eliminating the third workout in a given week and doing what might be, depending on your speed/time for the BWs, over an hour tempo run.
For example, choosing I1, T1, I3 and O1 for the key BWs (workouts 1 and 2 for each week) would add up to about 34 minutes of balls-to the wall running, leaving an hour and twenty six minutes for a long run every second week if I'd eliminated the third workout from week 1. This works quite well as recovering from a hard 1:26 effort (around 12+ miles for me) would take a few days and squeezing 3 efforts into that next week (a repeat of week 1) wouldn't be possible!